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Sell Your Home 82% Faster with Feng Shui |
By Ben Needles
 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.
What the heck is Feng Shui?
Originating in China almost 6,000 years ago, Feng Shui literally means wind(Feng) and water(Shui). Feng Shui is also referred to as Geo-mancy or Earth Wisdom. It is 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 the confusion that exists. The two oldest forms 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.
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. They spend the next few minutes either trying to figure out how to nicely back out of the tour, or mentally whipping out their checkbooks, and trying to make an offer.
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 becoming a household word, people are starting to embrace it for use in staging their homes for sale in the cooling real estate market.
The First Impression: The Entrance!
In China, red is supremely powerful. It represents relationships, fame, reputation, and wealth. Its also a fabulous color to paint your door. Its 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!
And dont forget Curb Appeal.....
A curvy walkway that leads buyers to your front door is not only good Feng Shui, its 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.
Lets get down to business!
Balancing out specific rooms
If a clients 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.
Top Ten Feng Shui Hints for Selling Your Home
#1 Make sure you cannot see a toilet from the bed. If your bathroom is directly in view, mask it with a decorative Japanese screen, or hanging curtain.
#2 Make sure your feet are not pointing out the door while in bed. This is the death position. If you have to angle the bed, do it. The bed should be symmetrical - with matching nightstands and lamps.
#3 A headboard is key. If you dont have one, get one, or make one. Paint the bedroom a soothing, light, neutral color, such as green, gold, taupe or beige.
#4 Clutter is the opposite of Feng Shui. Go for S-P-A-C-E by clearing out EVERY unnecessary item from your home.
#5 Paint your door red!
#6 Let there be light! Add lighting or mirrors to blah areas to pump up the energy.
#7 Keep your porch and outside lights on at night! Make sure people can see your house numbers - make them large!
#8 There shouldnt be any heavy beams or heavy light fixtures directly over the bed. You can paint beams the same color as the ceiling to make them visually go away.
#9 When planning seating arrangements, make sure no one has their back to the door.
#10 Go for Yin, as well as Yang. Make a nice flow throughout the house by adding a round dining room table.
Whats that smell?
AROMATHERAPY
It may seem obvious, but the best thing you can do for your home is to clean it (thoroughly) and remove all the clutter. With Feng Shui, 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.
Mens 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...
Womens favorite scents? Warm scents (like vanilla) top the list of Midwestern womens favorite scents. Women in the South go for clean/soapy scents. Almost everyone loves lavender and roses.
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 robins 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 cant afford to do a full-blown renovation in the kitchen, use appliance paint to cover up your old harvest gold 1970s appliances.
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 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.
What the heck is Feng Shui?
Originating in China almost 6,000 years ago, Feng Shui literally means wind(Feng) and water(Shui). Feng Shui is also referred to as Geo-mancy or Earth Wisdom. It is 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 emplacement of objects in our environment. It also involves the layout, framework, materials and colors of construction structures.
There are different types or Schools of Feng Shui. This accounts for a great deal of the disarray that exists. The two oldest forms are the Form School, which addresses external and internal environments and their effect on the occupants and the range School, which uses a get the picture to regulate the orientation of a home and therefore its prosperity.
At Feng Shui Style, we use the Form School, Compass School, and Eight manse possibility because we have found them to be the most effective methods.
Why is scaffolding with Feng Shui important?
When domicile walk into a home for sale, they make up one's mind within 15 seconds whether they want to buy it. They spend the next few minutes either trying to figure out how to nicely back out of the tour, or mentally whipping out their checkbooks, and trying to make an offer.
What if your home could attract not only buyers, but money, succeeder or even love? Feng Shui practitioners believe that arranging your surroundings can enhance your life in all of those areas. Now that Feng Shui is becoming a family word, mass are starting to embrace it for use in staging their homes for sale in the cooling real landed estate market.
The First Impression: The Entrance!
In China, red is supremely powerful. It represents relationships, fame, reputation, and wealth. Its also a fab color to paint your door. Its very welcoming, and it leaves no guesswork up to likely buyers. They will be able to find the door quickly and easily. It also conveys that the owners are powerful, and even thwarts burglary!
