Feng Shui: Is it Feng Shuinal?

Hey there all you renters, landlords and property owners out there! If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered now and again about feng shui. What is it? Where does it come from? Can it improve your house, apartment, condo, duplex or tree dwelling? Lucky for you, the Hometown Rant has sifted through the clutter to find the inner qi, and with it are the answers you’ve been searching for this whole time. They lie within.

Let’s start with the basics. A quick trip to wikipedia will tell you that feng shui is a philosophical system of harmonizing everyone with the surrounding environment. Sounds like a noble goal right? We think so. But how can you harness your renter or landlord qi and channel it through your rental property for maximum benefits.

Originally, feng shui was all about orienting human dwellings according to astronomical observations, and later it also came to include compass directions, aligning structures in relation to the earth’s magnetic field. In 1951, professor Max Knoll suggested that qi, the central life force according to feng-shui, is actually solar radiation, and that the levels of qi fluctuate according to space weather. Whoa.

If you’re not sure how all that relates to you and your rental property, don’t worry. We don’t know either. Feng shui’s transformation from ancient chinese art to headey pseudo-scientific discipline to kitschey hipster home decorating mantra is one that could only have taken place across centuries, like a metaphysical game of telephone. If it’s stuck around this long though, it must be that some of the principles have some merit to them. Most human structures are oriented loosely based on the magnetic compass–in most cities, terrain permitted, roads run north-south and east-west.

You may have noticed this already, but if not, figure out which side of your rental property faces east. The sun will shine in the eastern-facing windows in the morning, so that might be a good room for an early riser. If you’re a property owner or landlord looking to add a porch to your house or cottage, you might consider putting it on the western side so your tenants can watch the sunset.

Fengshui.com has a whole list of further reading about how to make your home positionally feng shuisionally sensational for you to peruse, but again, some principles are more useful than others.

Things like reducing clutter in your home or apartment are great suggestions–embrace your inner ascetic and throw out all that old junk mail and that weird painting you got at the thrift store. Other things, like placing wooden feng shui elements in the eastern area of your house to improve your health, may not be as useful as actually going to the doctor and getting that rash checked out. In fact, yeah, you should go do that.

Do you have rental questions of your own? Comments? Concerns? Love letters? Hate mail? Holla at us: Hometownrant@hometownrent.com

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