Sell Your Home 82% Faster with Feng Shui

Discover the magic way to sell your home for the price you want!

A staged home will sell 82% faster than an unstaged home. Getting a Feng Shui consultation is going a step further than staging, in that the results are perfectly tailored to you, your home, AND buyers.

When people walk into a home for sale, they decide within 15 seconds whether they want to buy it. Obviously first impressions count! Although we recommend a full blown Feng Shui consultation for pumping up all areas of your life, if you're selling your home, the common sense principles of Feng Shui can be used to increase your bottom line in a major way.

Jennifer Emmer of "Feng Shui Style" has been studying and practicing Feng Shui since 1995. She uses the power of Feng Shui to help home sellers achieve a quick and profitable sale.

Feng Shui just feels good

What the heck is Feng Shui?

Originating in China almost 6,000 years ago, Feng Shui literally means "wind"(Feng) and "water"(Shui). It is also referred to as "Geo-mancy" or "Earth Wisdom" -- an ancient method of constructing and optimizing residences to bring about happiness, abundance and harmony. It includes architecture, urban planning, interior design, garden design, and placement of objects in our environment. It also involves the layout, framework, materials and colors of building structures.

There are different types or "Schools" of Feng Shui. This accounts for a great deal of confusion. The two oldest schools are the Form School, which addresses external and internal environments and their effect on the occupants and the Compass School, which uses a compass to determine the orientation of a home and therefore its prosperity.

At Feng Shui Style, we use the Form School, Compass School, and Eight Mansion Theory because we have found them to be the most effective methods.

Feng Shui just feels good
What the heck is Feng Shui?
Why is staging with Feng Shui important?
Feng Shui can be fun!
The First Impression: The Entrance!
Pump up your entrance - it's how the world sees you
Task-oriented lighting is a huge selling point
And don't forget Curb Appeal.....
Let's get down to business!
Take us with you!
Top Ten Feng Shui Hints for Selling Your Home
What's that smell?
Relevant Sites
Dark wood is the rage now
Put us in your bag and take us with you!
The Kitchen - The #1 Deal Maker or Breaker
The Bathroom
The Master Bedroom
Bookmark us!
Get some cool Feng Shui stuff at Dragon-Gate
Don't forget the outdoors, either!
Living rooms - focus on fireplaces, seating and lighting
Fountains & Feng Shui
Playrooms, Home Theaters, Bonus Rooms
Helpful Links
What Is Linoleum?
Everything you ever wanted to know about paint but were afraid to ask
Chandeliers
How about some art? ("Very Dry Martini", Michael Leu)
Play up your unique features
Renovated kitchen
Great Books on Amazon
Feng Shui on Flickr
Feng Shui and your personal taste
We love red doors!
Create "rooms" outdoors to add square footage
Reader Feedback
Wind & Water (aka "Feng Shui")
Recent Feng Shui news from Google
Go to Dragon-Gate - get some cool Feng Shui stuff
Home Staging on Amazon
Feng Shui on Amazon
Real Estate on Amazon
Feng Shui Goodies on CafePress

Why is staging with Feng Shui important?

When people walk into a home for sale, they decide within 15 seconds whether they want to buy it.

What if your home could attract not only buyers, but money, success or even love? Feng Shui practitioners believe that arranging your environment can enhance your life in all of those areas.

Now that Feng Shui is finally becoming a household word, people are starting to embrace it for use in staging their homes for sale in the cooling real estate market.

Feng Shui can be fun!

The First Impression: The Entrance!

In China, red is supremely powerful. It represents relationships, fame, reputation, and wealth. It's also a fabulous color to paint your door. It's very welcoming, and it leaves no guesswork up to potential buyers. They will be able to find the door quickly and easily. It also conveys that the owners are powerful, and even thwarts burglary!

Since people are naturally drawn to red, use the "Law of Attraction" to bring them in the door!

