Feng Shui Your Patio

Feng Shui: Patios and Outdoor Furnishings

People spend more or less time in their back yards depending on their local climate, but common questions I’m asked have to do with patio furniture, outdoor grills and fireplaces. Does the way you set up your patio for backyard lounging and entertaining matter? In the scheme of things, everything matters at least a little, but some influences are imperceptible. It is actually outside water features which have the biggest influence on the people who dwell there. And water is the “Shui” of Feng Shui. Books have been written just about the principles surrounding water.

Most people do not use their outdoor grill on a daily basis, so the location of this source of fire should be a non-issue. Some fireplaces are just a few feet off the ground level, while others have tall brick chimneys. For those types of outdoor fireplaces, they can function as a “virtual” mountain influence for all of the earthen material they are made of. So, a tall brick or stone chimney, detached from the house in the backyard, could be carefully placed so that the “mountain” influence will be ideal. Every twenty Year Era there will be better locations for this “elevated” earthen adjustment to the exteriors. In Period 8, the current twenty-year Era from 2004-2023, having a mountain to the northeast of the house can help engender better health and relationships for the occupants. In order to know where the span of northeast is (25-65 degrees), the reference point is in relation to the geometric center of the house. One must use a compass to determine this correctly and make sure that there are no known influences which could disturb the compass and give a skewed reading. Some of the things which can throw a compass reading off include underground water, cell towers or metal infrastructure. And everyone should know that some Compass Apps need to be calibrate before each use and set for magnetic north and not geographic north.

Patio furniture may be made of plastic, wood, metal or even cloth. As representations of the wood or metal elements, their location outside the house should have almost no influence on the interior energies of the house. As an example, if a room in your house needs the metal element to balance what we call the flying stars, then having a metal patio table outside will not be close enough to qualify as the metal you may need for inside the house. Some of the New Age adaptations have instructed people to place patio furniture of a certain element in a certain direction, but this is not necessary.

Outdoor landscape lighting is a modest manifestation of the fire element, but also not likely to influence the interior energies of a house. They may just make good common sense if they light up an otherwise dark pathway at night time.

Awnings are not good or bad Feng Shui, in and of themselves. If they are permanently installed and cannot be rolled back to adjust lighting, the only conceivable problem would be if they make the adjacent interior room chronically dark. A chronically dark room creates several different potential problems, including making the occupants sullen or depressed.

As a very general principle, whatever we do to our patios and backyards to beautify them and draw us out of the house to enjoy the garden and views, it is all the better for our health and mental outlook since most people nowadays are not getting enough Vitamin D and the other benefits of sunshine.

Visualize yourself living or working in a space that serves you optimally. This is the goal of Feng Shui, to enhance your physical environment for better health, well-being and career potential.