Chinese House: 4 Ideas for Decorating Your Home to Add a Chinese Style and Improve Feng Shui

Thailand has a large number of Chinese Thais living there, and they have adopted Chinese culture in many aspects, including architecture, which can currently be found in temples, shrines, and even residential buildings. Chinese houses have unique architectural styles and rather distinctive decorations, so those interested in Chinese-style houses can easily adopt them.

Ancient Chinese House ‘Siheyuan’, a prototype of a Chinese house plan that is correct according to Feng Shui principles

China is a country that places great importance on Feng Shui. Therefore, ancient Chinese houses were not built according to preferences or trends, but rather according to Feng Shui principles to enhance auspiciousness. Ancient Chinese houses were usually buildings that surrounded a courtyard in all four directions, or what is known as a ‘Siheyuan’ or ‘four-coordinated house’.

The layout of the house is a square, facing south, with buildings placed next to the fence on all four sides, leaving the courtyard open for various activities. Placing buildings around the courtyard in this manner helps prevent the air in the house from being too hot in the summer, as there is an open space in the middle of the house, allowing the wind to blow through all the buildings, as well as reducing the cold in the winter.

In addition, ancient Chinese houses have clear divisions of living areas. It is popular to place the main building or the main house, which is the owner’s residence, at the back of the house or to the north of the area.

The front of the house is a servant’s house that takes care of guests who come in and out, making the area look like a square ring with houses surrounding the garden, which is a unique characteristic of Chinese houses.

From ‘Siheyuan’ architecture to today’s Chinese-style houses

Ancient Chinese houses are houses with unique and distinctive architecture. Nowadays, those who love them can simply pick up some architecture and apply it to designing a house to suit the era, the country’s climate, and its utility. Then they will get a Chinese-style house that they can immediately recognize when they see it.

For example, using Chinese-style corrugated clay tiles for the roof, designing the roof to be high and curved in a Chinese pavilion style, or designing the building in the style of an ancient Chinese house that emphasizes width more than height and is a single-story building. Ancient Chinese houses tend to raise the floor at least 3 steps to prevent flooding problems.

While the floors and walls are usually made of brick or wood, the Chinese prefer to connect the building structure with wooden dowels and bolts rather than metal.

4 home decorating ideas to enhance Chinese style and feng shui

In addition to picking up the scent of ancient Chinese house architecture to put into the construction of the house to get a Chinese style house, decorating other parts of the house, including the garden, choosing colors and decorations will also help to increase the scent of being a Chinese style house even more. And some decorations also help to enhance Feng Shui according to the beliefs of Chinese people. The 4 ideas for decorating a Chinese house are as follows:

1. Decorate the courtyard or garden in Chinese style.

Chinese garden design often emphasizes a garden style that imitates nature, with high and low mounds covered with grass. There are ponds, streams, and rocks. The Chinese believe that water, which represents smooth movement, will help business flow smoothly and money flow like a river. They like to build bridges across streams.

The most popular trees are tall trees such as pine trees, willows, and bamboo trees, which are usually planted along the water so that their branches curve down into the water. Chinese pavilions and animal statues are also popularly used in gardens, according to ancient Chinese beliefs, such as:

• Dragon enhances luck and prosperity
• Lion enhances power, usually placed at a three-way intersection to improve feng shui and attract good fortune
• Fish enhances wealth and prosperity

2. Chinese style interior decoration

For Chinese houses, the ceiling is not very patterned because it is desired to be light and simple, since the emphasis is on the details of the decoration in other areas.

Chinese house walls are mostly decorated in 2 types: wallpaper with Chinese patterns, ancient paintings, and various drawings, which will cover only some parts of the room, and the use of carved mirrors to cover the walls, which is not popular to cover or cover the entire room with Chinese patterns because it will make the atmosphere look suffocating and not airy. The various patterns are often chosen to be auspicious, such as pictures of dragons or fish.

3. Choose Chinese-style furniture.

Chinese people like wooden furniture, including beds, cabinets, tables, and chairs, and they must be in Chinese shapes, including carvings with Chinese patterns and inlaying mother-of-pearl into the wood. In addition, they like to decorate their homes with Chinese brush paintings, porcelain, cups, and bowls with Chinese patterns.

Partitions are another unique feature of Chinese-style houses. Chinese people believe that well-designed room dividers will help increase the flow of energy into the house.

4. Decorate your home with Chinese-style color trends.

The colors of Chinese houses are another thing that is related to Feng Shui, as the Chinese believe that:

• Yellow and orange are the colors of prosperity, wealth, and prosperity. They are the colors of the royal family and Buddhism, so they make you feel powerful, auspicious, and lucky.
• Red and orange are colors that are indispensable for Chinese people. Chinese people believe that they are the colors of luck and power.
• Green, blue, and navy blue are colors that mean change and growth. Painting your house in this tone will also make you feel comfortable.

Chinese home decorating color trends and their meanings according to Feng Shui principles