Pump up your entrance - it's how the world sees you

Oxblood red porcelain planter, 14"

Add 2 of these gorgeous red vases to either side of your entrance to make a great first impression. Don't forget to put flowers in them! I recommend dramatic white ones, such as spider mums.

Task-oriented lighting is a huge selling point

And don't forget Curb Appeal.....

A curvy walkway that leads buyers to your front door is not only good Feng Shui, it's good curb appeal. Plant some colorful flowers, especially red ones, and make sure to fix anything that is broken or dirty. If you house is overgrown with shrubs, have them trimmed back. Buyers need to be able to see what they are buying.

An imaginative paint job is another way to play up your house. If you are lucky enough to have interesting architectural details, use different coordinating colors to maximize the effect. Yellow is welcoming and it makes the house feel grounded.

Let's get down to business!

Balancing out specific rooms

If a client's home has a room that is all wood paneling, we would say it had "too much Wood". We would balance out the wood by adding metal and fire, to "bring the wood down" a bit. Metal and Fire could be literal, or figurative. A metal table would qualify as "Metal", but so would a large gray rug, since gray is the color of metal.

Adding Fire might mean adding red candles all along the mantelpiece of the fireplace, or figuratively, painting some of the walls red, which is the color of Fire.

Oftentimes home stagers place a bowl of fruit out in the kitchen. A Feng Shui consultant might place that bowl of fruit in the South East corner of the kitchen, or the "Wealth Corner", since fruit is a symbol of wealth, to pump up the wealth of the occupants while they are selling the house.

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What's that smell?

AROMATHERAPY

Tommy Girl for Women 3.4 oz Cologne

It may seem obvious, but the best thing you can do for your home is to clean it (thoroughly) and remove all the clutter. When selling, you want to affect all the senses of prospective buyers. Even if the place looks amazing, a cat box smell can be a real show stopper.

Light some pleasant smelling candles during your open house, or simmer a small pot of water on the stove with cinnamon or other spices in it. It will fill the home with a smell of something baking in the oven.

Archipelago Botanicals Home Fragrance Diffuser

Men's favorite scents? Fresh cut grass, apple pie, and vanilla. If you can find a way to have all three going at your open house, bravo! [Interesting note: "Tommy Girl" perfume contains all three scents...]

Women's favorite scents? Warm scents (like vanilla) top the list of Midwestern women's favorite scents. Women in the South go for clean/soapy scents. Almost everyone loves lavender and roses.

Relevant Sites

Feng Shui Style: Feng Shui Style website - click here to stage your house!
Beautiful Buildings: A blog about Historic Preservation, and specific buildings that are in danger...
What's all this fuss about "Money Frogs"?: You've heard about the Feng Shui Money Frog. Why does it bring in money? Where did this crazy legend start?
Fu Dogs are your Friends: Clients often ask me, "What is the deal with those strange little dogs?"
Kitchen Design & Feng Shui: In Feng Shui, the kitchen represents nourishment and prosperity. How you design and decorate the kitchen can dramatically influence your health, and, surprisingly, your wealth.

Dark wood is the rage now

Put us in your bag and take us with you!

Add Our Lens to Your Lensroll

The Kitchen - The #1 Deal Maker or Breaker

Avoid the two red flags - outdated and dirty

If you can swing it, the biggest bang for the buck is replacing outdated fixtures, countertops, etc, with inexpensive but lush-looking solutions....such as:

a stainless steel "cover" for your dishwasher - which will instantly update it.

paint your fridge to match updated appliances (use appliance paint - see more below)

a concrete poured counter - stain any color you like, then seal

tiny glass mosaic tiles for the backsplash - a great shot of color

In both kitchen and bath, you can regrout the tile - in lieu of replacing it - for a fresh, clean look.

REGARDING YOUR FLOORS:

Vinyl tile and linoleum are the most cost-effective quick fixes, but make sure you choose something that either looks REAL, or desirable.

For example, if you go with vinyl, choose one that looks like stone, not one that looks like vinyl.

