Whatever your personal taste in interior design might be, ultimately we all want our homes to achieve a sense of harmony for its occupants. From choosing the right colors that give you a sense of peace, to the lights that create a relaxing atmosphere, or the textures that achieve a soothing, cozy feel, it all has an impact on how you feel in your space.
If you want to achieve that sense of harmony in your modern home, the art of Feng Shui can prove to be particularly helpful. It’s all about having the five elements represented in your space - earth, metal, fire, water, and wood - in order to create balance. According to Feng Shui experts, the one place we often fail to spare enough attention to, however, is our flooring.
To find out more about how your flooring material can impact your home we spoke with a Feng Shui expert who explained why wood flooring in particular can have the most beneficial effect on creating and keeping a harmonious interior. Here’s why.
Why does Feng Shui recommend wood flooring?
‘In Feng Shui, it’s very important to have each of the five elements - earth, metal, fire, water, and wood - represented in your home in order to maintain harmony and balance,’ explains Feng Shui expert Marie Diamond. ‘Wood floor types are a great way to represent the wood element and can help you feel grounded,’ she adds.
Among its attributes, the wood element in Feng Shui represents strength, flexibility, family, and prosperity. It will automatically create a sense of calm as it’s an element from nature. Your choice of floors is one of the most straightforward ways to incorporate the element into your home.
While a stone or marble floor might look great, and they're certainly more suitable for areas like bathrooms or entryways, natural wood will bring warmth to a space, and it’s a look that will stay timeless. A good quality wood will age well too, and gain a characterful patina that will only add personality and a cozy, lived-in feel to your interior.
What rooms are best suited to wood floors, according to Feng Shui?
If you're wondering where to introduce wood floors, Marie has some ideas. ‘Wooden flooring is connected with the element of wood and in Feng Shui, south and east are the two compass directions that align best with wood,' she says. ‘If you have a room in the south or east of the home, you may find that switching to wooden flooring brings a greater sense of peace and harmony to your household since you’re keeping things in balance.'
It’s not just about orientation, either. Think about the rooms you spend most of your time in too. ‘Wooden floors work best for the Yang areas of the home, which is to say the rooms that are occupied for longer periods of time, for example, the living room and dining room, the bedroom, the kitchen, or a home office,’ says Marie. Think about it like this: the more time you spend in a room, the more you will be able to reap the relaxing benefits of being around the grounding wood element of Feng Shui.
How should you lay wood floors, according to Feng Shui?
You might not think it, but even the layout of your floor can have an impact on the right energy flow, be that your living room flooring or the floorboards in your home office. ‘In terms of different wooden flooring patterns, planks are considered the best since they represent the long, straight silhouette of trees which in turn represent the wood element,’ explains Marie. ‘You can best feel the Feng Shui benefits when plank patterns are used in the east or Southern areas of the home.'
'Herringbone and chevron patterns on the other hand actually follow the format of metal and so are better to use in the west or northern areas of the home,’ Marie goes on to explain. Ultimately, you need to be comfortable with your flooring decision in order to create a harmonious feel in your home.
‘The energy flow of our home affects our own personal energy, and vice versa,' adds Marie. 'If you choose to install a particular kind of flooring that, whilst having a lot of Feng Shui benefits, you simply can’t stand the sight of, you’re going to feel annoyed or angry or frustrated each time you look at it. This personal energy of yours can then affect the energy flow of your home in a really negative way, so remember: you have to live with the design choices you make.’
Price: $4.09/sq. ft.
In living rooms or bedrooms, choose hardwood flooring in warm tones that are timeless.
