Rebecca DiLiberto - Welcome Home: Make Your House a Healthy, Wealthy, and Happy Place to Live

MANY PEOPLE SPEAK OF HAVING A
sixth sense when it comes to selecting a new place to live. Whether it is feeling pulled by some intangible force upon seeing a For Sale sign, or finding yourself on the same remote block during your morning walk over and over again, its difficult to dispute that some places exert a powerful draw on us.

Its not surprising, then, that almost every culture has a long list of guidelines and warnings when it comes to choosing the location of a home. Here are some things to consider when youre pounding the pavement trying to decide where to put down your roots.

THE IRISH BELIEVE THAT FAIRIES
are everywhere, and that the fairies use special paths to travel from place to place. Therefore, its important not to build a house on top of one of these paths. To make sure your building site is in the clear, stake it out with four posts, then leave them standing overnight. If, come morning, any or all of the posts have been knocked over, youre trespassing on fairy territory, and proceeding with construction could guarantee you and yours a lifetime of annoyance. If the posts are still in place, youre free to break ground.

POTENTIAL HEALTH CONCERNS
are not the only reason that you should think twice before purchasing land near a power plant. Feng shui devotees believe that the energy generated by the plant can actually disrupt the flow of energy in the home.

MANY IRISH PEOPLE ALSO BELIEVE
that a familys new house should not be built directly across the street from the old one, in order to avoid repeating negative patterns and to ensure that the lives of everyone in the family continue moving safely forward. Who wants to look upon their old life when beginning anew?

WHILE MANY YOUNG FAMILIES SEEK OUT HOUSES
located in cul-de-sacs for privacy and a safe place for their children to play, some cultures maintain that such locations can lead to stagnationa metaphorical dead endin the dwellers lives. If you fall in love with a house on a dead- end street, just be sure that the backyard offers lots of open space for bodies and minds to roam.

Should you be lucky enough to participate in the process of building your new abode from the ground up, consider these beliefs before signing off on those blueprints.

VASTU SHASTRA RECOMMENDS
that the entrance of a house always be placed on its northeast side. The east side of a home is ruled by the god Indra, who brings pleasure. The east is also where the sun rises, and the sunrise symbolizes new beginnings.

WHEN YOU ARE LAYING OUT THE KITCHEN,
the stove should never be visible from outside the home and should sit in the southeastern section of the kitchen. Water elements, such as the dishwasher and sink, should be in the northeastern part.

WHEN PLANNING THE LOCATION OF THE BEDROOMS
in your new home, consider that, in Filipino culture, the master bedroom ideally has a window facing east. Filipinos believe that this allows Gods grace to come in.

SOME FENG SHUI MASTERS MAINTAIN
that a master bedroom with an adjoining bathroom can cause digestion problems in the occupants. Should this be the case for you, at least theres a bathroom close by!

BATHROOMS SHOULD FACE EAST,
because the morning light is believed to promote health, says the Vastu Shastra doctrine.

ACCORDING TO INDONESIAN TRADITION
the construction of an indoor pool can lead to illness.

FENG SHUI PRACTICE ESPOUSES
a number of specifications regarding a new home, such as:

No home should face north.

Bedrooms should not be placed over a garage.

Bathrooms should not be situated over dining rooms.

Two doors should not face one another.

The color red brings nothing but luck, prosperity, and happiness everywhere you put it.

Every staircase should have an even number of steps.

BUT VASTU SHASTRA, A HINDU BELIEF SYSTEM
similar to feng shui, maintains that staircases should always have an odd number of steps, so that one can both start and finish on the right foot. Luckily, theres a tradition to validate your staircase, however many steps it has!

ACCORDING TO FENG SHUI,
its never a good idea to choose a home site below street level, as the placement of the entrance can make it difficult for chi to enter the house.

AVOID MOVING TO A LOWER FLOOR
in an apartment building, as some believe this downward mobility could portend a decrease in earnings.

LOOK FOR A HOME WITH A PATH
that winds gently from the street to the entrance instead of in a harsh straight line. A more meandering path gives the houses occupant more time to linger and discover all that life has to offer.