For linoleum, you could do a really retro checkerboard with two modern colors - like alternating brown and robin's egg blue tiles.

Of course you want to update the whole kitchen with the same scheme - so paint the walls and/or cabinets to coordinate with whatever you choose for the floor.

A WORD ABOUT CABINETS:

Men tend to love demolition. Before the man in your household pulls out the sledgehammer, consider this:

The fact is, probably 80% of kitchen cabinets out there can be salvaged! Many just need a coat of paint, or stain (dark stains are in). Remove the cabinet doors, take them outside, and sand them before painting or staining.

New hardware (drawer and cabinet pulls) covers a multitude of sins, and can steer your kitchen into the 21st century. Pay attention to contrast. For example, if you go with dark cabinets, make sure walls and floors are lighter, to create contrast, and keep things light.

SUPER TIP FOR THE KITCHEN:

If you can't afford to do a full-blown renovation in the kitchen, use appliance paint to cover up your old "harvest gold" 1970's appliances:

For more, click here:

Update Your Kitchen for Under $100 with Appliance Paint

FINAL STAGING:

In the kitchen, stage it so people can imagine cooking there. A large bowl of Granny Smith apples is a wonderful design touch. Or, put a bottle of wine on the table, with a decorative cheese and cracker plate next to it. Help the buyers use their imaginations.

The Bathroom

Make sure people want to rest in your rest room!

THINK SPA

In Feng Shui, the bathroom is about getting rid of waste - consequently, you want to make the experience as pleasant and "spa-like" as you can. Add some plants, seashells, or other things from nature. Spring for some new colorful towels to quickly change the vibe. Remember, a can of paint costs about $25 and it provides the single biggest impact.

To create the illusion of space, many people are replacing their old sinks with new "retro" pedestal sinks, which create visual space by exposing more of the floor.

If you prefer a vanity/sink combo, go to a stone & marble place and ask for a granite "remnant". Use this as your countertop for a really luxurious and updated feeling. You'll save a lot of money this way - especially if you do the demo yourself.

If your bathtub is basically in good shape, but has resistant stains, it is possible to apply a new coat of enamel with a paint sprayer. Get a professional to do this for you. Look in the yellow pages under "bathtub resurfacing". You can also change the color of a dated tub to something more neutral.

SUPER TIP FOR THE BATHROOM:

Scour your filmy shower door with one part muriatic acid and 10 parts water. Scrub it with steel wool. After rinsing, your shower door will look brand new.

The Master Bedroom

Should appeal to both men and women, and appear LARGE

THE GOAL: GENDER-NEUTRAL

The master bedroom should appear large, balanced, and "gender-neutral". This means that a flowered bedspread and pink walls are out. A classy duvet cover is a great inspiration for a design theme. Colors like beige, brown, cream, yellow, gold, maroon, and green are "gender-neutral".

If you need help, call the pros. People definitely need to see the master bedroom as a large, luxurious space. Remove personal items, such as framed photos, and stacks of papers. The buyer wants to picture what it would be like to move right in. Having personal items around makes them feel like an outsider.

Make sure everyone is included! Two nightstands, two lamps, etc. Symmetry is a good thing in the bedroom.

Seeing the outside from the bedroom is a big plus. If you can, install french doors that lead to the garden.

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Get some cool Feng Shui stuff at Dragon-Gate

For Feng Shui solutions

Dragon-Gate.com

Dragon-gate provides a vast array of Feng Shui cures, objects, jewelry, artwork, and all things Feng Shui. Click on the link above to go there. We recommend getting a Feng Shui consultation first, so you know how to cure your issues and pump up your environment.

To learn more, go to:

Feng Shui Style

Don't forget the outdoors, either!

Living rooms - focus on fireplaces, seating and lighting

If you have a fireplace, consider yourself lucky. If it's blah, you can quickly add zing by either painting it a contrasting color to the wall, or painting just the fireplace wall a different color from the rest of the room to make it pop.

If the actual mantel is uninspiring, you might consider adding decorative hand painted tiles on the surround, for example.

