Until I spoke with Julie Ann Segal of Metro Interiors, I had thought the only energy in my home that matters is the same reason I no longer do my own electrical work. She deals with another kind of energy entirely. As a master of interior design and feng shui, Julie Ann will not only make your home look beautiful. She may harness the energy of the universe itself to improve your life in profound ways.
From the perspective of a man who believes a Garfield piggy bank really ties his living room together, the rooms that Julie Ann has taken her hand to look brilliant. Airy, yet intimate, with thoughtful details that draw the eye along satisfying lines. Colors selected to add warmth and character without ever bordering on obtrusive. But there is more to Julie Ann’s work than meets the eye.
“As a feng shui consultant, clients often ask me what it means to have ‘good energy’ in a home, and how I create it,” said Julie Ann. “In the simplest terms, energy is defined by how your space feels. If you have clutter, have neglected your furniture’s design or arrangement, or just feel that something doesn’t resonate within your living space, then its energy might be off.
“Even when I was a little girl arranging the toys in my room, I understood that our surroundings impact us – that our living space is a living, breathing entity of its own, and we’re very much connected to it. It wasn’t until I began studying interior design, however, that I encountered feng shui. It’s an ancient philosophy that holds there is a circulating life force, or ‘chi.’ Depending on how well chi is channeled, it can harmonize people with their surrounding environment.
“You can easily tell when a room’s energy is off. That can not only affect how you feel. It can gradually impact your health as well! A woman I spoke with the other day told me she recently returned from a trip to discover her husband had rearranged all of the furniture in her home. She showed me a picture of the long corridor he created, which looked almost like a bowling alley. Chi has a physical movement pattern, and this arrangement essentially channeled it straight through the house and out the window! She was relieved to learn exactly why her husband’s new touches were so awful – and to have a way to explain that to him.
“Feng shui is an incredibly deep philosophy which revolves around a map called the ‘bagua.’ Each of the nine areas of the bagua corresponds to a different part of your life, including love, knowledge, creativity, even fame. I learn which areas of their lives my clients hope to improve on, and implement ancient – and modern – theories of design to create environments that best foster the energy for them to thrive in.
“One of the beauties of feng shui is that it doesn’t necessarily mean making really big changes or investing lots of money. Even moving things around a little and adding a few new pieces can dramatically improve a room’s energy. Simply hanging a crystal can calm a room’s energy. Sharp angles, which are known in feng shui as ‘poison arrows,’ can greatly hinder the flow of chi and should be avoided. Adding a water fountain to an entryway creates a ‘mouth of chi’ that channels good energy inward. A water fountain placed in the front yard can be especially powerful at drawing in wealth and abundance. And importantly, your front door should be a different color from everything else in your house. I personally recommend red, a color that nourishes love.
“If you like current trends, then by all means use them, but don’t let them overpower your own personality. Consider which colors and patterns resonate with you on a personal level, and keep them first in mind when you’re creating the best space to flourish in.”
The tenets of feng shui certainly inform Julie Ann as she brings her clients’ visions to life, although she is not bound to any aesthetic dogma. If a living space can be conceived, Metro Interiors can create it over a range of budgets. Metro Interiors mercifully provides every material a renovation of any depth could require, so Julie Ann’s clients don’t have to deal with third parties for furniture, lighting, flooring, window treatments, or the contractors who install them.
Metro Interiors has transformed countless rooms throughout the Twin Cities into what are effectively works of art. To see a great sampling of Julie Ann’s past work, request her expertise on any matter of interior design, or sign up for a virtual consultation, please visit metrointeriors.com.
Julie Ann’s Fast Feng Shui Tips
Abundance & Prosperity: Add a bell to the far left corner of your desk
Fame & Reputation: Add the color red to the middle back area of your home
Relationships & Love: Have two nightstands and two lamps in your bedroom
Family & Elders: Add family photos to this area of your home
Health & Wellness: Hang a crystal in the center of your home
Creativity & Children: Add pastel colors to this area of your home
Skills & Knowledge: Store books in this area of your home
Career & Journey: Add a water fountain to this area of your home
Helpful People & Travel: Add artwork of places that you would like to visit