Walking up the steep driveway and up the stairs to the front entry of Jennifer and Bob Lewis’ Awbrey Glen home, one is automatically geared up for a sensory treat.

The wind, on this day, gently blows the bamboo wood chime hanging from the porch, beautiful potted flowers grace the entryway, and above her doorbell is a stone sign with Chinese characters that translate to: “Enter and Leave in Peace.”

A professional feng shui home stager, Jennifer Lewis and her family looked at several homes in Central Oregon two years ago, before finding this three-bedroom, four-bath house that fit into her feng shui decorating philosophy.

“Feng shui literally means the way of wind and water,” said Lewis.

She was trained at the West Coast Academy of Feng Shui in Northern California. “It’s a way of harmonizing nature in the way we live through colors, symbols and placement of objects. It’s not an esoteric concept, it’s not something magical, it’s not a religion — it’s really just common sense.”

Way of wind and water

Feng shui originated in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.). Educated Mandarins practiced feng shui in the imperial Chinese court, where they were revered and advised on all building projects.

Using a bagua map — a square grid broken down into eight or nine equal sections — feng shui practitioners can navigate where to place certain objects or what paint colors to use to create rooms of wisdom, health, wealth and happiness.

Today, not only is feng shui still practiced throughout the world, it has also gained a large following in the west.

Lewis says there are three main branches of feng shui: the Compass school, the Form school and the Black Hat sect. The later is what she practices in her business and in her home.

“I found the Black Hat sect was more modern and applicable to the western lifestyle,” said Lewis, who admits the different schools of feng shui can get very complex and confusing, which is why she decided to formally study this practice. “Black Hat sect works well with modern houses not built to feng shui specifications.”

Though the Lewises’ 3,400-square-foot home isn’t perfectly built according to feng shui principles, Lewis says there are “cures” to counter some areas of her home where energy or “chi” might be lost.

Entering her home through a set of large French doors, Lewis has hung a large watercolor painting of fish swimming; the symbol of fishes is repeated throughout the house.

“In Chinese, there are several symbols of wealth, like the fish, the frog and the turtle,” Lewis explained. “Your entryway is very important because it’s this area that is considered to be your career area. So you want to make it as friendly and welcoming as possible.”

The slate entryway leads directly into her living room, which is the center of her house and an area that, she explains, should give the feeling of being grounded.

The living room has 20-foot cathedral ceilings with large wooden beams, and large windows grace either side of her stone fireplace.

These types of features, seen in many custom homes in Central Oregon, might be viewed as a selling point to some, but Lewis explains they are inauspicious, according to feng shui, and she had to place some “cures” around this spacious room.

“If you can see out to your backyard from your entryway, this is seen as your finances going out the window, the energy flows out,” said Lewis pointing out toward her windows. “What we did as a treatment is put up the small bookcase in front of the window, along with this glass sculpture. Rugs and plants also slow down the movement.”

As for the beams, because the ceilings are so high, they aren’t directly in her line of sight. If the beams were on a lower ceiling, Lewis said it could feel heavy and oppressive to some people.

One of the cures for that would be to paint the beams the same color as the ceiling.

To the left side of the living room, Lewis has placed a large silk tree. Plants and flowers of all kinds are seen as purveyors of good chi, but they must look healthy.

“Plants also are a symbol of prosperity, and you can use good quality silk plants too. But you never want to use dried flowers, because they’re considered dead,” Lewis said. “Also, no cactus, because it is sharp and pointy. In feng shui, you like to get plants with round curves, not pointy.”

Her cocktail table and its decorations use all natural elements: wood, metal, fire, water and earth.

“The cocktail table is rattan, wood, the bowl is metal, and in the bowl are rocks from the river, and the candles symbolize fire,” said Lewis. “If you try to do this all at once, it can become too overwhelming. You can do just a little bit at a time. Ideally, you want to have a mixture of all five elements in every room.”

Lewis says that people who walk into a home with good feng shui may not be able to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes them feel good about it.

“This way of decorating has good energy, and intuitively you know it, just by the way it makes you feel,” said Lewis. “Bob, my husband, who’s an engineer, didn’t always believe in this, but now he says it makes sense, because it’s very logical.”

Stop the clutter

A large part of feng shui is decluttering.

Lewis says clutter destroys good energy. Her rule of thumb: If you haven’t used it or worn it in a year, or two years at most, give it away.

