Feng Shui Question: How can you "cure" a problem with traditional houses with exposed beams in the ceiling?

If you don’t want a house with beams, don’t look at houses with beams. Don’t try to alter the original architechtural design. It will be tacky.

@perspicacious….Thanks for your comment. I don’t want to rule out houses with beams. Beams are intrinsic parts of the architecture of some of the more interesting homes…and I don’t want to alter the interior and make it look tacky (read question)...which is why I am asking someone with feng shui knowledge for some insight on less obtrusive ways of curing.

Thank you again.

My understanding is that fung shui, despite all its rules, is really about aesthetics. A fung shui expert comes and looks at your property and tells you how to make it work better, aesthetically. The stuff about bad winds and etc is largely window dressing unless you happen to be near a volcano or a factory that is putting noxious stuff into the air. Or too many ions or sand or whatnot.

Those things are probably an issue in Santa Fe. You’ll want a house oriented in a way that is protected from searing winds, whether summer or winter. You’d want a place that cools naturally; that diffuses the brightest suns; that creates a sense of peace and coolness and safety.

We’re talking adobe and exposed beams, right? This is traditional architecture and it is so for a reason. The people who have been building like this for centuries have discovered how best to live in local conditions. In Santa Fe, exposed beams are auspicious, not the opposite. They have to be, or feng shui is worthless.

Trust your own aesthetic ideas and your sense of the energies of a house. Notice the light and the way the walls and ceilings move. Find places where you feel just right. Look at the views from the windows. Look at the care that the owner and neighbors take for their gardens and yards and property. This is the stuff that needs to be balanced.

You want a house where, when your friends walk in, they say it has a good energy. Together. Part of that is the house, and part of it is how you decorate it and arrange the furniture and part of it is the energy you put into it. You have to live there. You are the ultimate feng shui expert about your place. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to get their hand in your pocket.

@envidula61….Thank you!!! You echoed my sentiments…I just needed some confirmation. I am quite intuitive…but wanted to know if there was a clear “auspicious” or “inauspicious” way to look at this. I am good at sensing “energies” of a house and will use that. Sometimes, I have walked into the most beautiful (expensive) houses and shuddered. And then, I can walk into the equivalent of a tiny pasted together house and feel the peace that is inside.

I’ll go with my gut instincts as usual. Thanks again for the confirmation. Best wishes!

Yes, as always, not everything can be in perfect alignment with everything else at all times.

Fung Shui is primarily about flow and lack of cluttering energies.

Keep as much open space and flow between pieces of furniture, utilize a water feature for relaxation and capitalize on as much natural lighting as possible, such as placing art and other pieces in light enhancing areas, plants and bringing in as much nature as possible via water, plants, animals etc.

It’s all about the feel you and others get from being in that space.

I love southwestern achitecture, I was born in Santa Fe and travel back from time to time.

Now I have a house in the foothills of NorCal, a natural feng shui to the totality of the environment.

Hanging plants encourage chi to move so won’t get stuck between the beams. other suggestions would include painting the beams the same colour as the ceiling and ensuring you position your bead so you sleep in line with the beams, so they don’t ‘cut you up’

This is a quote from an expert in the field “Along with just about everything in Feng Shui, personal preference plays a big role in whether open beams in a room feel good or not. Some people like the feeling and ambience beams provide in a space, while others find them oppressive and threatening.

If a ceiling is low, heavy beams may feel oppressive. If this is the case, paint them a light color to match the ceiling. If the ceiling is very high, the beams can add charm to a space. Deciding if the beams are good for you or not is all in your personal perception.”

For more tips and ideas see this Feng Shui Blog