The feng shui office.

• Author: Bohland, Kathleen
• Position: Includes related article on the basics of feng shui

TWO HOME OFFICE MAKEOVERS SHOW THE FINE POINTS OF THE CHINESE ART OF PLACEMENT.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER HEATHER HAWORTH SITS AT HER DESK, STARING AT HER COMPUTER.

She has layouts due for presentation to her client, Outward Bound, and the deadline anxiety she faces seems as steep as the mountain peak the guy is scaling in the photo on her screen.

"I can't seem to concentrate," said Haworth, 40, who left a design firm a year ago to start her own Denver home-based business. "It's hard for me to work today."

Stress, pressure or burnout may be the most common reasons people feel unproductive at work. But Linda Block, an expert in feng shui, the Chinese art of placement, encourages people to give themselves a break and look to their surroundings for answers.

Some shrug off feng shui, calling it just another nutty fad, like Nehru jackets or iced cappucino frappes. Others say it's influenced their lives and abilities.

There's practicality behind feng shui, said Block, director of the Colorado chapter of the Feng Shui Guild in Boulder. "We're in a partnership with our environment, but we've gotten so busy and our society moves so fast, we're losing sight of that. We know we've left something behind as we've evolved, and feng shui helps us bring our souls back into our spaces."

Feng shui (pronounced lung shway) means "wind and water." It's a Chinese art that dates back 3,000 years. Feng shui practitioners teach people to create a sense of harmony and balance in their lives through the placement of objects and furnishings in their workspaces and homes. In recent years, the practice has increased nationwide as businesses and individuals search for ways to improve productivity and prosperity at work and harmony at home. Its purpose is to help create an environment that enables ch'i, or energy, to circulate more freely. As the energy surrounding us becomes unfettered, so do we, the theory goes.

Most people don't realize there are eight or nine schools of feng shui, said Gary Hendrickson, managing director for Feng Shui Design International in Boulder.

Hendrickson is particularly interested in the Eight Mansions or East/West school of feng shui, which deals with fine-tuning directions.

"People who are the most productive are facing really good directions," Block said.

Block charges $90 an hour for a feng shui consultation; others charge as high as $350. She has had clients as varied as a motorcycle shop, an ergonomic furniture store and a credit card service...