As we embrace the new lunar new year, we’ve turned to the 5,000 year old tradition of Feng Shui, the art of placement, to bring you some tips to ensure positive energy flows in your home.

Being the first sign of the twelve animals in Chinese astrology, the year of the rat will bring new beginnings and renewals. Feng Shui Designer, Thierry Chow, has shared her insights on how to combine contemporary art and interior design to refresh your home décor, while helping to boost your good luck, health and wealth in the year of the rat.

Within Feng Shui, certain directions are considered lucky, representing different parts of your life and each having respective colours and materials to encourage a good flow of energy. In combination with direction, the placement of furniture and art will strengthen or weaken the five elements of Feng Shui (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) and balance the flow accordingly. To start, Thierry has given us some guidance on the lucky directions:

FENG SHUI INTERIOR DÉCOR FOR THE YEAR OF THE RAT

Southwest

Representing: career
Colours: green
Materials: wood

Southwest represents work and career, making it a good direction to face when working from home or studying. For optimum energy, inject some green into your Southwest spaces with lively plants to boost your good luck. Artworks should feature nature such as plants, flowers or open fields like Louise Stebbing’s Flower Pickers. Forests are also a good subject as in Ellie Davies’ Stars 7 (main image), or even a wooden sculpture – all of which are easier to take care of than a house plant!

Northwest

Representing: wealth and family
Colours: yellow, red or pink
Materials: water

If you would like to nurture your close relationships, make sure you optimise the Feng Shui of this direction. Keep things bright and alive with cheerful colours and decorate with yellow, pink or red artworks. Why not make a snug in this corner, perfect for resting and even sleeping – all of which will bring luck to your finances and romantic relationships. The ideal home accessories are water-based, such as fish tanks, water fountains or lava lamps, likewise select artworks like Adele Riley’s The Waters of Beautiful Saunton – featuring not only a seascape, but also the lucky colours for the Northwest direction.

West

Representing: general fortune and family
Colours: red, yellow, pink and purple
Materials: fire

Bright colours such as red, yellow, pink and purple can safeguard your general fortune and family. In your art selection, consider landscapes and floral pieces which will inject the lucky colour spectrum like Elaine Kazimierczuk’s Buttercups and Speedwells. With fire being the element, lighting is important in this area of your home – be creative with lamps and even consider a neon artwork!

Southeast

Representing: work and study
Materials: stone

Southeast is another lucky position which will help you to enhances work and study. Consider rounded shapes and stone or marble artworks. A statue would certainly help you to advance further, such as Kneeling Figure by Rose Eva, crafted from Honey Lotus Onyx.

Northeast

Representing: work and study
Colours: yellow, brown and earthen tones
Materials: stone

This is also a lucky direction suitable to help with work and studying. Place your work desk here and decorate with stone or clay artworks and vases. We love this clay sculpture by Kim Yunjae, called Paradise #3, in which an imaginary landscape springs from a calm and contemplative face. Or, if you prefer something less fragile, how about a yellow, brown and earth toned artwork like Hermione Carline’s Cinnamon Sky.

Alongside directions that will bring luck to your fortune, unfortunately there are also some unlucky directions. However, Thierry has also shared some tips to help counteract this and make sure you are maximising the flow of energy.

South and East

Representing: weakness and sickness
Colours: copper, silver, gold
Materials: metal

This unlucky directions represents weakness and sickness, so inject polka dots or a circular metallic sculpture like Philip Hearsey’s Always, which will provide protection. Metallic accessories such as a copper bowl, silver or gold art which includes an element of  motion will be helpful – a clock would be ideal, or consider Robin, a bronze sculpture by Matt Duke, representing flight.

North

Representing: tantrums and gossip
Colours: pink and red
Materials: light

Symbolising tantrum and gossips, North is not a lucky direction and not fortunate in the year of rat either! Keep this corner bright with artworks in pink or red. Artworks like Kyle by NANAN that also generate light or a carpet to soften the floor will help to alleviate potential troubles.

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about Feng Shui and reading Thierry’s tips! If you’re inspired by these suggestions, we have 1000s more affordable works to bolster your luck in the year of the rat. To kick-start your search, we’ve created the Happy Go Lucky selection; a category of energy-boosting pieces to help you stay joyful in your home with good luck sure to follow!

Main Image:

Ellie Davies, Stars 7, 2014, HK$10,800, photograph, limited edition of 7, Crane Kalman Brighton.

Featured art from first to last:

Feng Shui Designer, Thierry Chow.

Louise Stebbing, Flower Pickers, 2016, HK$3,600, linocut, limited edition of 18, ContemporArti.

Adele Riley, The Waters of Beautiful Saunton, 2019, HK$3,036, acrylic, original, Wychwood Art.

Elaine Kazimierczuk, Buttercups and Speedwells, 2019, HK$42,385, oil, original, Wychwood Art.

Rose Eva, Kneeling Figure, 2019, HK$11,000, Honey Lotus Onyx, original, Carina Haslam Art.

Kim Yunjae, Paradise #3, 2018, HK$15,000, clay, original, Karin Weber Gallery.

Hermione Carline, Cinnamon Sky, 2018, HK$4,750, oil, original, Mint Art Gallery.

Philip Hearsey, Always, 2019, HK$15,266, bronze, limited edition of 9, Wychwood Art.

Matt Duke, Robin, 2016, HK$28,000, bronze, limited edition of 12, Urbane Art Gallery.

NANAN, Kyle, 2019, HK$11,900, mixed media, original, Galerie Art Jingle.