Feng Shui Architecture Blog

The blog of Feng Shui Master Consultant and Teacher Simona Mainini, Dr. Arch.

3 STEPS TO GET A GOOD FENG SHUI HOUSE

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I often find myself property-scouting with clients for properties to buy and live in. Feng Shui was only introduced to the U.S. on a large scale very recently; hence, most houses were not designed with Feng Shui principles in mind.

In most cases, you’ll need some Feng Shui suggestions before moving in, which includes colors, materials, furniture layout, etc. But nothing structural.

In some other cases, and depending on the budget, you may be thinking of a more structural renovation, like adding a master suite or a second floor.

Either way, creating a good Feng Shui house from an existing house where Feng Shui was not taken into account requires less time and it is less expensive than trying to find the perfect Feng Shui house “ready to go”.

The fastest and easier way to do it right is to do it with a professional.
I receive dozens of calls every month by frustrated home-buyers trying to do it themselves by searching online or reading a book. Real Feng Shui is very complicated and it takes years to learn and hundreds of case studies to master.

Now, if you really want to learn it, we are happy to have you in our classes at UCLA or online. You can visit our Feng Shui School site to learn more at www.FengShuiTrainingCenter.com

Or, if you are to busy to learn it, you can hire us to review a property for you and have your solution to a perfect Feng Shui house in a jiffy.

In my experience, here here what most home owners ask for. See if any of them can work for you:

feng-shui-house1) Inspect a Property Before it’s Purchased (to ensure it is a worthwhile building). Some properties need more corrections than others, which implies an increase in budget to do the corrections with. During a pre-purchase inspection I inform my clients on what is needed to be done and they can then get a quote for its implementation BEFORE acquiring the property. This is the most effective way to financially plan your purchase and your Feng Shui improvements all at once. This is done during escrow, or, preferably, before making an offer, which can save you the escrow’s associated costs on the wrong property.

2) Move-In Consultation. This is done after the property has been purchased and happens sometime between the closing of escrow and the moment you get the moving truck at your door. During this time I visit the premises and make recommendations in terms of colors, materials, and furniture layout so when the truck actually delivers your items the walls are already painted in the right colors and you know where to place your main furniture. This is by far the most popular consultation of all.

feng-shui-house3) Renovation Consulting. This is often done after the property has been purchased, and the new owner has  already planned for it, with the associated construction budget needed. It is often done when the property in question is very old, or is in unsuitable condition, or the new owner simply wants to do some structural upgrades to it before moving in. This consultation is more complex than #2 and it could be more extensive and require a larger budget. It will probably involve an architect, or a designer or contractor of some kind as well. From a Feng Shui standpoint, this can also be the most effective way to change the energy of a property by incorporating the Feng Shui corrections during the redesign stage.

What is your situation? Are you buying a new house for yourself and your family? Are you curious to know how to improve your new (or existing) house? We can provide in-person consultations as well as long-distance consultations (thanks to the latest technology resources) and assist you while you are buying your new home, or are getting ready to move into it. Read more about it here

Let us know how we can help you turn your new home into a great Feng Shui home. Email me directly at  Dr.simona@fengshuiarch.com or call us at 310 860 8989.

If you are a designer, architect, realtor or other design professional or Feng Shui enthusiast  interested in learning more about Feng Shui to offer this service to your clients, check out our Advanced Feng Shui for Architecture, Design, and Landscape program. This new webinar course (live video and screen-sharing) start on April 23 and you are welcome to join us! Click here for details.

YEAR OF THE PIG 2019: FENG SHUI FORECAST

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NEW WEBINAR PRESENTATION

2019 YEAR OF THE EARTH PIG

January 26, 2019 at 11 am  Pacific Standard Time (2pm East, 1 pm Central)

Register Here to attend this free presentation

Login Link will be provided upon registration

Description

Chinese New Year is coming up on February 5, 2019

Feng Shui New Year (Spring Stand) is February 4, 2019

Join us for this Webinar presentation with Feng Shui Master Simona Mainini, Dr. Arch. while she walk us thru the yearly Feng Shui and Astrology forecast for 2019, year of the Earth Pig. The Earth Pig of 2019 is going to be very different that 2018. Gentle, fun loving Pig is softening the stands and bringing good sense into heated debates.
Do not miss this opportunity to see what the new year has in store for you and how to make the best of it.
Would like to attend but the time doesn’t work for you? No worries, all registered participants will received a link to the presentation recording after the webinar is completed.

[Read more…]

FENG SHUI CLASS LOS ANGELES: UCLA WESTWOOD CAMPUS

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FENG SHUI FOR DESIGNERS & ARCHITECTS at UCLA EX. in Los Angeles (Westwood Campus)
6-Weeks In-Person Class
Thursday September 26, 2019 – October 31, 7-10 pm

LOCATION

UCLA Extension Lindbrook Center in Westwood (adjacent to main Campus)
10920 Lindbrook Drive,
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Room 204D

Closest UCLA Parking Structure 32, Parking lot 36

Register Here for this In-Person Course
Or call 310 825 9061

NOTE: class is taught in Fall, Winter and Spring quarters.
Click the link above for additional schedule.

This Feng Shui class is Los Angeles examines the principles and application of Feng Shui.

Discussion explores:

— The basic theories from which Feng Shui derives;
— How human physiology interacts with the surrounding environment;
— Landscape evaluation and correction;
— Best orientations, layout, colors, and materials based on the occupant’s energy;
— How building orientation and year affects a building’s energy and occupants;
— And applying these principles to a building in varying stages of development.

This class is part of the UCLA Ex. Architecture and Interior Design Department.

2-Unit Credits apply to students enrolled in the Master in Interior Architecture and Certificate in Interior Design.

Space Planning Assignments are mandatory for students enrolled in these programs.

Feng Shui Apple Campus: the Biggest Experiment Since the Forbidden City

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Feng Shui Apple Campus

 

 

See here footage of the new #AppleCampus in Cupertino.

I can’t wait to see how this one turns out in the long run.

It is not my work, as round shape floor plan is generally considered not good in Feng Shui and I would never let any client take such a risk if I wasn’t sure it was going to turn out 100% good.

The building is huge so maybe the old rationale still apply, or maybe not?…will it have good effect or a bad effects? Only time will tell. I think we can safely consider this the biggest Feng Shui experiment since the Forbidden City. My own participation in the Feng Shui consulting for the Los Angeles Zoo addition few years back is tiny in comparison.

It is $5 billion case study, a very expensive experiment, but great for Feng Shui scholars to see how this very brilliant company will benefit, or not, from it. Keeping my finger crossed for them.

Thank you Steve for taking suck a risk and allow every Feng Shui Master in the world to learn from this!

Want to learn more about how Feng Shui can help your Business? Click here

Read more how Feng Shui can help with your Real Estate Investment Property by clicking here

FENG SHUI FOR BUSINESS

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feng shui for business

Feng Shui for Business

I have often talked about the importance of been prepared– meaning being “business prepared–“ when beginning a new business endeavor.  In that sense, utilizing Feng Shui’s principles in an office or a business location is part of being prepared to eliminate blockages in the ‘energy’ that could prevent you and your business from achieving the goals you’re setting out to accomplish.

Some of you may already have read books on Feng Shui for business– or perhaps read my brief for the Canon Corporation on how to maximize productivity and reduce office stress.    You may have already introduced some elements of Feng Shui in your office design, or perhaps you have gone so far as to hire an expert– hard as it is to find a qualified one these days.


And yet, some of you may still find your business has been a place of challenges both on a personal and professional level. This is usually a sign that something is up at a deeper, more advanced Feng Shui level. And as well intended as we may be as expert Feng Shui Masters turned teachers and writers, it is just too lengthy and complex to address every case scenario in our books or classes for why this may be happening. Have I mentioned before how the energy distribution of each building is based on the year of construction of the said building and its orientation?  This means there are literally hundreds of combinations that give each building its unique characteristics in the way each one affects its occupants. Then you can add to that how each of the occupants may each have a need for more specific colors or materials or desk placement in his or her office based on their date of birth and there you have it– a three variable equation! How many of you really have the patience of going through such training just to set up your office?

