Feng Shui and Antiques

by Dr. Lori Verderame

Many people want to decorate their interiors using antiques, art, and collectibles and employ the principles of feng shui. The calming and positive energy that feng shui design promotes in your home can be achieved using many different types of antiques.

The ancient Chinese practice of feng shui attempts to create a harmony in one’s environment. Feng shui promotes overall positive energy in spaces. Furniture placement and accessory arrangement, use of color and ways to organize objects in order to prevent clutter are all important tenets of feng shui. Antiques and collectible objects can be incorporated into feng shui design with ease.

Basic feng shui

Certain colors inspire moods or feelings. For instance, red, purple, and pink which are associated with fire and spark high energy in a home. Neutral colors or earth tones offer stability and metal tones in white or gray suggest a sense of clarity in a design area. The color blue like water is associated with abundance and objects relating to wood that are green or brown in color spark a feeling of growth.

What to Look For

When it comes to decorating with antiques in a feng shui manner, look for objects that make it easy to stick to the feng shui rules. If you like antique collecting, you know that kitchen collectibles from the mid 20th Century are colorful and spark fire energy like a red cookie jar when displayed. Mid century modern pieces in metal with leather like chairs by Harry Bertoia and Mies van der Rohe or International style architecture by Philip Johnson as well as other 1950s & 1960s collectibles are design features that keep clarity in an interior design. Blue, a calming color, can be incorporated into a feng shui design by adding a piece of Staffordshire pottery, flow blue ceramics, Limoges porcelains, or Wedgwood in order to bring a sense of abundance into a room. Wood elements known to feng shui in brown or green add growth feelings via objects like Native American baskets and other collectibles.

When it comes to decorating with antique furniture from the 18th and 19th Centuries, feng shui goes hand in hand with antique pieces. With antiques and in feng shui, it is a good idea to leave ample room between pieces to insure good flow and to avoid damage to antique painted furniture, armoires, chests of drawers, or tables from scratches, dents, etc. Feng shui designers suggest that you keep paths between rooms clear and to insure the integrity and value of a piece of antique furniture, it is a good idea to place furniture in locations where residents and guests do not bump into it. This will protect the valuable and aged antique object from possible damage and allow for ease of movement in decorated rooms.

Feng shui teaches that round or smooth edged pieces of furniture are more inviting than pieces with sharp lines and edges. Curved and traditional furniture pieces like Duncan Phyfe furniture or Eastlake furniture and antique pool tables invite guests to come in and relax.

Entryways, in feng shui design, should be obstacle free. The foyer of a home is where the positive energy is allowed to enter the home. This clear entryway tenet is a good suggestion for antique collectors since antiques and valuable collectibles should generally not be displayed in foyers because of temperature and humidity changes that occur at the front door of a home. Temperature and humidity changes often occur in the front hall and main entry foyer and this can impact the condition of a work of art, antique, or collectible. With that said, the fewer pieces in a foyer, the better. Select a single chair, small table or wreath to decorate your foyer leaving ample space for positive energy to flow. Well lit entryways are also associated with feng shui. Stained glass windows are a good decorating solution for the antique lover such as Tiffany stained glass windows and stained glass windows of other styles and period to filter out some of the damaging sunlight.

Feng shui is an interesting and easy to achieve interior design method. Using antiques and art to enhance your space with feng shui in mind will allow you to display old objects with pride and make positive energy feel right at home.

Get an online appraisal report of your antique from Dr. Lori.