He had been thinking for a long time about remodeling the Willow Glen house he rents—updating the 1970s-style cupboards and flooring in the kitchen and painting the beige walls a more cheerful color. But he never thought the process would include lighting candles and hanging crystals and mirrors.

But this is exactly what interior design consultant Linda Lenore recommended on a recent consultation*because doing so follows the ancient Chinese art of feng shui (pronounced "fung schway").

Feng shui is based on the premise that all people, places and things have energy, or chi (pronounced "chee"). Those who practice feng shui seek to achieve harmony and balance in the home or work environment in order to attain good health, a successful career and happy relationships.

The candles and crystals she recommended for Costanzo promote positive energy, says Lenore, a feng shui master.

And while this interior design technique has been around for 4,000 years in China, it is a practice that has only been practiced widely in the United States during the past five years, according to Lara Pai, interior designer, feng shui consultant and co-owner of Organize 2 Dezign.

Advocates of feng shui consider it both a science and an art. The science comes from the calculations and methodology used in analyzing a property. The art aspect involves the creativity needed to design or "remedy" a room that is not in accord with feng shui.

Pai and her business partner, Denise Rainoldi-Fenton, use feng shui principles in every house they decorate. But they don't always tell the client because "some people think it is one of those voodoo things or they think it's a cult," says Pai, who has read a dozen books about feng shui and taken classes but doesn't consider herself an expert.

Bonnie Wilson doesn't consider feng shui spiritual or religious*she's just thrilled with the new look of her Willow Glen home since Organize 2 Dezign remodeled it. As a real estate broker, Wilson says feng shui plays an important role in the Silicon Valley with the Asian community.

"I have Asian clients who don't want a tree in their front yard because it blocks the chi, or positive energy, from flowing into the house," Wilson says. "They also don't like beams in their bedrooms because they have negative energy."

But that doesn't necessarily mean they won't buy a house with a tree in the front yard or beams on the ceiling because with every feng shui problem, there is a solution.

If there is only one beam on the ceiling, the chi is considered imbalanced, but with feng shui there is a solution*people can paint or draw a fake beam down the wall or add lights on either side of the beam to provide conceptual support. The whole idea is to have balance.

Lenore says beams add lots of pressure, can cause health challenges and are the worst if located in bedrooms. The bedroom is the most important room in which to have good feng shui because people generally spend six to 10 hours per night there, sleeping, Lenore says.

"Remedies are often necessary because the only way to have a perfect feng shui house is to either bulldoze and rebuild or build a house from scratch according to feng shui principals," Pai says.


Applying feng shui

According to feng shui, the ideal shape for a home is square or rectangular. An irregularly shaped home has "odd" areas where chi cannot flow. Since Wilson's dining room juts out from the rest of the house, Pai symbolically "extended" her front yard—next to the dining room—as part of her house by adding trees and wind chimes and a mirror in the dining room. The mirror reflects the energy back into the house, Pai says.

The idea of feng shui is to keep chi moving throughout the house so it doesn't turn into negative energy, called sha. Two doors directly aligned is bad because energy flows right through one door and out the other, Pai says.

"Negative energy runs along straight lines," Pai says.

So to keep chi moving through a room, furniture is staggered and put at an angle, round tables are added, and a living plant is placed in the corner to add life to a "dead" space.

In addition to doing these things in Wilson's home, Pai placed a quarter with the head side facing up under a frog statue at the front door—to attract wealth—put a red chair in the corner of the room—to keep the energy flowing*and added silk plants to soften sharp furniture edges.

"A sharp corner of a table shouldn't be facing someone who is sitting in a chair," Pai says. "That is called a 'cutting knife.' So we add a plant to block the sharp corner."

An octagonal grid called a ba-gua identifies the spaces in buildings and rooms where energy can be found. The elements that can be determined using the map are fame, wealth, partnership, family, children, knowledge, career and helpful people. A map can be laid on top of a floor plan—using the front door as a reference point—to find where these elements are prevalent in a room.

It is important to find out which direction the house is facing and where certain rooms of the house should be located. The feng shui practitioner first observes the environment using a special compass to determine the orientation of the property. Calculations are then completed according to the basic principles of feng shui. Then remedies are applied to produce a balanced area in which positive energy can flow, Pai says.

Once a husband and wife didn't want to move their home office to another room, so Pai made the room feng shui by adding accessories, like metal, wood and a fountain to represent water. She also faced the desk in the best direction for them.

"It's a matter of compromising because we want the house to be functional for the residents," Pai says. "We apply feng shui where we can, given the architectural and structural limitations."

Another facet of feng shui involves looking at a person's birthdate, which determines their animal sign, element—fire, water, wood , earth or metal—and the best direction to face furniture, such as north, south, east or west. Costanzo's elements are wood and earth, so adding earth tones and wood accessories would help the energy in his home, Lenore says.