So, to make things a bit easier for you, I am going to enlist four major groups of buildings that you may come across when shopping around for a building, when considering where to move your office or business, or where to start a new one. If you have already moved in this can serve as a “check list” to evaluate how good the building you have rented and purchased is and whether it would be a good idea to consider having the consult of a Feng Shui expert to do some “fixing.”

Those who know me have already heard me say several times, mostly about residential, that a building’s energy, whether good or bad, affects its occupants time and again.  That is because each building is created with certain, specific features that have the ability of affecting people on a health, wellness, relationship, and the ability to perform in business level as well as with life in general. So, if a building has great aspects it will affect its occupants in a very “lucky” manner, while buildings that are not very positive will affect its occupants by bringing about challenges and overwhelming obstacles.

Many make the mistake in thinking that a previous occupant’s bad luck may have “lingered” in the building, when in fact it was the Feng Shui’s characteristics under which the building was created– most of the time unbeknownst to unaware designers and architects– that had affected the one or more different occupants over time. So knowing what has happened to the previous occupant(s) of a space can give you some indication of what the building may have in store for you too.

Obviously there are many variables to how having bad Feng Shui could undermine a company’s business efforts, but for the sake of this discussion, I have grouped them into four main categories. Check them out and see if any apply to your office or business location:

Feng Shui for Business Tip #1
Spaces Where Companies or Businesses Seem To Always Go Out of Business

feng shui for businessThis is the most obvious “red flag” you can come across: the building has been affecting occupants with a history of financial problems over and over again– and the older the building, the clearer you’ll be able to see this.  So there’s a very good chance that the same building will affect your business the same way.

A few years ago I helped a client, John, select a new business location for a store. I had worked with him previously, so he was already aware of how accurate and effective Feng Shui had been for both his residence and with a different business that he had opened a few years prior in a different location.

When reviewing the location he had picked out I advised him that the building had a very adverse potential– bad for financial success, but also bad for the occupants relations and I recommended, if he was going to acquire this space, that he planned in the renovation’s budget for some serious structural remodeling (namely removing the roof of the warehouse-type building so that the original, unfavorable energy could be released and updated to a more favorable, current energy.)  After finding out that the previous occupant had gone bankrupt, John was more than convinced of the need for this replacement and set a budget aside for it.

And so he did. However, for this new endeavor, he had joined forces with another, very successful entrepreneur, who, unfortunately, didn’t believe in using Feng Shui.

So while this gentleman did agree on some of the modification I suggested, he opposed the plans to replace the roof. To not upset his new business partner, John reluctantly went along with not doing it.  And so, the renovations were carried on without this crucial part of my recommendations

No sooner had the renovations begun than the trouble also appeared on the horizon– construction was delayed several times and dragged on for several months due to multiple misunderstandings between the architects, contractors, and clients.  By the time the “Grand Opening” came about John and his new business partner had experienced so many “irreconcilable differences” in the business managements and on a personal level that they decide to, resentfully, split. By the end of the year the business was sold and a new owner took over– while John’s other building’s businesses were Feng Shui had been successfully applied were flourishing.

Feng Shui for Business Tip #2
Spaces Which Cause Arguments, Office Politicking, Scandals, Lawsuits, etc.

This is a variation on the previous one. However, this kind of building is a bit more difficult to identify because companies and business in this kind of building may still do fairly well financially, which makes it hard to detect as a Feng Shui problem simply due to the fact that it’s being shown as people who are just not getting along with each other. Nevertheless, it could be something as simple as readjusting the office’s layout to improve the relations between people and, consequently, both productivity and the bottom-line.

Feng Shui for Business Tip #3
Buildings Unoccupied for a Long Time

feng shui for businessThese situations are the most difficult to explain to clients because most of these buildings are usually on the market for an incredibly reasonable price tag and that can lure even the most hardcore Feng Shui aficionado into thinking what we all would think– “It’s a great deal!”  But remember– not all that glitters is gold. If you investigate a bit more you’ll soon find out that your “dream building” has been unoccupied for months, maybe even years, which is the reason for the cheap price. What do you do then?  If you know what’s good for you (and your business) you’ll start doing some more research before signing that escrow/lease agreement.

My suggestion is that you first get your information from a reliable third party, not your or another party’s agent who may know nothing about the building’s history, but rather from the building’s neighbors or the current, “soon-to-be-previous-occupants.” These are among the best third party sources to ask.

I have done this several times, one of which I remember very well.  I had witnessed my client, Bob, completely enthusiastic about a space way larger than what he could afford, but wanted it mainly because it had a very “sweet deal” attached to it. Based on the year of construction I was given the place looked like a dream come true– a great space with an excellent price– which made me suspicious. When I asked the real estate agent who occupied the space previously I was told that the space had been empty for seven months– which made me seriously suspicious. I had to convince my client to take 24 hours to think it over so I could find a way to collect more information. Since we were away from Los Angeles I couldn’t rely on any of my usual sources, so we sent one of Bob’s employees to have a friendly “chat” with the occupants of the office suite right next door. There we found out that the building had indeed been empty for seven months because the previous company had gone bankrupt and its guarantor was still carrying out the lease for them. So think about whether or not you’d like to get one of these supposed “deals” for yourself and your business.

Feng Shui for Business Tip #4
Buildings That Have Been in Business Since the Beginning of Time and They’re Still Thriving

feng shui for businessNow it probably goes without saying that these are the best buildings ever. You can think of them as coming with a “Feng Shui Warranty.” They may need to be “tinkered with” to accommodate your business and maximize its potential, but you know a good potential is there to begin with.  And this is the kind of building I recommend my client to always look for. But the trick is there are not very many of them around. Only about 25% of buildings designed and constructed without keeping Feng Shui in account end up having good potential, and they still need tweaking afterwards! So imagine what happens when you just “choose” your business or office location without keeping Feng Shui in consideration. Are you really ready to deal with the unknown?

Having said that, do you know now what’s in your building?
Let me know if I can be of any assistance at 310 860 8989

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your business, find more information here.

For Feng Shui Courses and Classes visit our Training Center site www.FengShuiTrainingCenter.com

FENG SHUI FOR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT PROPERTIES

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real-estate-investment

I recently did a consultation for a large apartment complex in Alhambra, CA. In this particular case my “client” was the real estate investment company who had just bought the complex rather than an individual client occupying only one of the units (as a tenant). Concerned about the predominant presence of a strong Asian community located there, my real estate investment client wanted to ensure that all “cultural requirements” were addressed during the renovations of the entire property (which included four buildings and 162 units in all).

So, you might ask, is the Feng Shui of a property someone is buying for investment purposes only (a.k.a. business gain) important? After all, the investors do not plan to live there, right?

The answer is “Yes! It is very important”. Often, what we attribute to poor management are instead poor Feng Shui issues.

When you acquire a property and you are planning to derive financial income from it, the Feng Shui of that property is also just as important.

If it is rental space (residential or commercial alike), making sure the property has good Feng Shui will assure that your tenants will always do well, and hence be able to pay their rent, reduce turn-over and be able to maintain market value. In addition, experience shows us that buildings with good Feng Shui need less maintenance because things don’t break down as much (with less headaches and expenses for the landlord). So, as you can see you can have good karma and good R.O.I. too.

If the property has good Feng Shui, your tenants will feel very comfortable in the space and will stay longer (minimizing your turn-over). Moreover, when these tenants leave, the amiable energy of the property will naturally attract more tenants faster than if the property didn’t have good Feng Shui.

Wouldn’t you say these are all valuable benefits for an investment property?

real-estate-investmentIn my long career as a Feng Shui Master I have consulted numerous times for people looking to rent new spaces for both residential and commercial, and I noticed that the properties remaining vacant have often bad Feng Shui. And what does a “good” building manager do when there are vacant spaces in their building? They lower the rent to keep all the units occupied. And thou it is a standard practice, it also results in loss of income for the landlord.

