G-Fab's Guide to Office Feng Shui

I start a new job next month. My new office, currently a conference room, recently got a fresh coat of paint. The paint... is purple. My new boss offered to re-paint it, but I think it should be fine. Here's why.

Call me crazy, but I have long tried to follow some of the ancient Asian "feng shui" principles in arranging my office. I'm not superstitious or spiritual about it. But looking at the list of 13 below, many of these make practical sense (forget all the supernatural stuff, such as "if you use your computer to generate wealth, put it in the southeast corner, etc.).

A. Purple As An Office Color

"Purple is also favored as a recommended color since it symbolizes high ideals, including truth and love. It is also the color of great achieving thinkers such as philosophers, dreamers, writers, and visionaries. Painting your office in variations of purple can increase creativity that in turn can bring on productivity especially in a dull or lackluster work area."[1]

B. Office Feng Shui Do's & Don't's

1. DO sit in the corner farthest from the entrance to the room to have a "command" position.*
2. DON'T sit in line with the door, as you will be in the path of negative energy.*
3. DO keep your back toward a corner or a wall for support. If a post protrudes from the corner or wall, correct it by covering it with a hanging plant's draping foliage.*
4. DO sit with a tall building behind you to provide the support of a "mountain" if your back is to a window.*
5. DON'T face away from the door if you are conducting business from home. Business will symbolically come to you through the door, so don't turn your back on it.*
6. DON'T arrange your workspace so that you look straight out into a corridor or see the stairs, storage rooms, closets, elevators, escalators, or toilets.*
7. DO put your computer in the North or West area of your office to enhance your creativity. Place the computer in the Southeast if you use it to generate income.
8. DO place an aquarium or tabletop fountain in the East, North, or Southeast. A small aquarium with black or blue fish in the North area of your desk or office will activate your business and career success. Guppies or a single arrowana are ideal for an aquarium made of glass and metal.
9. DO place a safe, which is usually constructed of metal, in either West or Northwest, which both represent the metal element. The safe symbolizes the prosperity and financial security of a business.
10. DO have a good balance of yin and yang when decorating your workspace. Balance light and dark colors, soft and hard surfaces, and smooth and rough textures in your choice of window treatments, furniture, and flooring.*
11. DON'T have any mirrors in your office, as they can reflect negative energy from clients to other people in the room. You should always maintain control over the energy in your office.*
12. DO treat the files in your office with respect. They represent your past, present, and future business.*
13. DO keep the cords to your office equipment well hidden. This elimate clutter and allows for the free flow of chi.*[2]

*some of these are difficult to do; I've starred the ones that I've always been able to do. I don't think keeping a fish tank is really an option here! We had a safe in the EA office, but I have no need for one now!

SOURCES:

[1] http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-feng-shui-office.html
[2] http://www.essortment.com/career/fengshuicolor_tqnr.htm