NOTE: If you have a historic home, do not do any major work to the fireplace without consulting a professional. You could seriously bring down the value of your home by disturbing original elements.

Keep items on the mantel to a minimum. Just a few key pieces is all you need. Put at least one tall, dramatic item on the mantel - a vase with flowers, a tall statue, candlesticks, a topiary, etc.

Hang either a key piece of artwork over the fireplace, or a mirror - but make it dramatic.

When grouping your seating, make it "L-shaped", or "U-shaped" not "confrontational". In Feng Shui, when two couches are placed opposite each other, it actually causes people to become confrontational with each other, instead of having a nice flow of conversation.

To make the room feel more formal, make sure each piece of furniture has an end or side table. To make the room feel less formal, use a large ottoman instead of a coffee table.

Stage the room with a snack or fruit on the coffee table, and some soft music playing. By all means, unless it's 90 degrees out, have a fire blazing in the fireplace! If your fireplace doesn't work, put a large candelabra inside, and light candles on it.

Fountains & Feng Shui

Encore Water Bell Fountain by Woodstock Chimes

A fountain is one of the best ways to bring prosperity to your home. The Element of Career is Water. Consequently, to pump up your Career, place the fountain in the North Sector of your home or room.

NOTE: Do not place this fountain anywhere other than the North sector of your home. Why? Because it contains Metal. Metal symbolically "chops" Wood, so it would not be advantageous in the East or Southeast.

A suggested fountain for these areas:

Frog and Lily Pad Tabletop Fountain

Playrooms, Home Theaters, Bonus Rooms

Show off your square footage

Anyone lucky enough to have these types of rooms should pay special attention to their impression. Don't make the mistake of thinking "Well, this room is really big, so they won't notice the:

* fake 1970's wood paneling
* ugly and stained carpet
* horribly mismatched furniture
* cold industrial blinds
* blah white paint job..... etc.

Sometimes less is more. Take a long, hard look at the room. What jumps out at you as "wrong"? If it's furniture, you are lucky. Remove it!

WHEN IN DOUBT, PAINT!
A lackluster paint job is another easy fix. When repainting, make sure you use a gender-neutral color that appeals to the widest audience. If you have paneling that you want to get rid of, paint it! You can degloss the paneling with TSP, or a light sanding.

MAKE SURE TO PRIME the paneling first, before painting. TINT YOUR PRIMER with the color you intend to paint over the paneling. This will save you many coats!

Use a low-gloss paint (like eggshell), which will minimize the lines of the paneling.

Since basement rooms are often paneled, I prefer to paint over it, since the vertical lines help give the feeling of height, and therefore space. Furthermore, many a hapless homeowner has removed their paneling only to find a nightmarish situation underneath. See the "All you ever wanted to know about paint but were afraid to ask" section.

THANK GOD FOR LINOLEUM
Regarding floors, did you know that linoleum is back in style? Amazing! There are many new, fun colors available, too. It's very reasonably priced, environmentally friendly, lasts forever, and comes in easy to install tiles. For playrooms, pantries, laundry rooms, and even finished garages, you really can't beat it. For more on this, see the links below.

ENORMOUS TELEVISIONS
Home theaters are becoming more popular, as people want a place to hide their enormous TV's. Cardinal rule of seating? Try not to have people's "back to the audience". In other words, you don't want to walk in the room and bump into the back of the couch. Make sure you have enough lighting. Lighting can often create a mood that can radically change the feeling in the room.

For example, changing the lighting from flourescent to an incandescent pink lightbulb can take the room from industrial/cold to warm and inviting in about a minute! Pink lightbulbs are available anywhere you find lightbulbs, and they are VERY light pink - to cast a subtle glow around the room.

AND DON'T FORGET ARTWORK!
We love Michael Leu. See below.
To go to his website:

Michael Leu

Helpful Links

Feng Shui Style: Our Feng Shui firm in The Bay Area of California. We are available for both onsite and remote Feng Shui consultations, staging, and general interior design consultation for your home or office. We also specialize in color consultations, remodels, and design to build plans.

