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October 31, 2008
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Bathroom Across from Entry |
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Q: When you enter my flat, there's a center hallway that leads to a bathroom. The bathroom door faces the main door. I do have a feeling this might be causing the financial problems we are facing. Nothing seems to be working out to better our finances or help me find a new job. We'll be really grateful for any cure you can suggest.
A: If your bathroom is directly opposite the door, at the end of a hallway in the center of your home, it is in the Fame/Reputation gua, not your Weatlh or Career areas. That could affect how others perceive you, which would be a factor when applying for a job, for example. While you might wish to address that (suggestions follow), I doubt it's the underlying cause of work/wealth problems. See this post for why I think feng shui bathroom phobia is often an overreaction.
Decorating your bathroom with greens, purples, reds, and some living plants, if possible, will help create a space more “friendly” to the Fire element associated with Fame and reputation.
Keep in mind that chi goes where your attention goes. If you are concerned about the bathroom placement, the first and easiest solution is to keep the door closed or just a little ajar so you don't see into the bathroom when you enter your home. Look for opportunities to place something to attract your attention away from the bathroom as you enter the apartment. For example, if space allows, you might place a console table and attractive floral arrangement (artificial flowers okay) or lamp (on a timer, so it's lit when you come home in the evening) in the foyer, or hang a beautiful tapestry or fabric panel, or an art poster, somewhere along the hallway or even on the bathroom door to catch your eye.
A faceted crystal ball halfway down the hall, or chandelier-style light fixture in the foyer or hall will also help to divert chi from the bathroom.
Although a large mirror is often recommended for the outside of the bathroom door, I would not recommend it in your case because it will visually double the length of the hallway, which will encourage chi to move too quickly in that direction.
Don't forget to examine your wealth and career areas as well: any feng shui problems in those areas will have a more direct impact on your job/money issues than the bathroom.
Hope this helps clarify things for you,
Stephanie R.
Q+A POLICY
The purpose of this Q+A service is to clarify modern feng shui principles and remedies, and to help you make sense of contradictory teachings you’re likely to come across. If you are new to this blog, please read the Q+A Guidelines (see sidebar on left) before sending me a question. Do expect that I will edit your message for clarity and focus, and that it will be several days (often longer) before I post a reply. Keep in mind, too, that you’re getting my personal opinion on the topic. If you ask someone else, you might get a different answer.Labels: bathroom, crystals, doors, Feng Shui Q+A, mirrors, prosperity
posted by Stephanie R. #
10/31/2008 10:18:00 AM
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October 02, 2008
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Workspace near the bathroom |
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Q: I work at home, and the door to the room my workspace is in is directly across from the bathroom door. Lately my finances are suffering, so I want to do something to correct this. My plan is to:
1) put red/earth carpet at the entrance to the bathroom
2) place a bowl of pebbles on the top of the toilet
3) install Japanese half-curtains on my doors, like the ones in Japanese restaurants, that you bend down to duck under when you enter
4) hang a large mirror on the bathroom door (as is often suggested) to deflect any good chi from going into the bathroom.
I’m concerned, though, that the mirror will also reflect my work area. Will this do more harm than good?
A: Sorry to stick a pin in the balloon of your feng shui plans, but I think most of these ideas are misguided. It’s important to keep in mind that most common “bathroom cures” are designed to counteract a poorly located bathroom, such as a bathroom in the wealth or marriage area. But that’s not the issue here. You’re concerned because the door to your workspace faces the bathroom door.
If you are concerned that “money chi” is somehow flowing from your work area out the door and across the hall and down the bathroom drains (as alarmist bathroom-phobes might say will happen), adding earth chi to the bathroom isn’t going to fix that.
Same is true if you are worried that nasty chi from the bathroom is seeping out across the hall and polluting your work area (another theory that I don’t buy into). A bowl of pebbles on top of the toilet isn’t going to affect that, either. Yes, according to the cycles of the elements, earth “controls” water… but the strong water chi of the bathroom is not the problem here, so you don’t need to fix it.
Where proximity is the concern the remedy is to interrupt whatever funky influence you suspect may be coming (or going) from across the hall. The best way to do this is to hang a faceted crystal ball either outside the bathroom door or midway between your desk and the bathroom. You might also place a large houseplant beside your desk on the side that’s nearest the door.
The Japanese half-curtain does create a barrier between the two spaces, which is a fine concept: but the bathroom already has a door you can keep closed, right? So the curtain goes where, on the door to your workspace? Think about this for a minute: what kind of situation are you setting up for yourself if you have to bend over and duck under an obstacle each time you enter your work area? Is that kind of movement pattern likely to make your work life or financial situation any easier? I doubt it.
As for the mirror, yes these are frequently recommended for the outside of the bathroom door, if the bathroom location is a problem. It’s not quite accurate, though, to say that the mirror is there to “delfect good chi” from getting into the bathroom area. (BTW, I disagree with the entire concept that “good chi” from your room across the hall is going to wander over to the bathroom and get flushed away.) What the mirror does is symbolically “erase” the bathroom space: when you look at the mirror you see in the reflection a space that is not the bathroom. The mirror is there to disguise the bathroom, not to deflect good chi.
