The Feng Shui House Book: Change Your Home, Transform Your Life

Well I'll add my voice to the chorus of recommendations. I'm a feng shui rookie and this was the first book I bought on the subject. I'm very pleased with it. I'm interested in home decorating applications, so the many great color pictures of home interiors are what sold me. I was looking for inspiration and found it.The book also has a solid overview of the principles. Though I consider the author a good teacher, but not a great one. Perhaps it's just the complexity of the subject that left me a little confused about some of the principles (or my own shortcomings :)). But it seemed like some things could have been clearer. For example I'm still befuddled about the precise methods of using elements to correct defects in sections of a bagua. Do mirrors and wood and other materials have the same compensating effect in each area? Anyway, I need to keep studying the subject. But this book was a really good start.

Having read practically every book on the market on Feng Shui, if I had to recommend one it would be this. The book combines an easy to understand guide to the basic principles of Feng Shui, with "before and after" examples of rooms that have been transformed in order to enhance a particular aspect of the inhabitant's life.Glossy pictures throughout also make it a great coffee table book, and an ideal gift. In fact I have bought so many copies for friends I think Gina Lazenby ought to pay me commission! Not to be missed.

I found this book while looking in the home improvement section of a bookstore. Before then, I knew nothing about Feng Shui. Since then, I have become very interested because of this book. It includes before and after pictures illustrating how big a difference Feng Shui principles can make in your home environment. This book uses the form school of Feng Shui, which does not require the use of directions (north, south, west, east) and instead uses the juxtaposition of the parts of the house to the front door. Other books require you to use a compass and graphing tools, which can be cumbersome. Also, I have found the discussion of using symbols such as dragons and bamboo flutes in other Feng Shui books to be less relevant to me as a westerner. This book is absolutely beautiful and will enable anyone to use the principles of Feng Shui to improve their home environment.

Other books I have read on Feng Shui were a bit dense or very much imbedded in Chinese culture, and not so appropriate for my life as a Westerner. This one is clear, poetic and concrete all at once, appropriate to the Western situation, and inspiring. It has questionaires to assess where in your life you need improvement, and how to use the feng shui chart to transform trouble areas in your home to bring about a change. There are many examples of "before and after," to help you adjust your home. This is a whole new way of looking at Interior Design, and anyone interested in making some changes in their home would be interested in what this book has to say.