It also doesn’t solve the underlying problem of the building itself, and so though people do move in, they then either aren’t happy there or do poorly and run out of funds — and end up moving out or worse, staying for free. Which, again, results in a loss of income for the landlord. This is not a management problem, it is a Feng Shui problem.

So, what did I do for my current investment company client to ensure this does not happen to them?

I gave them some sound Feng Shui recommendations on how to enhance the property overall from a Feng Shui perspective to raise the energy of all four buildings using colors, materials, water, and some minor structural improvements that will ensure not only the wellness of their occupants, but also the success of this particular investment. And if they pair this up with a good marketing team, I expect units in this complex will never be vacant for long.

If you would like me to assist you with your own investment property endeavor– or even your current house or business— please contact me at dr.simona@fengshuiarch.com or 310 860 8989.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

For more information about Feng Shui for Real Estate Investements, find more information here.

For more information about our Feng Shui Classes and Courses, visit our Training Center Here.

THE LAW OF ATTRACTION: FENG SHUI FOR MONEY

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Our Manifesting the Law of Attraction with Feng Shui class series, includes several titles on how to use multiple Scientific Feng Shui techniques to increase the Qi of your homes, offices and business to manifest in line with your needs and desires. Feng Shui is the ultimate secret on how to manifest the Law of Attraction.

Titles in this series includes:  Feng Shui for Money, Feng Shui for Career, Feng Shui for Love. For more information visit our Training Center page.

For more information about consultations for home or business, go here

Available Now as Pre-Recorded Video Class on Demand:

FENG SHUI FOR MONEY: Manifesting the Law of Attraction
1-hour Streaming Video Self-Study Online Feng Shui Class
Available On-Demand  Buy and View this video now

Law-of-attraction-feng-shui-for-moneyLearn how to increase your money luck using easy and proven Feng Shui techniques. This is the unabridged video recording of the webinar class held live on April 2015.
These are techniques developed by Dr. Mainini and proven particularly effective in her experience working with clients for nearly 20 years.
It is the companion to the meditation and visualization class “Manifesting the Law of Attraction” also offered in this short video series.


MANIFESTING THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
Companion Meditation and Visualization Class
1-hour Streaming Video Self-Study Online Feng Shui Class
Available On-Demand View this video now

Manifesting the Law of Attraction with Feng ShuiIn this meditation and visualization class, we learn how to set our own personal “energy” compass in line with those same goals to maximize our other Feng Shui efforts. Hence this class is a companion meditation to all other Feng Shui applications classes in the series.
Whether you are familiar with meditation and visualization or not, this class is very easy and particularly designed for beginners.

MANIFESTING THE LAW OF ATTRACTION Series:

Additional upcoming titles in this series (DTBA):

 

Year of the Monkey 2016: How to Prepare for it in the Chinese Calendar

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year-of-the-monkeyEvery year, the Chinese New Year is about a month off from the regular, Gregorian New Year. This year is the year of the Monkey and it is going to be on February 8, while the “Spring Stand” is on February 5.

In Feng Shui, the “Spring Stand” is a particularly big deal, even more so than the Traditional New Year. This is so because February 5 is the midpoint between the Winter Solstice (December 21) and the Spring Equinox (March 21). This is the official time when the Yin-ness of winter ends and the Yang-ness of spring begins. Hence the definition: “The end of Yin, the beginning of Yang” (hence the term “Spring Stand”).

So, what does it all mean?

It means that the energy of the previous year is fully exhausted and that as of February 5, the New Year’s new, vibrant energy is going to come in, like a newborn baby.

This is why, if you have done any business with Hong Kong or Asia, you have noticed that the month of January in general is not a good month to start any new business ventures—contrary to us in the West where we love to implement our New Year’s resolutions on January 1.

This is an acknowledgment that the energy globally is exhausted and so what is the point of starting something new now? You might as well just wait until after the Chinese New Year and the Spring Stand when the energy is fresh and vibrant.

But how do we prepare for it to make sure we get the very best out of this New Year’s energy?

Below I have included the 4 main things I recommend for all my clients to do. In addition, this is the perfect time to have a Feng Shui Consultation for your home or office to make sure the New Year will support your living and working environment at its best.

Also don’t forget to attend my Free, Live, 1 Hour Online Webinar for the 2016 Feng Shui Forecast, the Year of the Monkey, on February 3 at 11 AM, PST.

Here are my 4 key tips on how to prepare your house and yourself to receive the prosperous vibrancy of this New Year:

  • Go through your house, garage, office, and any building you own and discard anything that is broken or unfixable. Even things you have meant to fix for a long time but have still been left sitting there forever (because you didn’t have the time); they all have to go. And I mean everything: clothing, furniture, bikes, cars, or anything that has just been sitting there collecting dust; either fix it or toss it now. For every one of these broken or unfixable items is holding back a piece of your energy if you let it continue to just sit there. However, the simple act of fixing or letting go of these items will release the quantum particle of your own energy you have left trapped in them. This is a technique to bring more of your own energy back to you.
  • Ideally, this is the very best time for spring cleaning. Though you may have already done so in preparation of the holidays, this is a spring cleaning with a purpose. While you are actually dusting off, brushing up, and polishing up things, you are also removing stagnant energy from every room of the house and opening up the space for the life-force of the New Year to come in. I promise you’ll feel the difference immediately!

P.S.: This and tip 1 above are not a martyrdom exercise. You can have a professional organizer, your housekeeper, or your friends and children help out. If fact, often because they are not as attached to the items involved as you are in the process, they may help you move through it all faster and more effectively. The real point is “just get it done” however you can.

  • Next, redecorate some areas based on the new Feng Shui energy. When I consult with you on your house, I will tell you where the best locations are and where the bad locations are throughout it. This way we can fix or avoid the bad spots and rearrange the furniture so you can spend more time in the good areas instead of the bad ones. In the process, we may also shift some of the furniture from room to room too, so you’ll have a house makeover in addition to an energy makeover. (You will not need to buy new furniture, unless you want to.)
  • After doing all this work, take a few minutes to sit down and think about people and circumstances in your life that are broken, especially ones that upset you a bit (or a lot) over the past year. Can they be mended? Relationships are not like furniture. Most time it is easier to fix them than replace them. Can you do that? What would it take for you to do that? Holding a grudge into the New Year is a sure way to guarantee the same problem or circumstance will continue on. Could this be a good opportunity to fix what is broken with the relationships involved in your life? No matter how bad things are, if you are willing to make amends and kindly allow others to do the same with you, there is no relationship that can’t be fixed (even if fixing it means finally letting it go). This is especially true if we are late into our years in life; for if there is life, there is still hope. Don’t let it get too late. And what if they don’t want to mend the relationship with you? As long as you have honestly done all you could to mend your side of the fence then there is nothing more you can do. (Just be honest with yourself in the process and make sure you really are doing all you can.)

Why is it so important to fix all these things before the New Year starts? Because the newly arriving energy of the year can either be supportive for you or not supportive. If you are stuck for a whole year with unsupportive energy all things that are precarious in your life—physically, health-wise, and in your relationships—will come back to haunt you. You can bet on that! And there’s nothing better than preventing the drama from happening just by doing these 4 tips.

And don’t forget to attend our 1 hour, Live Online Webinar on the 2016 Feng Shui Forecast, the Year of the Monkey, on February 3 at 11 AM, PST.

Let me know when you’d like to schedule your consultation for the New Year. Since you are cleaning and decluttering your space, you might as well let me tell you how to rearrange your furniture now too for maximum benefit for this New Year! Call me at 310-860-8989 to schedule an appointment. See you soon!

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

YEAR OF THE MONKEY 2016 IS COMING UP: Time for a Yearly Update

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Year-of-the-Monkey-2016

The Year of the Monkey 2016 is about to start and this is the perfect time for a yearly update.

A Yearly Update is a shorter yearly follow-up consultation designed to address the interaction of an existing structure with the New Year’s “entering” Qi (Life Force Energy). It is different from a Comprehensive Consultation because they usually do not involve major renovations or any new painting. However, the Yearly Update can only be done after a Comprehensive Consultation has been completed. That is why it is a follow-up.