True to her words, Lewis opens up the double doors to their first-floor master bedroom walk-in closet and reveals no clutter — nothing is out of place. Even this large, stunningly neat closet has good feng shui and order.

Walking into the Lewises’ master bedroom, which is tastefully decorated and painted in a tan hue with a hint of rose color, there is a natural feeling of relaxation, which is what a bedroom is supposed to represent.

“There are common mistakes people often do in decorating their bedroom. Often they have a big dresser mirror that overlooks the bed. That is not relaxing. As a cure, you could put a sheet over it at night,” suggested Lewis. “Another mistake I often see is that people have their computers, or a lot of books, or exercise equipment in the bedroom. You want your bedroom to be restorative, but if you’re looking at all this stuff, it’s hard to really relax.”

Lewis suggests if you have to have electronics, such as a television or a computer, in your bedroom, you should put it in an armoire.

Because the master bedroom is the “love and marriage” area of her home, she suggests always using pairs, whether it’s candles or decorative items.

Two night stands of the same height on either side of their king-size bed seems logical, but Lewis says it’s interesting how many of her single clients have only one night stand in their bedrooms.

She jokingly suggests those looking for love might want to invest in a pair of night stands, along with other symbols of love.

Just the right amount of accent color is important as well.

“I use touches of red because that is a color of sensualness, but you don’t want to use too much red because it’s an energy color, and you don’t want to have so much energy in here that you can’t sleep,” said Lewis. “Another mistake in the bedroom is that people use the space underneath their bed for storage, you shouldn’t do that because it blocks the chi from circulating around the bed.”

Lewis opens the door to her master bathroom. Because the bathroom is seen as energy draining, having the door always shut is imperative, Lewis says.

The tumbled marble tile gives this large master bathroom the look of a Greek bathhouse. Fresh flowers in a blue ceramic vase are between the double sinks. A large soaking tub is separate from a double shower a few feet away.

Lewis points out that she’s placed a small plug over the drains to keep the energy from washing away, when the bathroom is not in use.

Little touches

Walking back through the living room and passing the dining room, we enter the brightly painted yellow modern kitchen with black granite countertops.

Lewis points out the most obvious cure in their kitchen.

“Ideally, you’d like to have your stove in an island, so you’re facing out toward people. When I cook over here, I’m facing the wall, so my back is toward people. One of the cures I did here was put this little mirror on the backsplash. This way I can see whoever is talking to me,” explained Lewis, who cooks on a six-burner, stainless steel Kitchen Aid stove. “The more burners you have, the more auspicious it is in feng shui, because it means you can feed more people.”

At the top of the stairs is the room her sons, Aldin, 11, and Parker, 9, share.

The centerpiece of this tidy room is a large black table that displays nearly a dozen large Lego sculptures, including a beautiful Lego ship.

Lego pieces not used on these masterpieces are neatly placed in special bins on the side wall.

Looking around the room shared by two active elementary school-age boys, one realizes they’ve fully embraced the feng shui philosophy of keeping clutter down and putting everything in its place, though Lewis chuckles and admits “it can be challenging sometimes with kids.”

The Lewis brothers have bunk beds in their spacious bedroom, and from their beds they can look out their picture window to nearby Quail Park.

Adjacent to the boys’ room is their own bathroom.

Next to the boys’ room is the guest bedroom, which also doubles as the game room, where the kids and their friends can play video games.

On the other side of the staircase is another, smaller staircase that leads down to Bob Lewis’ large home office, which is built over the garage. To one side of this plush office is his laboratory area, where he is busily working on his latest invention. Across from his lab area is his office desk, which is also arranged in feng shui order.

A few feet away is a nook with a couch, where Lewis jokingly says her husband can take a nap, when he’s not working.

Lewis says no room or space in your home or property should be exempt from feng shui, not even the garage area.

“Our garage area is situated in the ‘helpful people and travel area’ on the bagua map, so I placed this poster of Hawaii in here,” said Lewis with a chuckle.

Using the bagua map as a blueprint for a beautiful way to decorate and find order is a talent Lewis has tried to perfect in her own home. The placement of even the smallest objects seems to have a potentially powerful impact in a house that flows with good chi, she says.

“Our dream is to some day build a house that is perfectly built to feng shui specifications,” said Lewis.

Still, using ancient feng shui strategies, Lewis has made their present and modern home both practical and lovely.