This article was published in the "Ideal Home and Garden" Magazine in Oct.07.

In the living room a large space left empty for Yoga, despite the room does not look like a yoga-hall. Its a blended fusion of all the decorative items with the Indian inherited furniture.

Illuminating the niches creates a beautiful ambiance in the whole living room.

The paper-umbrella makes a beautiful lamp and the cranes painted on it represent longevity.

Beside the sofa is even space for a meditation corner.

The white Buddha brought from Thailand is the focal point of this room and adds to the meditative impression.

Two Indian bedsteads became a new comfortable realm for sound and secure sleep with a new upholstered bedhead in the same material as the overall bedspread. The big cushions in contrast colours not only set an accent to the predominant brown, they also provide a snuggly place for reading in the bed. The painted brown frame around the window has a continuance in the stripe on the right wall, which creates a frame round the bed even without the vertical stripes.

In the night the room embraces the inhabitant with coziness and security.

For his bedroom he imagined a brown wall-paint on the window wall, which we considered to mighty and the contrast between the light window and the dark wall would have be unproportional for that room. Instead, we agreed to a stripe, which brings the warmness of the brown colour, but does not overwhelm in its weight of one wall. This colour scheme continues in the curtains, bedspread and furniture.

Clear forms and straight lines reign the room. Here the contrast between the white wall and the dark brown furniture is purposely set.

One former kitchen-shelf has been transformed into a writing table with a pullout for the laptop (the other became the bar in the living room). According to Feng Shui the desk was placed into one of the auspicious direction of the owner, well considered that no sharp corner hits the bed.

The only item on the terrace was an old rusty and squeaking swing. It was renovated, got a new roof and upholstery and has now a prominent place in the middle of the terrace, demarcating one side of the sitting area.

The sitting area consists of 3 divans which were upholstered with customized mattresses and backrests, the cushions make them even more comfortable. A low sitting area on the floor and a cane furniture set give ample space for big groups having parties here.

The most attractive place also on this terrace is the hammock. The plants on the parapet wall act as a screen from the neighbour jealous glances.

The grass-mats on the floor give a neat and clean appearance. The open space between the chatai walls and the ceiling serve well for a good cross ventilation.

The upholstery of the swing follows the beautiful design of the welding. Saris were draped across the ceiling following the colours of the directions according to Feng Shui.

The terrace was divided into two parts, one roofed and on open space. The open space is also accessible for the tenants to enjoy sitting outside and the roofed part is reserved for the owner and his family. Inside and outside the potted plants add to the cool and refreshing atmosphere.

The bedroom had the best energy, so to spend most of the time here many possibilities were given: of course the bed, then a divan with a reading lamp beside, a writing table and a hammock for relaxation. The earthy colours add to the calming and grounded ambience. According to Feng Shui no mirror or TV should be situated here as this will disturb the sound sleep.

A solid wall behind the bed is giving support and security. Nearly all walls have windows; therefore the bed stands diagonally to have at least some solid wall behind. The niches over the windows were too small for a storage, but too high to use them as a shelf. If they were left open, they would have sucked the energy. We converted them to lightings covered with drapings, which give a soft all over light to the room. A special nightlight was created in the corner behind the bed-head, which appears like 1000 stars behind the cloth.

The divan serves for comfortable reading and as a daybed.

The writing table doesn’t take much place, but gives enough space for computer-work and utilizes the corner well. The hammock unusually hung inside the house is the main attraction of the room and the most used spot of all tenants.

The kitchen and dining area is separated from the livingroom by an open shelf, which give free view through the shelf-boards, but acts as a distinct partition. As per Feng Shui all sharp corners and edges should be rounded, not to send sharp energy, so called “Poison Arrows” to the inhabitants; therefore all horizontal edges were additionally covered with half round patties and the shelf-boards end in a half round shape.

The gas-stove stood right beside the sink, which means in Feng Shui a clash of the water-element (sink) with the fire-element (gas-stove). The kitchen island was build to separate these elements and create an additional work- and cooking space and provides simultaneously a dining corner for 2 persons. The island was build with glass-bricks to avoid the impression of a heavy block in the middle of the kitchen. Now the platform easily floats on the glass construction and can be lit from inside, which give an inspiring light impression. In order to balance yin and yang the niches under the main platforms were covered with soft falling curtains instead of sharp lined shutters, which serve the same purpose to hide all crockery in the shelves under the platforms.

From the dining area you have an overview of the whole livingroom due to the open shelves. Transparency yet separation.