Each building is like a person whose physical constitution can be strong (and healthy) or weak (and unhealthy). During a Comprehensive Consultation I address all weak aspects and provide recommendations on how to correct these weaknesses. After a thorough analysis of all the building’s aspects, I identify the best element to harmonize each room– one of the 5-Elements and its related colors and materials– and only one for each room.

When the 5-Elements corrections have been put in place, the house’s “permanent” energy has been completely addressed and these corrections are to be considered permanent.

But what happens every Chinese New Year?

The energy of the cosmos shifts just a little bit. This shift will have a major effect on new constructions (or large structural renovations). However, the effects on an already existing building are different.

You can think of it as a change of season for the building, and some years are more favorable than others. Amongst these you have years that bring above-average financial abundance, others that cause money losses and a decrease in income; some years assist in fertility, others cause difficulties in relationships and poor health. Yearly Updates are a big part of Feng Shui and they are done extensively in the Asian community as part of the Chinese New Year preparations, literally to “ring in the good Qi.”

Of course if the building has been previously Feng Shui-ed the adverse effects of these extreme yearly energy changes will be softened anyway. However, many prefer to be on the safe side and have a Yearly Update follow-up at the beginning of each New Year to know ahead of time what to expect and to put any additional temporary corrections in place, if any are needed (and normally these will be repositioned the following Chinese New Year).

However, these corrections are not as extensive as those done during a Comprehensive Consultation evaluation and they usually do not involve things like repainting any part of the building’s exterior or interior or any structural construction (mainly because the Yearly corrections are all temporary).

During the Comprehensive Consultation session I also provide a complementary Yearly Update for the current year (or upcoming one, if done close to it) and give you all the tools and recommendations needed to successfully enter the upcoming New Year.

Let me know if I can assist you with your house, office, or business with either a Comprehensive Consultation or a Yearly Update for the New Year. Please call us at 310 860 8989 or email us at dr.simona@fengshuiarch.com to set up an appointment in-person or long-distance.

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

FENG SHUI COLORS: THE FIVE ELEMENTS

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If you are new to Feng Shui, this basic Feng Shui classes for beginners is for you.

FENG SHUI COLORS: THE FIVE ELEMENTS
Pre-Recorded Video Class 90 min.

Buye and View this video here

Enjoy this presentation about one of the most misunderstood Feng Shui techniques: the Five Elements Theory and how to use it to find your Feng Shui Colors.

Feng-Shui-Colors-Five-ElementsHere you’ll learn:

– What are the Five Elements in Feng Shui
– Five Elements Productive Cycle
– Five Elements Destructive Cycle
– How to Correct a Destructive Cycle
– How People Relate to the Five Elements
– How Buildings Relate to the Five Elements
– How to Match People and Buildings using Five Elements
– How to Find Your Feng Shui Colors
– What Feng Shui Colors are Best for You
-What Feng Shui Element is Best for You

NOTE: A link to the video recording of this course will be emailed back to you after purchase.

It will be included in your order confirmation page at the end our your purchase, as well as in an autoresponder email you’ll receive directly in your inbox few minutes after registration is completed. Please watch out for either or both. Check your spam filter if necessary.

We hope you’ll enjoy it and that will bring you lots of good luck!

Buy and View this video here

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

FENG SHUI FOR BUSINESS: the City Club Los Angeles

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When the City Club in downtown Los Angeles decided to relocate to the South Tower of the City National Plaza building in 2012, I was contacted by the planning architect and was offered the task of being the Feng Shui business consultant for their design. In fact, the Club’s General Manager, Larry Ahlquist, had specifically requested my services.  “We have a large Asian clientele,” he informed me during our first meeting. “We know Feng Shui is important to them, and we would like to honor their culture and avoid any Feng Shui faux pas.”

City-Club-Los-Angeles-Before-Feng-ShuiAnd so we rode up to the 51st floor of the City National Plaza’s South Tower to an empty, glass and concrete, 30,000 square foot space with nothing but an electrician there making it fit for use.  It was a Feng Shui Master (and architect’s) dream scenario.  “This building is very good for the Club, Larry,” I shared with him during my initial analysis. “And we’ll make it a smashing success.”

In the following months, Larry and their teams of architects and designers worked painstakingly to create the most luxurious, sophisticated, and yet still warm and inviting look for the “new” club. And proudly, I must say, they all followed every single Feng Shui suggestion I had made during my consulting time with them, incorporating the Five Elements of Feng Shui with the design layout, the colors, and the finishing materials. The result was not only breathtakingly beautiful, but equally perfect from a Feng Shui stand point.

feng-shui-City-Club-1“This building has very good Qi, that is why it is so successful,” one of the members commented to me during one of the Club’s sold out events (and without knowing I was involved in its design). When I explain my involvement, he was very happy to know the management had taken an interest in Feng Shui during its design. And he wanted to know more, so I told him how my consultation had helped. Soon a pool of people started to form around us, all eager to know what I did to make the energy of the place so good.

feng-shui-City-Club-2“In every single area we have inserted natural elements and colors to create harmony with the Qi of the building and to support leadership, financial success, and harmonious relationships for the members in attendance,” I explained.  “So no matter if you are a guest for dinner, having a one-time only meeting in one of the conference rooms, or attending a weekly meeting or a special function or a banquet—every area has been designed specifically for the Qi, meaning the life force energy, to support members in creating success.  And this is possible to attain for anybody and any building, whether it’s a residence, an office, or a place of business, by following my specific Feng Shui Master instructions, just like the City Club management and design teams have done.”

I remained in deep discussion with these members for almost an hour. Upon seeing such an interest in hearing even more details, Larry decided to offer his members (and non-members) a live public presentation at the City Club itself where I could explain what I did even further, and also so that all of his members would be able to have the opportunity to learn how the Feng Shui of the Club can help them achieve success in their daily visits.

And so it is that we’ll now be holding the public presentation “Designed for Success: Feng Shui at the City Club Los Angeles” on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, at 6:30 – 8:00 PM on the Club’s very own premises.

Please join us in celebrating the Club’s success and learn how you too can use Feng Shui principles to make your own business space more successful.

Please call 213.620.9662 to RSVP. A small fee for non-members may apply.

I look forward to seeing you and sharing all I know about Feng Shui with you!

EVENT DETAILS:

“Designed for Success: Feng Shui at the City Club Los Angeles”

Wednesday, March 30, 2016 – 6:30 – 8:00 PM

City Club Los Angeles

555 S. Flower St., 51st Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90071-1558

Call 213.620.9662 to RSVP

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

 

 

FENG SHUI OFFICE TIPS: Planning for Success with a Feng Shui Consultant

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Feng-Shui-Office-Feng-Shui-ConsultantUtilizing Feng Shui Office tips helps achieving the business goals you’re setting out to accomplish.

Some of you may find your business has been a place of challenges both on a personal and professional level. This is usually a sign that something is up at a deeper, more advanced Feng Shui level. The energy distribution of each building is based on its year of construction and its orientation. This means there are literally hundreds of combinations that cause each building to have positive or negative effects on its occupants. In addition, each of the occupants has a need for more specific colors, materials or desk placement based on their date of birth.

So, to make things a bit easier for you, I am giving you here four Feng Shui  Office Tips for buildings you may come across when shopping around for a location, when considering where to move your office or business, or where to start a new one. If you have already moved in this can serve as a “check list” to evaluate how good the building you have rented or purchased is and whether it would be a good idea to consider having the advise of a Feng Shui consultant to do some “fixing.”

A building’s energy, whether good or bad, affects its occupants time and again.  That is because each building is created with certain, specific features that have the ability of affecting people on a health, wellness, relationship, and the ability to perform in business as well as with life in general. So, if a building has great aspects it will affect its occupants in a very “lucky” manner, while buildings that are not very positive will affect its occupants by bringing about unforeseen challenges and overwhelming obstacles.

