How to Feng Shui Your Outdoor Space

By: Henry Walsh

Many homeowners in the Miami area enjoy spending much of their time at home outdoors. Creating a Feng Shui outdoor living space makes sense for those wanting to make the most of their outdoor areas. Consider these tips on how to Feng Shui your outdoor space to make it a more peaceful and comfortable space this season:

Understand the Elements

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese system of laws that pertain to the energy that items produce within an area. There are five elements to consider when designing your outdoor space: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. While you may choose to include all of the items into your outdoor area, the most critical Feng Shui elements in an outdoor space include those natural resources of wood, earth, and water. Use all of these elements in a literal sense, like building a wood fence, but you can also use the elements within certain aspects of the space like furniture and decorations.

Include Water

Water is an essential element in Feng Shui, based on the earth’s need for water as a resource. With water being one of the resources, this means that every Feng Shui outdoor space should include some water feature. Water is so essential that if you can only choose a few items to utilize, make sure that water is the first one. Water symbolizes abundance and is best when placed in the North of the outdoor space. Other spots are also available depending on what kind of energy you want to attract to your area.

Use Directional Placing

Feng Shui principles focus on the use of direction to the five elements. Using directions means that you should not only know which direction your outdoor space faces but also be aware of what items to place in certain spots. Water features should be set on the north side of your outdoor space, but could also be placed in the wood element direction of East and Southeast, since wood is nourished by water. Place outdoor furniture in the Southwest corner of your outdoor space in order to build relationships that are important to the earth element. Metal accents can be placed within the West to Northwest areas of the space as well.

Plant According to Color

Color is also an essential part of Feng Shui and relates to the directional aspects of the practice. A Feng Shui garden would include blue or black featured plants to the North to coincide with the water element. Green or brown colored plants would be planted in the East for the wood element. Red and orange plant varieties would be in the South for the fire element, while white, silver, or gold colored plants would be in the West for the metal element. The earth element includes those plants of yellow or beige coloring that should be placed in either the southwest or northeast parts of the garden.

Use Natural Colors

The outside living space of your home should bring harmony to the area around it, meaning that it should naturally fit in with the hues of brown and green of the grass types and tree varieties that surround your outdoor space. Feng Shui focuses on harmony within the space and nothing should stand out too abruptly. However, one of the most important aspects of Feng Shui is to have a brightly colored entrance to the space in order to invite positive energy. This can be done by choosing a favorite non-natural colored paint for the area in which you enter your outside living area.

Incorporate Natural Shapes

Another way to bring positive energy into your outdoor space is to mimic those shapes that are found in nature. You will rarely see straight vertical or horizontal lines in life, but will find curves, circles, and odd shapes with odd angles instead. These types of shapes and lines are encouraged in a Feng Shui outdoor space as they help positive energy. Even if you do need to use straight lines in a porch or fencing materials, consider shaping the space into a curved area rather than one with 90° angles.

Choosing to use Feng Shui principles in creating your outdoor living space is a smart way to make the area more comfortable to use. While becoming a Feng Shui master takes years of careful practice, you can begin to incorporate many of these essential principles when trying to Feng Shui your outdoor space.

Henry Walsh is a gardening writer and eco-conscious living advocate. He recently began his homesteading journey after many years of incorporating the principles into his urban lifestyle.