Extract from The Feng Shui Doctor by Paul Darby (£9.99, Duncan Baird Publishers)
Living energy
The chi in a living room needs to be balanced toward lively yang energy, to support pleasure and social activities. Make sure that you have good chi coming into the room, then let it circulate freely. Strong shapes, plants, clocks and ornaments can all help to enhance the chi and make your living room, in feng shui terms, 'a place of brightness'.
Laying out your living room
Living rooms need to be light and bright. Allow as much natural light as possible into the room. Lights and lamps around the room, especially uplighters, will move the chi upward, turning it from yin to yang. However, avoid having large ceiling-mounted lights directly above people's heads, if possible; they make the yang energy too dominant and harsh.
To keep the chi flowing freely, position your furniture around the edges of the room. Leave the centre (tai chi), or 'earthpot', clear, except perhaps for a low coffee table, placed so that it isn't blocking the dead centre of the room. Place chairs and sofas against solid walls to make their occupants feel secure. In feng shui, seats shouldn't have their backs to doors or windows, because they leave the occupants in a vulnerable position. Make sure there's plenty of space around the furniture, because overcrowding can block the flow of chi.
Improving problem areas
To create the ideal flow of chi around your living room, you need to find and fix any problem areas. One common source of harmful chi comes from 'poison arrows', created by sharp edges or corners pointing at seated people. Poison arrows give off rushing energy that can make people feel tense. You can neutralize edges and corners by covering them with trailing plants.
The horizontal lines of bookshelves, called 'strangle lines' (chiao ssu), can also disrupt chi. Glass-fronted bookshelves will prevent this problem; otherwise, just move books forward so they overhang the edges of the shelves, to interrupt the strangle lines. Alcoves, such as the spaces around a fireplace, can collect pools of stagnant chi, but their edges form poison arrows.
Try to avoid having seats in alcoves because the chi can make people feel lethargic. To get the chi moving and to break up poison arrows, place broad-leaved plants in the alcove, 
if the pa kua sector allows, with some of their branches extending beyond the edge, and hang mirrors on protruding walls. Other possible solutions, if they suit the pa kua sector, are uplighters, water features, lava lamps, TVs and music systems.
Protecting windows
Check the windows for poison arrows outside your home, such as the corners of buildings, which could direct harmful chi into your living room. To deflect the energy from a poison arrow, hang vertical blinds. Alternatively, you can place protective objects on the window sill, facing the poison arrow.
Dogs are a great source of protection, so if you have a dog you could put his or her picture in the window. Clear quartz crystals are also an especially good remedy, but if you prefer you could use a crystal bowl or decanter.
Balancing colours
Generally, strong colours balanced by more neutral ones are ideal in a living room. Bold splashes of colour in cushions, rugs, curtains and pictures work very well, giving the room life. The more vivid the colours, the more rapidly the chi will move. Mid-toned, bright colours produce more yang energy; very pale or dark colours give off yin energy.
If a colour is wrong for a sector, or the right colour doesn't suit your decor, you don't have to redecorate. Just put a piece of furniture, rug, cushion or plant in the correct feng shui colour on top of the wrong one. In feng shui, this is called 'placing the bandage'. The energy from the item on top overcomes the energy of the underlying colour.
Beams
Wooden beams symbolize chi pressing downward and depress the energy of anything (or anyone) beneath them. Try not to have seats right under a beam. If you can't avoid this problem, you can take various steps to make the beams feel 'lighter' and less oppressive.
If the beams are small and you don't mind disguising them, you can paint them the same colour as the ceiling to make them blend in. Otherwise, you can lift the energy by using a picture or other object that symbolizes upward movement.
A traditional remedy is to attach open fans or bamboo flutes to beams, but this can look really out of place in modern homes. Instead, you could use pictures of birds in flight or of hot-air balloons rising. Large plants under beams work very well, as do uplighters or spotlights pointing up at the beam.
I remember using the wooden propeller from a vintage aeroplane along a beam in one house. It looked magnificent!
