Feng Shui to Sell Your Home – Part 2: Energy Flow

Here is Part Two of my blog series on feng shui and home selling. This post will address energy flow, specifically the problem of it stagnating, moving too quickly or draining away altogether. None of those are positive for a sale.

Any part of a building that seems unusually dark is probably harboring stagnant energy. That’s a problem when you’re trying to sell since your goal is movement: the transfer of the deed, your physical move out of the home to another one. A dark, stagnant area can be a whole room, part of a room or most of a house. Brighten it with higher-wattage bulbs or lighter paint. Also try to bring fresh air to it. Use a fan if necessary; however, put the fan away when the place is being shown.

The opposite problem to an accumulation of stagnant energy is too much moving energy. Long hallways cause energy to move quickly and become harsh. Think of a bullet guided by a long, straight rifle barrel. Slow the fast energy by using:

• carpet and/or rugs;
• good lighting, preferably adjustable; or
• tactile art—art that invites touch. Pictures without glass over them are preferable to those with glass in this instance.

The toilet is the largest drain, but also the easiest one to hide, because all you have to do is close the lid. There are now toilet lids with self-closing hinges, like this one.

Drains are a big problem in feng shui. I talk about them extensively in Feng Shui for Love and Money. Drains represent money draining away, because water symbolizes money. In a house for sale, de-emphasize drains appropriately. The most appropriate way to de-emphasize the largest drain in your home (yes, I’m referring to the toilet) is to put the lid down. That’s what it’s made for. Simply putting the toilet lid down helps the vibration of any bathroom immeasurably. To make that symbolic sealing of the drain more effective, do it before you flush. That way, you’re not exposing yourself to a flush-down, drain-away vibration.

Other drains are less important because they’re smaller and less noticeable. A shower that has a curtain or doors can easily hide its drain—simply move the shower curtain or sliding door toward the drain side, so the drain isn’t immediately seen. I recommend that the curtain or door be somewhat open so that the room feels larger. If the shower has a hinged door, however, it should be closed during showings. Sink drains are the smallest and least important. They should just look ready for daily use. That way you’re not drawing undue attention to them.

This bathroom does not touch an outside wall so it is considered a center bathroom, even though it is not in the exact center of the home.

Bathrooms are problematic to begin with because of all the drains and their extremely watery nature, which is very yin. (Remember, a sale is a yang activity.) An interior bathroom, though, is pretty much a feng shui disaster. (I have covered this problem in Feng Shui for Love and Money as well as more briefly in other of my books.) If you have a bathroom that is not adjacent to an outside wall, it almost certainly will cause problems in your life. I often see this in homes that are hard to sell. Most of the remedies I usually recommend in this situation look too strange in a home for sale. Therefore, keep the door closed during showings instead. Use green or yellow accents inside—towels, rug, etcetera—green represents wood and yellow represents earth; those elements counteract water, symbolically absorbing it. If possible, put a mirror outside the bathroom so that it’s reflecting energy away from the bathroom.

The next and final post in this series will cover the finer details that will help foster a welcoming environment for chi energy and emphasize the yang energy in the home.

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