The dining table can be easily dismantled and assembled, as it consists of 2 shelves and a table top. In normal use the shelves are standing against the wall and give ample space to the dining area. The table can be build up when there is the need of more dining places; otherwise all meal can be taken on the counter of the kitchen island.

The eye-catcher in the livingroom are the two unusual shaped podests, which were positioned in areas without afflictions. The livingroom was one of the biggest challenges according to Feng Shui, but now all the seating arrangements are located in “safe” places. The colours also have been chosen according to the Feng Shui calculations. The cushions and bolsters invite to snug into the soft seatings and relax.

The podests provide additional store room, either as shelves for books or knick-knacks or as big drawers for items that need dust-protection. The door of the guest bathroom disappears behind a curtain which continuous in a kind of canopy over the quarter-circled podest.

The shelf under the window for the TV to come was build in the same manner as the partition to give a continuum to the design. We worked with a lot of different lighting possibilities: a wall washer, indirect light on top of the partition shelf, indirect light under the rim of the podests and for a full illumination an extraordinary light installation with starlights and bamboos has been attached on the wall, which simultaneously acts as a Feng Shui remedy.

The special curtain arrangement consists of separate sheer panels, which can be glided in 4 different layers over each other to either provide a translucent look during the day or an opaque shelter from outsiders glances. The blue curtain continuous from the window over the main door down to the floor and provides a privacy-screen against an immediately survey over the whole livingroom.

Toilets are considered as energy drains as all the good energy of the house can be flushed away. Therefore it is important to have the bathroom door always shut and the toilet lid closed! In the master-bathroom the toilet was seen from the bed; a glass-brick wall was erected to hide the commode behind, it also acts as a partition of the dry and wet zone. The ugly geyser with all water and electrical lines was relocated on the attic on top of the bathroom and gives now a clutter-free look. The remedy for the bathroom in the East is the fire-element, for that reason a lot of red accessories were placed like red towels, carpet and the red poppy flowers.

The window was closed with a fixed glass and accommodates now an additional shelf for all necessary washing utensils. The design of the quarter circle wash-basin is continued by the shelf-boards in the same shape. (As mentioned above the door should be always closed and was kept open only for the photo-shooting.)

Warm colours accoding to the Feng Shui direction, soft falling cloths, the triangle light behind the drapings and the canopy over the bed create the cosy feeling in the bedroom.

Even during the day the softness is very appealing.

The simple divans provide a comfortable sitting area, which can be converted to guest-beds. The curtain beside the maindoor prevents an immediate insight into the livingroom and guarantees some privacy, it also hides the shoe-shelf.

Instead of the just the window covering plastic-mosquito nets, soft falling mosquito-material out of cotton was used for the whole wall and appear as sheers. The open niches under the window could not be used as store-room, they accomodate now additional atmospheric lights.

The extra ordinary shapes of the cane furniture act as a focal point in the living room.

The drapings on ceiling and walls guarantees a sense of well-being and a feeling of security. They add more softness to the straight walls and answer the tenant's request for "the feminine touch".

All cold-light neon tubes were removed; low hanging lights with warm-light bulbs provide a much more pleasant and relaxing atmosphere. Plants complete the picture and act as well as Feng Shui enhancers when placed in the right locations.

Reception area: In order to distribute the light equally in the whole office glass brick-partitions instead of solid walls were build.

According to Feng Shui sharp corner should be avoided. The round shapes add to the unusual design of that office space.

The sales manager’s seat is separated from the direct views of the incoming customers by a light but protective glass brick wall. The curved shape seperates and utilizes the given space economically.

The CEO’s office is an individual room divided only by a glass-brick wall and a glass-door, so the safe atmosphere for confidential talks is given.

The concept of the open and light space continues even within this cabin.

The conference room, also lockable for confidential discussions, follows as well the principle of the rounded design and is build in a quarter circle.

Conference room

The area for the workstation is separated by only a man-heights glass-brick wall, which adds to the impression of a much lager space as it actually is.

The gallery need nearly no additional light; it profits from the glass-brick walls in the whole office

Two big dome niches in the back wall and smaller diamond shaped and square sized niches at both sides have been built in the walls. Together with the metallic copper-colour it demarks this area as the focal point of the hall. From here the yoga-master will demonstrate for his classes.

The left side of the hall shows the dome shapes in form of paintings with different yoga postures.

The right side of the hall repeats the domes shapes, but here in a downward position in order to balance the two sides of the hall.

Details of the big dome niches and the antique lamps

Details of the diamond shape and square sized niches in the side walls.

In order to provide sufficient light for the classes additional ceiling lighting has been installed and draped with sari material. The light malas under the draping appear as single stars and immerse the whole hall in a glare-free light and soothing atmosphere.