After installing a wood mantle on his fireplace he claims he felt more at peace. This could be because the red in the fireplace was a harsh color for him, Lenore says. Red is the opposite of earth tones.

He also has an east-facing house, which was beneficial for him because as he walks into his house he is facing toward the west, which is his third-best direction, Lenore says.

Adding wind chimes, flags or flowering plants outside would attract energy and raise vitality but some people "don't believe in those gimmicky things," she says.

Other aspects are balancing a cathedral ceiling on one side of the living room and adding a mirror on the adjacent wall to convey the feeling of a larger wall, Lenore says. Dead leaves should also be trimmed off plants, and pointed-leaf plants should never be in the bedroom, she says, because they are considered symbolic of shooting arrows or sharp knives.

Costanzo's "wealth area" of the house is located in his back yard, so Lenore says putting a fountain outside would help move the chi. After his illness, Costanzo became self-employed. But his home office was set up with bad feng shui, Lenore says.

Lenore says he should move his computer because it is facing the worst possible direction for him. He didn't have it in that direction because he didn't want his back to the door, he says. So Lenore suggests placing a mirror above his computer so he can see behind him.

Because his animal sign is the tiger, a picture of a tiger or a stuffed tiger can also be placed in the room for protection, she says.


Incorporating other designs

Before becoming a feng shui consultant and master, Lenore was an interior designer. Both Lenore and the Organize 2 Dezign owners say they prioritize—placing function first, beauty second and feng shui third.

For instance, Lenore says she doesn't think a tiger picture would be the best design technique.

Another service Organize 2 Dezign offers is clearing clutter. Getting rid of junk is also a feng shui principal, Pai says.

According to the author of Feng Shui: Arranging Your Home to Change Your Life, Kirsten M. Lagatree, "clutter interrupts chi flow."

Pai has a motto about getting rid of unused items. "When in doubt, throw it out," she says. "If you spend four seconds thinking about it, you need to throw it away."

Pai and Rainoldi-Fenton clean up people's homes and donate unused items to charity. They mostly use items found from other parts of the home.

They pulled an armoire and a china cabinet from other rooms to use in the living room. The armoire has a mirror that illustrates feng shui because it reflects a red chair and is placed at an angle, allowing chi to move around it, Rainoldi-Fenton says.

"A lot of feng shui is just common sense," Wilson says. "I consider it good aesthetics, and with a good design, people feel welcomed into your home. The whole purpose is for people to feel comfortable coming here for tea or dinner or just sitting in the living room."

Sometimes only small accessories need to be used to accomplish feng shui. Adding a vase with hints of red or a small silk plant can help increase chi, Pai says.


Alternatives to feng shui

The interior designers at Casa Casa, 1355 Lincoln Ave., do not practice feng shui.

"The way I look at it is, to really deal in feng shui you need to be trained and very knowledgeable," says Casa Casa owner Nancy Biagini. "It's not that we approve or disapprove. It's just that we don't have expertise. We sell books about it, and I find it really fascinating. If I had an interior design applicant who was highly trained I would consider them."

Instead of using feng shui, Casa Casa interior designers talk to clients about what they need done to their home, like adding a single accessory, changing a whole room full of furniture or redesigning the house. Several customers have inquired about feng shui but Biagini didn't know anyone in Willow Glen to refer them to, she says.

"We speak to customers with no particular spiritual philosophy," Biagini says. "We decorate people's homes according to basic design principals."

For Dianne Van Voorhis, this means making one piece of furniture the central focus in the room. Having designed for 27 years, she recently began working at Casa Casa.

"I try to have a room reflect a person's lifestyle, however formal or informal," Van Voorhis says. "I want it to be practical and function with the family. I'm more classically trained in interior design, so feng shui doesn't fit my decorating style. Feng shui tends to turn things at an angle more than I do."


The impact of feng shui

"Lots of times people say they feel better in a space" after Pai redesigns a home, she says, "and they don't even know why. All our clients so far have told us they feel better in their space and are sleeping better. It could be because of the feng shui or because we helped them clear their clutter."

Since feng shui was applied to Wilson's home five months ago, she has felt happier and her personal and business life have improved, she says.

Costanzo says he doesn't know if it will improve his health but he will apply some of the things Lenore suggests.

"I'm the type of person who will try anything because I figure it can't hurt," he says. "I will change the kitchen, a few things in the bedroom and explore applying feng shui in the office."

For more information about Organize 2 Dezign, call Lara Pai, 408.497.3290, or Denise Rainoldi-Fenton, 408.316.2508. For more information about Linda Lenore, call 650.368.5532 .