And dont forget Curb Appeal.....
A curvy walkway that leads buyers to your front door is not only good Feng Shui, its 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 decent to have interesting architectural details, use different coordinating colours to maximise the effect. Yellow is welcoming and it makes the house feel grounded.
Lets get down to business!
Balancing out specific rooms
If a clients 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, house 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 merchandising the house.
Top Ten Feng Shui Hints for Selling Your Home
#1 Make sure you cannot see a toilet from the bed. If your bath is directly in view, mask it with a decorative Japanese screen, or hanging curtain.
#2 Make sure your feet are not pointing out the door while in bed. This is the death position. If you have to angle the bed, do it. The bed should be symmetrical - with twin(a) nightstands and lamps.
#3 A headboard is key. If you dont have one, get one, or make one. Paint the bedroom a soothing, light, neutral color, such as green, gold, taupe or beige.
#4 Clutter is the inverse of Feng Shui. Go for S-P-A-C-E by clearing out EVERY unnecessary item from your home.
#5 Paint your door red!
#6 Let there be light! Add lighting or mirrors to blah areas to pump up the energy.
#7 Keep your porch and extraneous lights on at night! Make sure people can see your house numbers - make them large!
#8 There shouldnt be any heavy beams or heavy light fixtures right away over the bed. You can paint beams the same color as the cap to make them visually go away.
#9 When provision seating arrangements, make sure no one has their back to the door.
#10 Go for Yin, as well as Yang. Make a nice flow throughout the house by adding a round dining room table.
Whats that smell?
AROMATHERAPY
It may seem obvious, but the best thing you can do for your home is to clean it (thoroughly) and remove all the clutter. With Feng Shui, you want to strike 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.
Mens 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 aroma contains all three scents...
Womens favorite scents? Warm scents (like vanilla) top the list of Midwestern womens ducky scents. Women in the South go for clean/soapy scents. Nigh everyone loves lavender and roses.
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 superannuated fixtures, countertops, etc, with inexpensive but lush-looking solutions....such as:
a stainless steel cover for your dish washer - which will at once 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 tessellated 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 select something that either looks REAL, or desirable.
For example, if you go with vinyl, opt one that looks like stone, not one that looks like vinyl.
For linoleum, you could do a actually retro checkerboard with two modern colours - like alternating brown and robins egg blue tiles.
Of course you want to update the whole kitchen with the same scheme - so paint the walls and/or cabinets to organise with whatever you opt for the floor.
A WORD ABOUT CABINETS:
Men tend to love demolition. Before the man in your household pulls out the sledgehammer, weigh this:
The fact is, believably 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 in front painting or staining.
New hardware (drawer and console pulls) covers a multitude of sins, and can steer your kitchen into the 21st century. Pay attending to contrast. For example, if you go with dark cabinets, make sure walls and floors are lighter, to produce contrast, and keep things light.
SUPER TIP FOR THE KITCHEN:
If you cant afford to do a full-blown refurbishment in the kitchen, use gadget paint to cover up your old reap gold 1970s appliances.
FINAL STAGING:
In the kitchen, stage it so people can imagine cooking there. A large bowl of Granny Smith apples is a wonderful excogitation touch. Or, put a bottle of wine on the table, with a decorative cheese and snapper plate next to it. Help the buyers use their imaginations.
The john
Make sure shack 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 interchange the vibe. Remember, a can of paint costs about $25 and it provides the single biggest impact.
To produce the illusion of space, many people are replacing their old sinks with new retro pedestal sinks, which create optic space by exposing more of the floor.
If you favour a vanity/sink combo, go to a stone .
About the Author (text)Jennifer Emmer has studied and practiced Feng Shui since 1995. She is a Feng Shui Consultant and Interior Designer with hundreds of clients. She has designed homes, offices, businesses, movie studios, pilates studios, bed and breakfasts, and yachts on the West Coast, East Coast, the middle U.S., Italy, and England.
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