Feng Shui Your Office Design
If you work full time, then you spend about 25 percent of your time at work. Put another way, you spend one-quarter of your life at work.
No matter how much you may love what you do for a living, you could find even greater calm, focus, productivity and enjoyment in your work if you feng shui your office.
Spatial arrangements channel positive energy
Feng shui is a Chinese interior design practice whose goal is to create a soothing and happy environment by choosing and placing objects in such a way that they promote a positive energy flow, which the Chinese call “chi” or “qi.”
Feng shui originated more than 3,000 years ago, but it’s taken until modern times for people in the West to embrace the principles in their homes and offices. When you learn what to do and what to avoid to foster energy and create a healthy balance, you may be glad that they finally did.
Balancing the Five Elements
When bringing this ancient Chinese practice to your office, it’s important to balance the five elements found in feng shui. These include wood, fire, water, earth and metal.
Use wood to evoke creativity and growth. Wood can be represented by plants or green objects. Fire creates energy, drive, transformation and expansion. To incorporate fire, consider enhancing the space with colors such as red and bright orange, or simply add an electric or battery-powered candle.
Additionally, make sure you have the element of water, which is linked to emotion and inspiration. Try adding a small fountain, mirror or artwork with watery images to your office. Don’t forget to incorporate earth for strength and stability. Earth can be represented through images of landscapes, earth-toned furniture and flat surfaces, such as a square rug.
Lastly, include metal, which offers focus, order, productivity and sharp thinking. This can come in the form of white, metallic and gray colors. You can also add metal furniture or accessories, as well as round décor.
Garish lighting depletes positive energy
If yellow-tinted, fluorescent lighting in your office bothers your eyes more as the day progresses, you won’t be a bit surprised that it’s one of the first things that a feng shui workspace avoids. In fact, natural light is a feng shui ideal. But when artificial light can’t be avoided, the softer and more muted it is, the better.
Other things to avoid in a feng shui office design include:
- Clutter, which can interfere with focus and mental clarity, from your desk to your bookshelves.
- Sharp angles, which should be minimized and positioned so that they don’t “cut into” you as you work.
- Bold colors, which may be initially intriguing but have a tendency to tire if not overwhelm.
Colors can soothe and balance
Choosing the right colors is a fine place to start creating a feng shui workspace. A soothing color palette can be found for virtually any office among hues such as:
- Blue-green
- Butter yellow
- Pale gold
- Pale green
- Pale orange
- Sandstone
- White
Feng shui turns on creativity
With the right color on the walls and trim, other elements can easily round out a feng shui workspace, including:
- A desk that faces the door, so visitors can be seen and greeted in a prompt and purposeful way.
- A comfortable chair with a high back and ideally placed against a wall for support.
- A live—not artificial—plant to channel the idea of growth and creativity in the office.
- A small fountain that includes the lulling characteristics of moving water.
- Artwork or pictures that evoke happy thoughts or memories.
You can count on Rightsize
Artwork in particular offers a lot of latitude, which is another reason why your feng shui workspace can be as distinctive as you are when you work with a design expert from Rightsize Facility. For example, we can help you create a “word wall” or a collage of inspirational quotes based on your favorite words and phrases—not anybody else’s.
Rightsize Facility can help you plan your office space. Reach out and call us for a free consultation (800.815.8592), and once we get to know you, there’s no telling what we can create to make your workspace as inspiring and motivational as your best day. And this is really the underlying point of feng shui: By embracing the principles, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy those infrequent “best days” every single day of the week.