There is a popular belief that a previous occupant’s bad luck “lingers” in a building after they leave, when in fact it is the Feng Shui’s characteristics under which the building was created– most of the time unbeknownst to designers and architects– that affects different occupants over time. So knowing what has happened to the previous occupant(s) of a space can give you some indication of what the building may have in store for you too.

Obviously there are many variables to how having bad Feng Shui could undermine a company’s business efforts. Check them out and see if any apply to your office or business location:

Feng-Shui-For-BusinessFeng Shui Office Tip 1:

Spaces Where Companies or Businesses Seem To Always Go Out of Business

This is the most obvious “red flag” you can come across: the building has been affecting occupants with a history of financial problems over and over again– and the older the building, the clearer you’ll be able to see this.  So there’s a very good chance that the same building will affect your business the same way.

Three years ago I helped a client, John, select a new business location for a store. I had work with him previously, so he was already aware of how accurate and effective Feng Shui had been for both his residence and with a different business that he had opened a few years prior in a different location.

When reviewing the location he had picked out I advised him that the building had a very adverse potential– bad for financial success, but also bad for the occupants relations and I recommended, if he was going to acquire this space, that he planned in the renovation’s budget for some serious structural remodeling (namely removing the roof of the warehouse-type building so that the original, unfavorable energy could be released and updated to a more favorable, current energy.)  After finding out that the previous occupant had gone bankrupt, John was more than convinced of the need for this replacement and set a budget aside for it.

However, for this new endeavor, he had joined forces with another, very successful entrepreneur, who, unfortunately, didn’t believe in using Feng Shui.
So this gentleman opposed the plans to replace the roof and John, to keep the peace, reluctantly went along with not doing it.

No sooner the store opened than the trouble also appeared on the horizon– sales and goods delivery was delayed several times and dragged on for several months due to multiple misunderstandings between vendors and clients.  In less than a year, John and his new business partner had experienced so many “irreconcilable differences” that they decide to, resentfully, split. By the end of the year the business was sold and a new owner took over. John’s other ventures however, all located in buildings were Feng Shui had been successfully applied, were flourishing.

Feng-Shui-for-Business-2Feng Shui Office Tip 2

Spaces Which Cause Arguments, Office Politicking, Scandals, Lawsuits, etc.

This is a variation on the previous one. However, this kind of building is a bit more difficult to identify because companies and business in this kind of building may still do fairly well financially, which makes it hard to detect as a Feng Shui problem simply due to the fact that it’s being shown as people who are just not getting along with each other. Nevertheless, it could be something as simple as readjusting the office’s layout to improve the relations between people and, consequently, both productivity and the bottom-line.

habtoor_receptionFeng Shui Office Tip 3

Buildings Unoccupied for a Long Time

These situations are the most difficult to explain to clients because most of these buildings are usually on the market for an incredibly reasonable price tag and that can lure even the most hardcore Feng Shui aficionado into thinking “It’s a great deal!”  But remember– not all that glitters is gold. If you investigate a bit more you’ll soon find out that your “dream building” has been unoccupied for months, maybe even years, which is the reason for the cheap price.

What do you do then?

This is a scenario where the help of a qualified consultant will make a difference.

What does it take to fix it? Can be fixed at all? Or is it better to walk away?

All of these questions can be answered in a brief pre-purchase session that can easily fit in your budget.

I have done this several times, one of which I remember very well.  I had witnessed my client, Bob, completely enthusiastic about a space way larger than what he could afford, but wanted it mainly because it had a very “sweet deal” attached to it. Based on the year of construction I was given the place looked like a dream come true– a great space with an excellent price– which made me suspicious. When I asked the real estate agent who occupied the space previously I was told that the space had been empty for seven months– which made me seriously suspicious.

When I review the building upon his request, I found it highly negative for business success and advise against my client’s leasing it.

Later, Bob’s sent one of his undercover employees to have a friendly “chat” with the occupants of the office suite right next door. There we found out that the building had indeed been empty for seven months because the previous company had gone bankrupt and its guarantor was still carrying out the lease for them. So think about whether or not you’d like to get one of these supposed “deals” for yourself and your business.

2-modern-officeFeng Shui Office Tip 4 

Buildings That Have Been in Business Since the Beginning of Time and They’re Still Thriving

Now it probably goes without saying that these are the best buildings ever. You can think of them as coming with a “Feng Shui Warranty.” They may need to be “tinkered with” a bit to accommodate your business and maximize its potential, but you know a good potential is there to begin with.  And this is the kind of building I recommend my client to always look for.

But the trick is: there are not very many of them around. And any of my students who have helped people scouting for property will tell you the same.

Only about 25% of buildings designed and constructed without keeping Feng Shui in account end up having good potential, and they still need tweaking afterwards! So imagine what happens when you just “choose” your business or office location without keeping Feng Shui in consideration. Are you really ready to take such a risk? And very expensive risk too, between set up costs and lost income?

Again, there is no need for you to play the guessing game when comes to Feng Shui.

I am more than willing to assist you in making the right Feng Shui choices, and my consulting costs are very reasonable when compared with the cost you will be encountering by moving into the wrong building. Think how much money you will be saving by moving your business into a good Feng Shui location from inception, or maximizing the one you are in right now.

So give me a call and let’s set up a consultation. I am looking forward to help you creating a very successful business for yourself, your family and all of your employees.

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

FENG SHUI ARCHITECTURE: How To Hire a Qualified Feng Shui Consultant

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Feng_Shui_ArchitectureI had just been hired to review the plans for a new, sizable property in the West Los Angeles area. It is an interesting situation because I am faced with two challenges:

The first is: the design has been done by one of the most famous Los Angeles authority in the field of architecture – very high profile AIA senior member and a gentleman I have known and respected, as architect, for a very long time.

I am at an advantage in this case since I have also received an architectural training, hence I have more sensitivity toward the details of his design than a regular consultant would. In addition I have been teaching Feng Shui at the Department of Architecture and Interior Design of UCLA Ex. for 15 years, so I know how to give concise and sound instructions that are effective from both the Architecture and the Feng Shui perspective without interfering with the original creative thinking. In other word, I am less likely to butcher the project it in the name of Feng Shui.

My other professional challenge is that I am not the first or second Feng Shui opinion requested, but rather the third or fourth. It is not a real challenge thou, since most of the previous consultants did not specialize like I do in architectural projects, so I am pretty sure the solutions they provided are not as effective.

In fact, after reviewing the recommendations provided by previous consultants, I had to conclude that they are simply “inappropriate” for an architectural project. Obviously any of the previous consultant didn’t have an architectural training, and possibly a rather dubious Feng Shui training too (given some of the recommendations), and the kind of suggestions they had made were rather unsuitable for the lot, the architectural design and the lifestyle of the client.

Some has recommended to rearrange a few piece of furniture – which really doesn’t achieve much in a several thousand square feet home. Another has recommended to “flip” the floor plan on the lot (completely disregarding the zoning and building department requirement, BTW) and frankly not getting much of an improvement on a Feng Shui level. Yes, I know what you are thinking, but that is what you get when a consultant lacks proper Feng Shui training. I see this all the time.

So, after meeting with the owner and the design team, and after reviewing the entire property, I came up with six alternatives that still fit the city requirement and maintain the architect’s vision. Admittedly, some are probably more sensible then others, but they are all valid from a Feng Shui Architecture perspective.

After brainstorming with the architects and the property owner, we have narrow down our choices to one, which is under redesign right now. And all of this was accomplished in only two meetings. THIS is what you get when you hire a truly experienced and qualified consultant like myself or one of my FSA Training Center graduates.

What about the previous consultations, you may ask? Well, my client is not going to get any benefit and no reimbursement either from any of them. So I guess they were a waste of time and money. That is why choosing a really qualified consultant is important (and make sure they credentials are verifiable too).

Whether you are designing a new building, renovating one or planning to purchase one to live or work in, you can most certainly benefit from having a Feng Shui consultant working along the side with you to make sure your project is successful. Because since building effects occupants, the Feng Shui of your building is going to have an effect on you too.

But when you deal with an architectural project, the skills and knowledge of the consultant you choose will make all the difference, as they have made for my client.