If the mirror reflects your desk, then yes, it could be “moving” your desk into the bathroom, and that’s the opposite of what you want to do. Something else to keep in mind is that if the mirror reflects your desk it could symbolically be doubling your workload. Whether or not that’s a good thing or a bad thing is for you to decide. Perhaps twice the client load or twice the billable hours will be a dream come true for you. Or maybe you already feel overextended and any more work will overwhelm you.
What this all boils down to is that it appears you have collected a hodgepodge of generic bathroom cures from a variety of sources and traditions without really focusing in on what exactly the issue is in your situation, so you can choose strategies that are appropriate for the underlying problem.
Personally, I suspect the situation is a “no big deal” at best. The idea that bathrooms are sinkholes of pestilence dates from pre-industrial times long before the introduction of indoor plumbing, flush toilets and, more to the point, Lysol. Our modern bathrooms—if we keep them clean—are just not that nasty an influence. (Yes, the draining influence of the plumbing can be a concern, but again, that's not the issue here.)
I think it’s far more likely that you are being affected by a poor desk position within your work room and that the location of the bathroom across the hall has little to do with it.
Hope this helps you re-think your plans toward a more targeted solution,
Stephanie R.
Q+A POLICY
The purpose of this Q+A service is to clarify modern feng shui principles and remedies, and to help you make sense of contradictory teachings you’re likely to come across. If you are new to this blog, please read the Q+A Guidelines (see sidebar on left) before sending me a question. Do expect that I will edit your message for clarity and focus, and that it will be several days (often longer) before I post a reply. Keep in mind, too, that you’re getting my personal opinion on the topic. If you ask someone else, you might get a different answer.Labels: bathroom, crystals, Feng Shui Q+A
posted by Stephanie R. #
10/02/2008 02:53:00 PM
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Closing off space for bathroom remodel |
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Q: We are currently remodeling the bathroom of our Victorian house. My husband wants to close off a door to a closet with drywall in order to create new wall space in our too small bathroom. This would mean that there would be an empty space in the center of our home that is completely walled off. Imagine We do have plans to eventually open up that space into another room, but that could be a year or more in the future. In the meantime I am worried that closing off this space this could have some negative effects. I would be so thankful to have your input on this. I have not been able to find an answer for this after many months of searching.
A: In feng shui terms, closing off an area in the center of your home is a truly terrible idea. My advice: don’t do it.
Surely you can put up with the minor inconvenience of not enough wall space in the bathroom until you are ready to do more complete renovations? Closing off the bathroom access to that space at the same time as you open it on another side isn’t going to cause any problems.
Hope this helps you and your husband reach agreement on an approach,
Stephanie R.Labels: bathroom, other people's stuff
posted by Stephanie R. #
10/02/2008 02:41:00 PM
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September 29, 2008
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Q. Our master bathroom is on the second floor above the kitchen, and our sink is directly above the stove. Is that a problem? Is it “fixed” because I have a microwave and a wood cabinet above the stove and other wood cabinets that cover the complete length of the kitchen?
A: Yes, it’s a problem (water-fire conflict, especially since water is overhead and likes to run downhill). Fortunately, having the sink above the stove is less serious a problem than when the toilet is directly above the stove.
And no, your wooden cabinets are not fixing this. The cabinets do create a bit of a buffer, which is better than nothing, but they don’t correct the problem.
Just because wooden furniture is made out of wood, that doesn't mean it represents the wood element. I know some people say it does, but I strongly disagree on that point. For one thing, any kind of furniture made from wood has no living wood chi left in it, and when we want to add "wood-type cures" to a space what we're looking for is that natural vitality of plants and tress. Keep in mind, too, that wooden kitchen cabinets are brown and rectangular which means they have “earth-type” color and shape.
When a bathroom is in a tricky position, such as over the kitchen , the recommended remedies are to:
1) Hang a faceted crystal ball in the center of the kitchen
2) In the bathroom, place a three- or six-inch round mirror on the ceiling directly above the toilet to visually reverse the downward flow of water (use double-sided tape to hold the mirror in place)
3) Place earth-type objects in the corners of the bathroom to stabilize the energy
4) Add an image such as a bird or tree to the downstairs area below the bathroom to help lift the energy there. For example, perhaps you can file a decorative tile with a bird or tree motif that could hang on the wall between the stove-top and the cabinet.
Thank you for your advice. I’ve enjoyed your books and web sites very much.
You’re very welcome, it’s my pleasure to help,
Stephanie R.
Q+A POLICY
The purpose of this Q+A service is to clarify modern feng shui principles and remedies, and to help you make sense of contradictory teachings you’re likely to come across. If you are new to this blog, please read the Q+A Guidelines (see sidebar on left) before sending me a question. Do expect that I will edit your message for clarity and focus, and that it will be several days (often longer) before I post a reply. Keep in mind, too, that you’re getting my personal opinion on the topic. If you ask someone else, you might get a different answer.Labels: bathroom, Feng Shui Q+A, Kitchens
posted by Stephanie R. #
9/29/2008 12:24:00 PM
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