Take an online quiz to rate your current Feng Shui situation!
Kitchen Design and Feng Shui: In Feng Shui, the kitchen represents nourishment and prosperity. How you design and decorate the kitchen can dramatically influence your health, and, surprisingly, your wealth.
Did you know that Historic Preservation is "GREEN"?: Once they're gone, they're gone. All over this country, people are tearing down our past, our communities, and our livelihoods. They are building McMansions, and faceless, gutless commercial buildings, all in the name of the all-mighty dollar. They are mowing down fruit orchards, filling them with concrete, and throwing up condos (pardon the pun).

What Is Linoleum?

From the Armstrong website:

Genuine linoleum, not to be confused with vinyl, is a classic, invented nearly 150 years ago and still completely relevant today. Environmentally friendly, linoleum is made from natural, raw materials. Linseed oil, which comes from the flax plant, is the primary ingredient.

(In Latin, linum is the word for linseed and oleum means oil.)

Other ingredients include wood or cork powder, resins and ground limestone. Mineral pigments provide the rich colors. The ingredients are mixed together, then rolled out between two cylinders (a process called "calendaring") onto a jute backing. The linoleum is then cured in ovens for 14 to 21 days. The resulting floor is then rolled on cores, ready for installation. Sheet linoleum is available in many thicknesses. 2.0 mm is suitable for residential use. It is sold in a two-meter (or 6' 7") width size.

Design a Room Tool: Try the "Design a Room" tool on the link above.

Everything you ever wanted to know about paint but were afraid to ask

We will be doing a lens on this topic shortly, but for now....

We heartily recommend Benjamin Moore paint colors - especially the historic line. Also, the new "Affinity Line" has been specially mixed so that each color coordinates with all others in the collection.

Benjamin Moore Homepage: Try the "Color Makeover" to transform your home with color.
Perfect Paint Colors for Your Home's Interior: No two homes or the families that live in them have exactly the same personality and color is not only a wonderful way to showcase your home but also to express your family's personal style.

The goal of this lens is to give you all of the information you need to select the perfect palette for your home painting project by bringing all of the resources together in one location. Choosing the color should be the fun part of the painting process!

Chandeliers

Shimmer 23 1/2" Wide Multi-Color Crystal Chandelier

Crystal Chandeliers are excellent Feng Shui - they bring light and energy to your dining area. You can also put them in a powder room, to give it a touch of class, or a bedroom, to make it feel more luxurious.

How about some art? ("Very Dry Martini", Michael Leu)

Play up your unique features

In Feng Shui, water is like money, flowing around you. If you have a water view, by all means play it up. Other super selling features are sun porches, wraparound porches, guest cottages, detached garages, finished basements, and original historic details.
Any way you can distinguish your home will help it sell. To pump up your home's "reputation", place red objects in the southern part of any room. Red is Fire, and Fire is the Element of Fame/Reputation.

Renovated kitchen

Great Books on Amazon

The Principles of Feng Shui

by: Larry Sang

Founder of the American Feng Shui Institute in California, Master Sang is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on Feng Shui.
Raised in Hong Kong, he began practicing Feng Shui more than 25 years ago and has hosted many radio programs and taught many courses at universities.
When he first came to the U.S. in 1980, he was shocked by the rampant use of so many mirrors, "magical flutes", incense and rituals. Feng Shui had been stripped of much of its dignity and was being marketed in the arena of the occult!
To reestablish its importance as a legitimate, teachable, scientific discipline, Master Sang established The American Feng Shui Institute in 1991. This is a fabulous "first book".

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Feng Shui

by: Lillian Too

Lillian Too mixes some Western Feng Shui with Eastern (traditional) to provide an extensive look at "everything that has worked for her" after years of consultations. I respect her for this, even though I don't "agree" with the Western style of Feng Shui. Keeping that in mind, this book is certainly worth a read.