If you’re planning on hiring a consultant and are not sure about their qualification, drop me a line and I will be happy to give you some “pro” suggestions. Or visit our site at www.fengshuiarch.com to learn more on what you should be looking for when hire a Feng Shui professional.

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

FENG SHUI FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS: Creating Success in Real Estate Investment

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MagellanGatewayGroundbreaking2015 (2)Magellan Gateway Business Park has finally broke ground last Thursday in El Monte, CA. It is a great example of perfect Feng Shui for commercial buildings. 

Over the past year, I have work relentlessly with the development company in the application of Feng Shui for this 5-building Business Park, covering 26 acres and over 500,000 square feet of units available for sale and lease. View video of the site during groundbreaking day  VideoMagellanGateway1

My services were originally requested to cater to Asian investors and prospective clients – El Monte is currently expanding by leaps and bounds thanks to the Asian community.

However, as we progressed, the development team became aware of the many insightful applications of Feng Shui for commercial success I was able to provide them with and decided to follow all my recommendations in detail.

It has been one of the best projects I worked on for the team spirit of the participants, and I am expecting it will be greatly successful too due to the above average design of the architects, the attention to details of the developer and of course, the Feng Shui insights I have provided and that were followed very precisely.

I couldn’t be more proud of it. 

And of course, the proof is the pudding: the project has barely broken ground and one of the largest building is already in escrow. What can I say, I love my job!! 

I am including the Magellan Gateway Business Park brochure below for your perusal here. Feel free to contact the Real Estate Team directly for any question relating to the purchase (contact info on the enclosed brochure link). 

And if you are developing any commercial project, I’ll be happy to assist you too. Email me directly at dr.simona@fengshuiarch.com or call me at 310 860 8989 to discuss your project.

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

FENG SHUI FOR HOTELS, RESORTS & HOSPITALITY DESIGN

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Feng-shui-for-hotels-3For years I have been consulting for a hotel development and management company on all their projects in the field of Feng Shui for hotel and resort development and hospitality design. As you well know, most hotels these days include restaurants, bars, spas, conference rooms, and other amenities in addition to the guest sleeping accommodations. So it is not an easy task to make them successful across the board.

Over time I have advised their CEO and development team on several hotels at every stage.

This included advising them on their existing hotels which the company had previously built and managed. Some of them were more successful than others, so I had the chance to see what Feng Shui features worked best for this industry and what didn’t as I compared them. (It’s the only way to really learn and then properly apply Feng Shui when you are building new ones.) Ironically but not surprisingly, I found that most often good Feng Shui makes or breaks the success of a hospitality business more than the brand name or its design.

In addition to their own projects, my clients took me to visit several successful competitor’s hotels and asked me to analyze them (on their time) to steal the Feng Shui secrets to their success. In particular, they showed me a hotel that was recently developed by a competitor who had literally “stole” the project from them. (I won’t go into details, but those of you in this industry can imagine how this kind of thing happens.) Although my clients felt bruised by this loss, I instead had a different opinion. After conducting my analysis on the newly inaugurated and yet still empty establishment, I reassured them it had been for the best. “This building was planned without any Feng Shui in mind by your competitor and it is one of the worst buildings I have ever seen,” I explained. “You are lucky you didn’t get stuck with it. You should thank your competitor for saving you from such financial disaster.”

Feng-Shui-HotelIn light of these experiences, I also consulted for them on older hotels they were refurbishing and planning to redesign with Feng Shui in mind to increase their commercial success. Most notably, I remember one of their top locations—which was very successful and in constant demand—that was under renovation to expand to accommodate the increasing business. However, during the renovation, the layout of the ground floor, all its services, entries, and management offices were scheduled to be moved around and relocated. When I reviewed the proposed project plans I realized that in doing this all the primary sources of success for this building were going to be relocated with a layout adverse to the success of the business. Luckily, still being at the design stage, we were able to make modifications to the design and complete a successful expansion while keeping the Feng Shui mojo of the building intact.

And of course, I also consulted on new hotels the company was planning from scratch. I advised them on the plan reviews as well as advised them on selecting the lots on which to build, and in some cases advised not to purchase a certain lot because it had unfixable restrictions causing the future building to be inevitably unsuccessful (and even worse, unfixable).

So, you may ask, what is it that constitutes good Feng Shui for hotel and hospitality design and hence guarantees its success?

Hospitality -Design-3It is a bit complicated to explain that answer in an article because hotels are yet another category of a business completely on its own. However, it is not about design. Choosing Minimalist Zen style (which has been paddled as Feng Shui style for a while now) or a more classic choice of design… it doesn’t matter. Paradoxically, it is not even about the comfort of the individual bedrooms and suites. Sure, sleeping comfortably is always a plus and not to be undermined, but often people are so tired from travelling they would sleep anywhere (at least I would!).

In my experience with doing Feng Shui for hotels (which is now extensive) the applications of Scientific Feng Shui are geared more to make people feel embraced by the space and welcomed by its invisible energy, which gives them peace, balance, and appreciation for being there.

And I am not just referring to temporary guests staying for a night or two, but particularly to the managing staff; those whom spend most of their time in these hotels providing customer service, marketing, and all kinds of services to the patrons. If these employees have good energy to put forth with the customers, your hotels will always be remembered and sought after for years to come, even if the design could be a bit out of style. But this can only be accomplished with the right Feng Shui for hotels advice provided by an experienced professional. Then hopefully afterwards, these establishments will be so “in demand” they will be in need of an expansion, which should also be executed with the best Feng Shui advice in mind.

Planning on designing and building hotels and other hospitality developments? I’ll be happy to assist you in creating your most successful one yet!

Call us at 310 860 8989 or email us at dr.simona@fengshuiarch.com to schedule an appointment and discuss your project.

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

FENG SHUI HOME RENOVATION

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feng_shui_house_renovation_3A Home Renovation with Feng Shui is possibly the most exciting and challenging of all Feng Shui applications, although the difficulty often varies depending on the extent of the renovation.
Some renovations may be cosmetic– changing colors, perhaps flooring, adding some new furniture– while other renovations are much more planned-out, restructured endeavors, sometimes involving adding the addition of an upper floor (full or partial), or a room extension and addition (especially for master bedrooms). So, how can you use Feng Shui to make the best out of your home renovation?

Here 3 things to be specially mindful when you are getting ready to start such task:

1. Doing all your inspections ahead of time will save you money and any bad surprises.
Whether is a residence or a commercial, if you are in the process of buying a building that you intend to renovate it is especially important for you to run full, standard inspections before you buy it, and having a Feng Shui inspection can be very useful too. If you are buying a building that will end up being a tear-down rather than a fixer-upper you may unexpectedly find yourself in case #2 below rather than in case #3, and being stuck in a situation that you could have avoided if you had done some prep work ahead of time. In today’s investment world this little investigation can save you a lot of money now and save you from some real bad Feng Shui later on.

2. The entire energy of the house can or cannot change based on the size of the remodeling.
The energy of any building is established at the time of construction and it requires a significant structural renovation to change it. This often involves the full removal (or the majority) of the total roof, internal ceiling, and/or a portion of the building. This can be good news or bad news. For instance, if your building had bad energy (and you’d know this if you had lived there for a while), changing it could be a good thing. But if the building was good to you, then you want to be careful before tearing everything apart because this drastic update can change the building’s essence. Unfortunately there is no cookie-cutter approach of how to anticipate the results other than having a Master Consultant do an analysis for you. So if you are set to take on a drastic renovation, having a professional Feng Shui consultant advise on it would be your best bet and, in the long run, the most convenient one too.

Last week I consulted on a house built in 1943 in San Diego whose energy, albeit a bit old, was rather nice and supportive to the owners. The owners, who are currently renting, expressed a desire to eventually buy the place. They also shared how they intended to upgrade the place, which was indeed needed because it didn’t quite fit a modern 2015 lifestyle. However, after running an analysis we figured out that in changing the energy from 1943 to 2015 it would turn the house from one of being “good for health, relationships, and success,” to one of being “bad for health, relationships, and success.” This is an exception to how a “new house” wouldn’t necessarily mean a “better house.”
So what should the owner do? My suggestion was to work the upgrades into the house in such a way that it didn’t change the energy of the building, or, if it did, it would only be partial and in a limited number of secondary rooms related to the occupant’s life, like closets or bathrooms. I am assisting them and their architects with this phase.

