Choosing a rug color and patter

[ellenfix]

I have a muted gold and brown rug in my great room, which sits sort of in the home's center, but extends to the back wall which faces North. The rug pattern is a repetitive series of round spirals. The furniture in the room is rusty-red, blue, and with some gold touches. However, the rug makes the room feel sort of "dead." I'm thinking of getting a rug with more vibrant colors. Is this a good idea? Also, where would this rug fit better, per its color and pattern: in a north by northeast sunroom/family room; or in a south-facing dining room? There are no other furnishings in these rooms yet, except a dining room table which is oval and wood.

[Cecil Lee]

Dear Ellen,
1. Personally, many years back when I first started on Feng Shui, I was equally concerned about how well the carpet and the flooring `matches' the breadwinner's Ba Zhi or element and its strength.
2. Here, I would try to relate the flooring + breadwinner's Ba Zhi in relation to the Five elements concept.
3. If you were to asked me today, how I feel about it, I would say that, my thinking has been `altered'.
4. Not so much because, I have changed my mind but rather, instead of looking at flooring under the Five Elements concept, look at it more on the Yin and Yang perspective.
5. Unde the Five elements concept, I would `crack' my brains trying to see if there is a fit for the breadwinner and family members.
6. You will understand that this can become complicated even with a family of just two persons. Imagine, a family of four, or more. Here, it would be a daunting task of finding the right `fit' for the family.
7. I am not saying that, previously, I would recommend, that Room a, has X coloured tiles, while Y room has another coloured tiles and so forth....
8. If you can visualise the above, it gets very complicated. Worse, if the floor tiles are inbuilt. Do you want to hack the tiles? Force the use carpeting?
9. Therefore, I believe it makes more sense to relate floor tiles to Yin and Yang concept.
For example, many condominums in Singapore have been rooms with parquet flooring or varnished wooden block chips flooring.
This is acceptable, because, it makes the room `darker' because of the brown wood and more Yin.
While for the living room etc.. most houses use light coloured tiles or while tiles, marble, granite. Here, the house should look more `Yang'.
10. In your case, since it is your great room, I believe your intention is to make it a room of `activity', brighter coloured carpet should be better than the existing rug which you mentioned, made the room `dead'.
11. I believe, applying the Yin and Yang concept to floor tiles is a better method.
If you do feel good about making the room more vibrant, carry on replacing the carpet with something more `exciting'.
This is how, I see the application of Yin and Yang in the different rooms of the home.
For the walls, neutral white is acceptable. For cures, certain colours for each member of the family can still be applied without any problems. It is unlike hacking away the floor tiles. The 33.3 percent ruleset can still be met by painting the wall with a `suitable' colour.
I hope this helps.
Warmest Regards,
Cecil

Quote

On 1/20/00 10:50:23 AM, Anonymous wrote:
I have a muted gold and brown
rug in my great room, which
sits sort of in the home's
center, but extends to the
back wall which faces North.
The rug pattern is a
repetitive series of round
spirals. The furniture in the
room is rusty-red, blue, and
with some gold touches.
However, the rug makes the
room feel sort of "dead." I'm
thinking of getting a rug with
more vibrant colors. Is this
a good idea? Also, where
would this rug fit better, per
its color and pattern: in a
north by northeast
sunroom/family room; or in a
south-facing dining room?
There are no other furnishings
in these rooms yet, except a
dining room table which is
oval and wood.