The Art of Home: Feng shui your way into the new year
The Chinese welcome the Lunar New Year starting Monday, and the unpredictable Year of the Fire Monkey promises to be a lot more fun than the last 12 months of the steady goat.
The 15-day celebration, which starts on a different day each year, marks the beginning of spring in the lunar calendar — a time for new beginnings.
And in keeping with the renewal theme, home furnishings store Room & Board welcomed a feng shui expert recently to the Santa Ana location, in South Coast Plaza Village, to explain how to bring positive energy into a home with feng shui-inspired furnishings.
“Feng shui helps you uncover the possibilities to put into your life — whether its prosperity or love,” feng shui specialist Donna Stellhorn told a group of guests Jan. 21 at the retail showroom. “The basis of it is that shapes help us deal with energies.”
Rounds shapes, she explained, symbolize heaven, whereas squares represent Earth.
For instance, the showroom’s Blaine Bar Cart symbolizes wealth and prosperity because of its coined-shape design.
And the Soren Chair, with wooden triangular spindles that represent positive action, should be paired with the shop’s stainless steel table since the metal base solidifies the energy.
Since the monkey sign possesses character traits like curiosity, mischievousness and cleverness, Stellhorn said it is important to incorporate bookshelves into the home this year, because monkeys are always interested in exploring and learning new things.
Room & Board’s Pisa leaning shelves, which are handcrafted from solid wood, look like a broad ladder, providing an airiness in a room. And displaying books coincides with the monkey’s liking for academics and education, Stellhorn said.
The ladder-shaped shelves, she noted, also represent the monkey’s yearning to climb, and the suggestion of upward movement means a greater view, being able to see farther, which makes people reflect more on long-term decisions.
Because last year’s Year of the Goat represented strides in making peace, this year is a dramatic shift. The monkey is much wilder — swinging from tree to tree. Stellhorn said a current example is the swing in the stock market.
Such a shift, though, could lead to people feeling unsettled, so it’s vital to create a calm sanctuary, she noted.
To do so, Stellhorn suggested bringing certain colors into the home.
The Year of the Monkey’s color is yellow, which represents love, friendship and joy. The pop of color in the fire year balances the energy since yellow is classified as an earth color. Stellhorn suggests adding yellow flowers or pillows to a living space.
And when thinking about wood selections for furniture, Stellhorn explained, the material should represent a feng shui-inspired energy.
Cherry wood signifies beauty and is suitable for shoppers seeking the look of perfection in a home. Walnut symbolizes better thinking, since the nut is considered a brain food. And maple — as in maple syrup — is for those who wish to add sweetness to life.
“You build the room around a special piece,” Stellhorn said. “Then you can add objects to the room and see if it feels right and balanced.”
Jun Wang, a wife and mother of two young children from Irvine, was introduced to Room & Board through the feng shui event. She said she wanted to find furniture that was sturdy in addition to representing feng shui properties.
“I’m always looking for things that don’t break,” said Wang. “I like the stability in these pieces.”
According to the Western School of Feng Shui, which is based in San Diego County, the Chinese philosophical system observes the relationship between the seen and unseen forces of nature. Desires, goals, talents, attitudes and feelings within a home constantly interact and influence each other. When a home is blended harmoniously, the effect is friendly, comfortable and positive. Health, prosperity and happiness thrive.
Scott Jussila, the manager of the Room & Board, near South Coast Plaza, said it was important for him to have shoppers learn about a new culture and become familiar with how to integrate the contemporary showroom pieces with feng-shui inspired energies for more peaceful living.
At the event was Susan Sabanos, who founded China Ready Solutions, an Irvine-based consulting firm that focuses on increasing engagement with Chinese consumers and tourists.
Sabanos said Chinese consumers are looking for new brands and authentic experiences and that Room & Board appeals to shoppers because the furnishings are 95% American-made.
“This event tonight is bridging the cultures where we’re talking about an ancient value system and blending it with our baby country with modern designs,” she said.
Room & Board is at 1661 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana. For more information, call (714) 549-5995 or visit roomandboard.com.