3. Colors, materials, and furniture layout improve a room’s energy, but do not change its core.
Let’s say that in the course of the Feng Shui consultation you have been advised to use certain colors, materials, or were advised to change the furniture layout of a space. In the course of the room’s renovation it is the perfect time to introduce such changes. Since you are not tearing up walls, this is basically a “low-impact renovation” and the best way to do an upgrade on the energy of the house. (But it wouldn’t change its essence like the example in #2 would.) Still, having a Feng Shui consultation will positively affect this type of renovation and help you create a fresh look, by also learning where your best “power areas” are and how to maximize them. You may find my book, Feng Shui for Architecture, How to Design, Build, and Remodel to Create a Healthy and Serene Home, very useful for this, especially if you are doing it entirely on your own. (See https://www.fengshuiarch.com/feng_shui_book.html  )

You can also learn more about Feng Shui by attending our Advanced Feng Shui for Architecture, Interior Design and Landscape Certification Program Online. This class is specially designed for architects, designers and other professional in the field who’d like to provide their clients with this service. Go here for more information or to attend one of our introductory session.

I wish you the best of luck with all your renovating endeavors and please let me know if there is anything I can assist you with the Feng Shui aspect at 310 860 8989 or dr.simona@fengshuiarch.com 

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

Feng Shui Office: A Renovation Gone Wrong

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Commercial_Office_Feng_ShuiI was in Diamond Bar, California last week for an emergency call by a new client on a case of bad Office Feng Shui. The previous Feng Shui consultant messed up big during the Feng Shui renovation.

The client is a wholesale technology company that has been in business for 7 years and has always experienced a fast-growing pace. The owners requested my professional opinion because they just expanded their facility (taking over the 2 adjacent office suites in the same building). During the addition, they also took the opportunity to reconfigure the room’s layouts and up-date their colors and furniture arrangements as well.

Since inception their offices had been in the same building that I was now requested to review. The problem surged right after completing the remodeling 2 months prior, when their business suddenly started registering a loss. Their CEO was beside himself because in the 7 years prior this had never happened and he suspected some “faux pas” was done in the course of the renovation. Upon listening to the facts, I also shared his concerns.

While the building was an excellent building for business financial success (which explained the previous continued success of the enterprise), I noticed that key offices and entrances were misplaced, and water and the color red (both money enhancers) had been placed in the wrong areas, thus “draining” from the financial success and increasing the potential for break-ins and robberies.

These seemed common mistakes that beginner students in Feng Shui would make because they haven’t yet familiarized themselves with the advanced theories of time and construction cycles. These mistakes are also normally made by people who have read about Feng Shui in one of those do-it-yourself types of books (and that are often so generic they only work for a limited number of buildings).

So I began inquiring about the original, pre-renovation positions of the offices, their entrances, and the choice of colors used. After some hesitation, the owners “confessed” that I was not the first Feng Shui consultant they had hired. Infact, living close to the Asian community, they consulted with another “consultant” before planning the renovation. (I am not going to reveal his name, but suffice to say he was not one of my students.)

Upon his suggestions, they had painted the very long wall in the South red and added water in the North. Now, from my analysis, the South direction (their warehouse) had potential for office arguments and break-ins (which the owners reported had happened twice since they had completed the remodeling). And in my opinion, in a case like this, you would not add any red colors because, as an enhancer, it would only increase the negative potential. Hence, I had to suggest for them to paint over the wall with a neutral color instead to eliminate the effects of the red (fire element).

Furthermore, the main entrance in the North had a good potential for career achievements (metal energy). However, the use of water fountains was completely inappropriate here, as water tarnishes away and cancels the achievements. So I suggested they remove the water fountains.

At this point the owner asked me where the best position for a financially successful entrance would be. I pointed to the location (a very high “money’ spot) and told him, “This is the best location for the main entrance and your receptionist (who’s also a sales associate).”

Imagine my surprise when his jaw dropped and he lifted his hands over his face and uttered, “That is where the entrance and reception was before, and where they had been for seven years!”

Now, how do you explain to your client who has just completed a $150,000 renovation that he now needs to put everything back? That they had a better Office Feng Shui before? In this case I was lucky because the business had been in this building for a long time and my client had seen the success before seeing the failure that came from the bad renovation. But what if you are moving into a new facility, building a brand new building, or renovating your existing one? How do you know how to do it right?

If you do not know about Feng Shui renovations, any relocation or new construction is simply going to be a game of chance, a hit-or-miss. And sadly, this is not the first time I have seen this happen. When a successful building needs additional space the company either move, or take over an adjacent space, renovate the entire thing and then bam! After then things are never the same again.

This time we can blame it on the poorly-prepared, supposedly “Feng Shui expert person” they had hired, but truthfully I have seen this happen also when no Feng Shui Master had been consulted on a project at all– and no matter how good the architect, designer, and contractor were either. You just do not know what you do not know.

And in today’s economy you don’t want to take the chance of seeing your business sink because you didn’t think about investing in the consultation of a good, professional Feng Shui Master on how to set it up right.

In my client’s case we decided to turn it around as much as their budget allowed them to do at the moment and then later they will tackle the structural part. And because the building has overall good potential it will make it easier (and less expensive) to do some structural work rather than move to a different building (which was also my client’s main concern). So, we’ll put the entrance and the reception area back later, once their budget increases.

For now, some of the management offices were easy to switch around and then we painted them red (here the color is used purposely to increase the financial success) over the gray color they had been painted during the renovation. We also used the rest of the five-elements to correct all the other areas (as needed).

Have you ever experienced anything like this? Let us know if we can assist you in any way with our professional consulting services. And if you are a design professional who’d like to learn more about Feng Shui, check out our Feng Shui Courses and Certification Programs. Help your clients avoid making the mistakes mine had to deal with!

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

How To Buy A Good Feng Shui House (Or Create One)

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How-to-Buy-a-Good-Feng-Shui-HouseAs the real estate market improves, I find myself property-scouting with clients more and more often for properties to buy and live in. But how to buy a good Feng Shui house “as is” is rather complicated, mostly because Feng Shui was only introduced to the U.S. on a large scale very recently; hence, most houses were not designed with keeping Feng Shui principles in mind.

Therefore, overall most of the houses I have seen so far will need corrections in one way or another. It could be on a cosmetic level (colors, materials, furniture layout, etc.) or on a structural level (open a new door or close an old one, change a master bedroom, etc.) but either way, creating a good Feng Shui house from an existing house where Feng Shui was not taken into account requires a little bit of work. It is, however, also easier and less time consuming to do than trying to find the perfect Feng Shui house “ready to go” without having to do any corrections at all. Let’s face it: that is statistically probably one-in-a-thousand and being optimistic. (NOTE: although I may know more then you about Feng Shui, I still have to do the same growling search when buying a property for myself or my family, and seriously, there is no short cut – unfortunally).

So, how to buy a good Feng Shui house, or next best thing, how to do you end up with one?

Three of the most common consultations I am asked to do are:

1) Inspect a Property Before it’s Purchased (to ensure it is a worthwhile building). Some properties need more corrections than others, with an obvious increase in budget to do the corrections. During a pre-purchase inspection I inform my clients on what is needed to be done and they can then get a quote for its implementation BEFORE acquiring the property. This is the most effective way to financially plan your purchase and your Feng Shui improvements all at once. This is done during escrow, or, preferably, before making an offer, which can save you the escrow’s associated costs on the wrong property.

2) Move-In Consultation. This is done after the property has been purchased and happens sometime between the closing of escrow and the moment you get the moving truck at your door. During this time I visit the premises and make recommendations in terms of colors, materials, and furniture layout so when the truck actually delivers your items the walls are already painted in the right colors and you know where to place your main furniture. This is by far the most popular consultation.

