Clive Hutchby looks at the ancient Chinese art of feng shui, and talks to some people wo have benefited from it.

“FENG SHUI is fast making a name in the UK as a creative and practical tool to bring health, wealth and happiness to the progressive person of the 21st century. Based on the ancient Chinese I-Ching, the placement of furniture, art, mirrors, plants, colour and light are used to harmonise the energy flow in our homes and workplaces, and thus the different area in our lives.”

Clive Hutchby looks at the ancient Chinese art of feng shui, and talks to some people wo have benefited from it.

“FENG SHUI is fast making a name in the UK as a creative and practical tool to bring health, wealth and happiness to the progressive person of the 21st century. Based on the ancient Chinese I-Ching, the placement of furniture, art, mirrors, plants, colour and light are used to harmonise the energy flow in our homes and workplaces, and thus the different area in our lives.”

That’s how Feng Shui expert Kenny D’Cruz sums up the current popularity of the 4,000-year-old Chinese art, about which many people snigger (based on pure ignorance and little else, I should imagine), but about which a growing number of people swear by. Kenny believes it works …but then he would, wouldn’t he? There are hundreds of strands of ‘alternative’ medicines, therapies and lifestyles about which their converts preach zealously. Indeed, modern Feng Shui critics dismiss the ancient art as interior design wrapped up in oriental mystique. However, just think about 500 years ago and the similar sceptics who scoffed at Christopher Columbus and his theory that the world was round!

That should be enough, if you didn’t know already, to convince you it doesn’t pay to listen to these chattering classes of today when trying to gain an objective assessment of Feng Shui.

Instead, I talked to a couple of people who, in the past few months, have used Kenny as a consultant.

Susanna Alexander and her husband Jonathan run Alexanders, a family estate agency with offices in Hampstead and Baker Street. Last June they moved to a new house and immediately noticed that their young son Matteo was having trouble sleeping. Susanna was having troubles of her own, too, trying to work out how to fit their furniture into a dramatic new sitting room that was, in her words, “all windows.” She had heard of Kenny and gave him a call, expecting a short meeting – but Kenny doesn’t work that way! He spends time getting to know his clients’ hopes and fears, probing details of their past, present and future, their relationships, and generally building up a complete picture of the person he is helping.

“Kenny is amazing,” said Susanna. “You feel you are in the presence of someone who really can help.” And help he did. With partner Kristian Pengkerego, he transformed Susanna’s home so that her son could sleep properly, the sitting room furniture fits to a tee, and the home is a haven of peace and tranquillity.

After the house, Susanna and Jonathan decided the office in West End Lane, Hampstead, needed the same type of revamp. Kenny’s brief was to create a cosy atmosphere, alive for efficiency, mellow for customer care.

“Kenny and Kristian asked lots of questions, took careful measurements and notes, returning a couple of days later with a master plan,” said Susanna. “Almost every aspect of the office, from simple décor to the layout of furniture and even the colour of the walls and the corporate logo were changed.

“Work commenced, and within a few days the office was totally transformed. To our relief, it looked wonderful! The final touches were a small aquarium with some tropical fish, and coloured crayons for clients with children. The effect was immediate. The atmosphere in the office was much more serene and we were actually having complete strangers popping their heads through the door to compliment us on our lovely new office. Alexanders had instantly and evidently become more approachable, which must be what any business would wish for.”

Freelance photographer Diane Frost first saw Kenny and Kristian at an evening in her local natural health clinic in Stoke Newington, and was immediately impressed. “Kenny felt just right to me’,” she said. “I’d had some one do Feng Shui before and they ended up clearing out my whole flat!”

She arranged a meeting with Kenny …and he stayed all day!

“I spent seven hours talking with him but it seemed to be just an hour. He spent time identifying the issues in my life and putting that into context with my living environment.

“I personally think Kenny’s pretty amazing, and in touch with things that we know not of.”

Now, you can take this all with a pinch of salt, because Feng Shui could just be good, simple design where the clutter is removed from your house (and let’s face it, all living and working environments seem better and far more relaxing when they are fresh and tidy).

If that is the case, and Feng Shui is just a placebo to modern living, so what? If it works, why knock it?

And if there is more to it, if it really is an ancient art of removing negative energy and accentuating the positive, isn’t it great that there are people out there who have enough knowledge of the art to use it in a 21st century context.