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui

by: Lillian Too

Another Lillian Too favorite. This one is a very thorough overview, with super illustrations.

The Art & Science of Feng Shui: The Ancient Chinese Tradition of Shaping Fate

by: Henry Lin

The author, a native of China, combines insight into the background of Feng Shui with practical advice, and a guide to show the reader how to find the right property. He then explains how to counteract any irregularities or deficiencies.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui, Third Edition

by: Elizabeth Moran, Master Joseph Yu

This book is actually quite a thorough explanation of Classical Feng Shui, including background, the Form School, 2 Compass Schools, East/West System (aka Eight Mansion School), and even beginning Flying Stars (impressive!)

Feng Shui on Flickr

curated content from Flickr

Feng Shui and your personal taste

Feng Shui is really an art, or a science. People often worry that Feng Shui will "clash" with their personal style. Others fear that it is a religion! Feng Shui is definitely not a religion. It is a way of balancing out an environment such that the energy meanders and flows in a beneficial way - and that, in turn, is palpable to the occupants and guests.

People tend to fixate on things they have heard, such as "Purple is wealth". While purple is definitely a prosperous color, if the client doesn't like it, we can offer a variety of other options, depending on their personal taste, and what's best in the environment.

We love red doors!

Create "rooms" outdoors to add square footage

Reader Feedback

Please take a moment and go back to the top of the page and give me some stars by clicking 1 to 5 stars in the right hand set of 5 stars above.

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FengShuiStyle FengShuiStyle Sep 27, 2009 @ 5:52 pm | in reply to susanpark909

Thank you Susan! ;-)

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myentertain myentertain Sep 27, 2009 @ 1:38 am

For More A low price..... no-- but seriously check in your area. Have houses been on the market for a long time. It may be a buyers market. IE A lot more sellers then buyers. The houses tend to sell for less. Try to keep the house looking great. When someone comes to see your house make sure it smells great. Some realitors say if you bake something like a apple pie or cookies before a showing. The house sells. And more related about Repossed Home For Sale Sites

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Sep 15, 2009 @ 10:21 am

ENJOYED YOUR LENS VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU,

Chandelier

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susanpark909 susanpark909 Sep 10, 2009 @ 7:38 pm

I LOVE your lens... so informative and the work is beautiful!

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ImproveMeU ImproveMeU Feb 25, 2009 @ 8:14 pm

I love Feng Shui, great details and pics on your lens. Truly 5***** great work! For goal setting tips visit Flex Your Goal Setting Muscle

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jain82 jain82 Feb 7, 2009 @ 5:46 am

awesome lens Five ***** Real Estate Listings

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BrianS BrianS Jan 16, 2009 @ 3:54 am

I've certainly learned a little about Feng Shui reading your lenses, great work. welcome to the

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squidboo squidboo Dec 30, 2008 @ 5:47 pm

Spectacular lens. So many great tips for people suffering in this pathetic real estate market! Many thanks!

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Ali_Baba Ali_Baba Dec 30, 2008 @ 3:25 pm

WOW. You have obviously put a LOT of work into this lens, and it shows. I think you should write a book on this! Bravo, bravo, bravo. I'm going to nominate you for lens of the day. I also checked out your Feng Shui Style website and I love it. Have fun out there.
-Alison

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mykey mykey Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:43 pm

AWESOME! I totally vouch (as we know some people think that Feng Shui is something you have to "believe in". This is a valuable resource for anyone who is moving...get this out there!
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Wind & Water (aka "Feng Shui")

Recent Feng Shui news from Google

Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

Go to Dragon-Gate - get some cool Feng Shui stuff

pump up your home or office

Dragon-Gate.com

Dragon-gate provides a vast array of Feng Shui cures, objects, jewelry, artwork, and all things Feng Shui. Click on the link above to go there. We recommend getting a Feng Shui consultation first, so you know how to cure your issues and pump up your environment.

To learn more, go to:

Feng Shui Style