3) Renovation Consulting. This is often also done after the property has been purchased and is most needed when the property in question is very old or is in unsuitable condition, or the new owner simply wants to do some structural upgrades to it before moving in. This consultation is more complex than #2 and it could be more extensive and require a larger budget. It will probably involve an architect, or a designer or contractor of some kind as well. This is also the most affective and least expensive way to change the energy of a property by incorporating the Feng Shui corrections during the redesign stage.

What is your situation? Are you buying a new house for yourself and your family? Are you curious to know how to improve your new (or existing) house? We can provide in-person consultations as well as long-distance consultations (thanks to the latest technology resources with satellite views of the property and screen-sharing video meetings) and assist you while you are buying your new home, or move into it (or plan to improve it).

Let me know how we can help you turn your new home into a good, great Feng Shui home. Email me directly at  Dr.simona@fengshuiarch.com

If you are a designer, architect, realtor or other design professional or Feng Shui enthusiast  interested in learning more about Feng Shui to offer this service to your clients, check out our Advanced Feng Shui for Architecture, Design, and Landscape program. This new webinar course (live video and screen-sharing) start on September 29 and you are welcome to join us! Click here for details.

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

Feng Shui for Real Estate: What Feng Shui Can Do For You

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Feng-Shui-For-YouI was out property scouting in Newport Beach, CA last week with a client who had previously experienced living in a bad Feng Shui house for five years – one that we defined as “bad for people (meaning health and relationship),” and also “bad for money (meaning success and financial prosperity).” That is what bad Feng Shui Real Estate can do for you.

After not taking the Feng Shui suggestion to pass on that property back then, he (and his wife) ended up living through five years of “hell on earth” in a very bad Feng Shui house. And now they are ready to move out from that house that caused them so many problems and buy a new one.

I am absolutely delighted, and relieved, to help him and his family find the best house possibly available for them on the market. It is time they move in a good one. And he now knows better and he is taking the consulting I give him much more seriously.

As he, his wife, and I were walking through one of the properties they are now considering he also disclosed to the real estate agent that I was the Feng Shui Master Consultant advising him on his purchase.
Then realtor then proceeded to tell us that the two previous owners, both Chinese, were very successful in the house and how the building was approved by both of the previous occupant’s Feng Shui experts. Maybe so, I thought, but this house had been on the market for nearly two years and has a severely reduced price.

Somehow what the realtor was saying it didn’t seem to make sense from my professional point of view, and in fact, after I finished my Feng Shui analysis on the building, it revealed a completely opposite scenario.

This house was bad for people and bad for money, just like the one my client had been living in for the past five years. And since he had already experienced living in a house with bad Feng Shui he was able to appreciate the accuracy of my analysis immediately this time.

What gave away the realtor? Real “good houses” do not sit on the market.
In fact, in this new Feng Shui-conscious market, it would be preferable for a seller to fix the house before placing it on the market to avoid for it to sit there for too long.

Interestingly enough, this scenario is not unusual.

Anxious to close a deal, some designers, real estate agents, architects, and contractors– for their own personal convenience –“discourage” their clients out of applying Feng Shui suggestions.

In fact, it’s becoming so widespread that there’s now even a new term in sales for it: “overcoming Feng Shui objections.” Some companies have even become so bold as to try and request that I come in and train their whole sales force in “overcoming Feng Shui objections.” To which I invariably reply “The best way to overcome the bad Feng Shui is to fix it. And I’ll be happy to show you how”.

The bottom line is this: when you’re designing a building, buying a house, or selecting a business location, anybody can tell you the most wonderful things about it, and probably in good faith. But ultimately, with my analysis, the Feng Shui quality of a place comes out. Because it is my job to advise you in your best interest.

I can tell you in less then an hour if a house or a retail space is good or bad for health, relationships, off-springs, and even financial prosperity.

And most importantly, I can tell you how to fix it!

With this information YOU will be able to make a really good, informed decision.
And this is the “what’s in it for you” part of Feng Shui.

Want to learn more:

18-Week Class Advanced Feng Shui for Architecture, Interior Design & Landscape starts soon. See details here

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

Yin House Feng Shui: Royal Gothic Romance

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Simona Yin House Feng Shui -2014

Master Simona at Windsor Castle in 2014

This is not your garden-variety Feng Shui.
Yin House Feng Shui is like the PhD level of Feng Shui. In a nutshell, it is Feng Shui for the Ancestors, aka Feng Shui for burial sites.

And who better to illustrate this than a long chain of Royals, whose lives have filled the pages of history.

I am in London this week to visit St. George Chapel at Windsor Castle, where most Royal ancestors are buried, including Henry VIII (Elizabeth I’s father), Victoria’s closest ancestral lineage (all in a closed-to-the –public underground volt, I know, very gothic) and the current Queen, Elizabeth II’s, father and grandfather. Given the worldwide impact that these Queens have had in their long mandates – unique for longevity and historical effects – I can’t but wonder how much of it was due to the Feng Shui of their ancestor’s grave site, know in the industry as Yin House Feng Shui.

Although most people may not care much for dead Royals – not much gossips, I guess – for a Feng Shui Master like myself it is a priceless case study in the effects of Yin House Feng Shui, a very complicated and unusual branch of Scientific Feng Shui that deals with the positioning of a gravesite for the benefit of the deceased’s descendants. A big deal if you are an aging ruling leader concern with the fate of your empire.

Yin House Feng Shui with Master Simona

St. George Chapel – Yin House Feng Shui Case Study of Henry VIII

However, since Feng Shui was not know in the West until the late 20th century, it is safe to assume that the destiny befell upon the Royals—as everybody else who doesn’t plan with Feng Shui—was an “accident” based on the location of the gravesites of their ancestors. (Note: In the enclosed picture, the black memorial stone in the middle of the chapel near the black and white checkered pavement is Henry VIII grave.)

Intriguing how such “randomness” creates all sorts of effect on people’s lives, and more so when such people are decision makers and leaders, and their lives have effects on major historical events. For example: all three Queens were legitimate heiress, however, they also were not the most direct candidates for the throne. And yet, history twisted and turned greatly to eventually lead them there. Pure randomness??? What fascinating circumstances to study!

Yin House Feng Shui with Master Simona

St.George Chapel

So, with dark stormy clouds at the horizon (in true English Gothic fashion) and carrying my best compass, I hopped on my way to Windsor with a friend and once there, “grilled” the willing docents available about each grave, date of burial, coffin’s orientation, and their relation to either current or past rulers.

Truth to be told, all the docents were extremely pleasant and willing to navigate me though the intricacies of British history and family trees for several hours. Hence, I have now gathered enough material for a long, long intricate case study analysis that will keep me occupied for months and I am expecting it will be extremely interesting as it unfolds.

After getting all my information straightened out and the compass orientations marked down, my friend and I began making our way back to London. However, once we left the castle we got caught in the middle of a major storm that made it impossible to travel, so we decided to stop for lunch at a local pub that could trace its roots back to the time of Henry VIII.

Coincidentally, that proved to be a wise decision since while we were having lunch lightening struck twice on the rail road tracks that we were going to be on, sending the entire line into shut down mode. Luckily we were warm and cozy in the pub and made our way back to London later in the day once the line was restored. Could it have possibly been divine intervention via the “Royal ghosts” that had us held up safely in a “Royal Pub” rather than sitting in danger on the tracks due to the adverse natural elements? In true English Romantic-Gothic fashion we’d like to think so! Specially because after all that, we found ourselves “delivered” safe and sound by the Royal Albert Hall, right in front of Price Albert monument.

If you are interested in learning more about Yin House Feng Shui we’ll cover that portion of material in our Feng Shui Professional Consultant Program. But due to the complexity of the material covered we recommend that you first complete our foundation class, Advanced Feng Shui for Architecture (available as a 18 Week Live or 12 Video program). These classes will provide you with the knowledge necessary to take on Yin Feng Shui information.

I look forward to sharing my findings about the Royal ancestors in St. George’s Chapel with you in our Professional classes!

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.

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