Fireplaces
Every good living room needs a focal point. A working fireplace, whether it uses wood, coal, gas or electricity, can form a wonderful centre. The fire can give the room a very welcoming feel. In addition, it raises, warms and moves the energy.
Ideal pa kua locations for fireplaces are east, southeast, south, southwest and northeast. To boost the fire energy even more in these sectors, hang a picture of poppies or sunflowers, or one with colours symbolizing fire, above the mantelpiece.
When you're not using the fireplace, you could place plants, flowers or screens in front of the hearth. A mirror, on the other hand, is a bad choice in these areas because it represents water and 'puts the fire out' (hsi mieh). The west, northwest and north are inauspicious sectors for fireplaces because fire clashes with the ruling elements (metal in the west and northwest, and water in the north).
However, you can overcome the problem by using the Destructive Cycle of elements - hanging a large mirror over the fireplace to 'put out the fire' is actually a good idea in these sectors. Blend water and metal chi by choosing one with an ornate metal frame (or wood painted silver or gold). A plasma screen TV could go here; when switched off, it acts as a mirror.
In the west or northwest, rounded ornaments in shiny chrome, stainless steel, brass or copper also work well to 'put out the fire'. In the north, use trailing plants such as ivy, which symbolize falling water. Place them on the mantelpiece at either side of the fire, or even have one in front of the fireplace when the fire is out.
Sound and energy
The vibration from sounds, such as music or voices, is an excellent way to boost chi. Feng shui teaches that everything is formed from vibrations and if you create the right vibrations around you, they will support and strengthen your own energy.
A TV, radio or music system can create highly beneficial chi. Electrical items, such as TVs, radios and battery-powered clocks, will energize yang chi in any location. They're useful to boost the energy in alcoves, or in bay windows to shield you from poison arrows. If you have Venetian blinds, a TV or radio in front of them will help to diffuse harmful chi from the horizontal lines. If you play a musical instrument, that can be another good source of sound.
Ornaments and pictures
The most important thing to remember is to surround yourself with decorations that you like. Most people have a mixture of items that they've inherited and pieces that they've chosen themselves. If you like them, keep them, but if they were given to you and aren't to your taste, pass them on or give them to charity. Antiques hold energy from their previous owners and history, so, in order to benefit from them fully, try to find out as much as possible about their history.
Ideally, pictures should be lively, uplifting and attractive. Try to avoid hunting scenes, lonely, windswept landscapes with single figures, or images with sad associations. For best results, match the subject and main colours to the pa kua sector.
Beneficial plants
Broad-leaved plants, such as rubber plants and Swiss cheese plants, are best for stimulating chi. If you don't want to keep real plants, artificial plastic or silk ones are just as good. Pot pourri is helpful because of the smell. However, avoid dried flowers or ornamental twigs in jars because they hold stagnant energy.
Location, location, location
North: Enhance the chi in a northern living room with wood symbols, such as greens and plants, or metal symbols: whites, creams, chrome and stainless steel. To boost your career, try water or symbols of water.
Northeast: The chi here is ideal for recharging your energy. Focus on earth symbols, such as terracotta, apricot or yellow, granite or marble and unglazed pottery. Crystal is also beneficial. Add touches of metal (see North, above). Electrical items can promote knowledge and learning.
East, southeast, south: The chi in eastern and southeastern living rooms will promote growth and 'richness of life'; the south enhances sociability. Use lots of wood symbols, such as the colour green, plants and pictures of countryside or flowers, with yellows and touches of reds. Water symbols in the southeast can help to increase your prosperity.
Southwest: This sector has relaxing energy that nurtures relationships. Blend earth with some metal, as for the northeast (see above).
West, northwest: Living rooms in these sectors can boost energy, determination and creative thinking. The ideal blend of chi is metal, such as whites, creams, and stainless steel, with some earth symbols.
Extract from The Feng Shui Doctor by Paul Darby, priced £9.99, published by Duncan Baird Publishers.