News
Nurturing energy: Chi flowing through Green Valley townhouse
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| Vera Marie Krampen, a retired Feng Shui consultant, moved to Green Valley in May 2008. Jaime Richardson/Green Valley News |
By Karen Walenga, Green Valley News
Does your home have a spirit of its own, a natural flow that makes certain designs or decor feel just right?
Tuning into that energy, or “chi,” is a specialty of Vera Marie Krampen, a retired Feng Shui consultant who moved to Green Valley in May 2008 with her husband, James.
Developed over 3,000 years ago in China, Feng Shui is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure the health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.
Many American homeowners learned of Feng Shui in the late 1990s when it became popular with interior designers and a variety of new books on the subject were all the rage.
After spending a month in early 2008 looking for the perfect place in Green Valley, the Krampens found the ideal fit: a townhouse in Encanto Estates.
Town homes in the same neighborhood may look nearly identical in many respects, but “each has different luck,” Vera says, explaining that “the energy of this home is very nurturing.” And being situated near the beginning of a cul de sac produces positive energy, she says.
Well cared for
Inside, Vera could tell how well the previous owners cared for this home, which spans nearly 1,400 square feet. All the Krampens had to do before moving in was clean the tile floors and carpeting, and paint the all-white walls.
Their color choices — a soothing khaki-beige in the great room, a nurturing gray-green in the kitchen and a soft yellow in the two bedrooms and baths — were “what the house wanted,” Vera says.
“It all blended together, and we just love it,” she points out.
Vera also found that their townhouse is well-suited to circular shapes, so she and Jim chose a round copper-topped table for the great room, as well as colorful circular rugs, a round coffee table and end tables, and much of the circle-shaped art and accessories in the home, including Vera’s brass gong.
“This house likes earth colors and circles,” she says.
The couple brought with them from Indiana their bedroom furniture and a small kitchen set, plus some knickknacks. Everything else they purchased in Arizona for a fresh, new look, Vera says.
Light fixtures, mirrors
To make this single-story townhouse their perfect retirement home, the couple did replace all of the 1970s-era light fixtures and bathroom mirrors. The old white glass light fixtures looked their age and “weren’t going to suit us,” Vera says. Modern fixtures, including several stylish ceiling fans with lights, changed the whole feel of the house, she says.
In addition, the Krampens have turned part of the backyard patio into an enclosed Arizona room with a brick floor, reed ceiling and an extended awning that provides additional shade. This room allows them to comfortably enjoy their outstanding view of Mount Wrightson, Josephine Saddle and Mount Hopkins in the nearby Santa Rita Mountains.
In the enclosed portion of their backyard, Jim enjoys caring for a mix of rose bushes, pyracantha, cacti and more. Beyond the walled yard, he is building a large, circular medicine wheel, using rocks in a variety of colors and sizes.
In the front yard, where a fountain provides the soothing sound of flowing water, the couple had the plain cement driveway faux painted to create a more settled look of flagstone.
Inside, several skylights add brightness to the interior without too much more heat in the summer, Vera says.
The home now makes an incredibly comfortable retirement nest for the couple.
“I like the all the activity here (in Green Valley) in the winter, and in the summer it settles down. You can feel the rhythm,” she says.
“I like the feel of Arizona. The energy is so different than where we grew up. Green Valley’s pace is so much calmer than northwest Indiana.
“Here I feel I’m really unwinding.”
kwalenga@gvnews.com
Tuning into that energy, or “chi,” is a specialty of Vera Marie Krampen, a retired Feng Shui consultant who moved to Green Valley in May 2008 with her husband, James.
Developed over 3,000 years ago in China, Feng Shui is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure the health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.
Many American homeowners learned of Feng Shui in the late 1990s when it became popular with interior designers and a variety of new books on the subject were all the rage.
After spending a month in early 2008 looking for the perfect place in Green Valley, the Krampens found the ideal fit: a townhouse in Encanto Estates.
Town homes in the same neighborhood may look nearly identical in many respects, but “each has different luck,” Vera says, explaining that “the energy of this home is very nurturing.” And being situated near the beginning of a cul de sac produces positive energy, she says.
Well cared for
Inside, Vera could tell how well the previous owners cared for this home, which spans nearly 1,400 square feet. All the Krampens had to do before moving in was clean the tile floors and carpeting, and paint the all-white walls.
Their color choices — a soothing khaki-beige in the great room, a nurturing gray-green in the kitchen and a soft yellow in the two bedrooms and baths — were “what the house wanted,” Vera says.
“It all blended together, and we just love it,” she points out.
Vera also found that their townhouse is well-suited to circular shapes, so she and Jim chose a round copper-topped table for the great room, as well as colorful circular rugs, a round coffee table and end tables, and much of the circle-shaped art and accessories in the home, including Vera’s brass gong.
“This house likes earth colors and circles,” she says.
The couple brought with them from Indiana their bedroom furniture and a small kitchen set, plus some knickknacks. Everything else they purchased in Arizona for a fresh, new look, Vera says.
Light fixtures, mirrors
To make this single-story townhouse their perfect retirement home, the couple did replace all of the 1970s-era light fixtures and bathroom mirrors. The old white glass light fixtures looked their age and “weren’t going to suit us,” Vera says. Modern fixtures, including several stylish ceiling fans with lights, changed the whole feel of the house, she says.
In addition, the Krampens have turned part of the backyard patio into an enclosed Arizona room with a brick floor, reed ceiling and an extended awning that provides additional shade. This room allows them to comfortably enjoy their outstanding view of Mount Wrightson, Josephine Saddle and Mount Hopkins in the nearby Santa Rita Mountains.
In the enclosed portion of their backyard, Jim enjoys caring for a mix of rose bushes, pyracantha, cacti and more. Beyond the walled yard, he is building a large, circular medicine wheel, using rocks in a variety of colors and sizes.
In the front yard, where a fountain provides the soothing sound of flowing water, the couple had the plain cement driveway faux painted to create a more settled look of flagstone.
Inside, several skylights add brightness to the interior without too much more heat in the summer, Vera says.
The home now makes an incredibly comfortable retirement nest for the couple.
“I like the all the activity here (in Green Valley) in the winter, and in the summer it settles down. You can feel the rhythm,” she says.
“I like the feel of Arizona. The energy is so different than where we grew up. Green Valley’s pace is so much calmer than northwest Indiana.
“Here I feel I’m really unwinding.”
kwalenga@gvnews.com
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