Tag Archives: Feng Shui decorating

How Emotions Are Decorating Your Space

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“An interior is the natural projection of the soul.”
– Coco Chanel

Decorating should be the fun part of moving and home improvement but if everyday something comes up, you feel anxious, some event triggers an unhappy thought and you just can’t get started…your emotions are decorating your space. Here is what Jeanette discovered. Her family decided to move across country so her husband could take a new position and they could be closer to her parents. She had one week to choose a home for her family. The home she fell in love with had vaulted ceilings, a view of the back yard from the front door, a large master suite that stretched from front to back, a three car garage…it was certainly the right neighborhood and the school was perfect for her children. Once they settled into the new house she thought everything would be as before. But the stress of moving never dissipated. A barrier progressively developed between she and her husband. They were silent at the dinner table and he stopped coming home at reasonable hours. Her 13 year old son did not like sleeping in his room. It was so good before the move, what happened? 

Wanting to find the husband she had lost, to help her son stop his nightly wandering and bring some happiness to herself, she called me for help. Jeanette’s story is a powerfully moving scenario and not unlike the stories clients share expressing their profound loss and disbelief over what has happened to the life they once had. She had read several Feng Shui books. She suspected the emotional issues between she and her husband, her son’s distraction and her moodiness were stemming from her home. And she admitted she didn’t feel good being there. When I shared what I saw, my words immediately resonated with her. She had no trouble making a plan and her next step would be decorating using Feng Shui design.

I believe design education goes a long way in creating awareness that our home influences our well-being. With that in mind, I composed this Feng Shui guide to help you make better choices when deciding on your new nest. And if you are already settled in your space, you might recognize one or two design features that may be limiting your freedom and curbing your peace of mind. 

Want a picture? Here is a helpful companion blog on floor plans, “Unraveling Your Home’s Floor Plan With Feng Shui.

 Depletion That Paints You Into A Corner
• A hidden front door is when you cannot see the door from the street. Feelings of isolation can develop over time. What Professor Lin would call “strange chi.” At an office there may be loss of income, feeling frustration, depression and loss of motivation.
• An obstacle (blocking tree, wall, utility pole or column) at the front door can limit opportunities.
• Double doors can create confusion, especially if the door to enter is not marked properly.
• A slanted front door creates a slant on daily interactions that explode into unexpected events related to all areas of life.
• A blocking wall inside the front door can impede the forward movement of everyone in the household. Everyone may struggle with their career. Faith in the future may be lost.
• Front door /back door alignment may possibly create a split through the whole house. The closer the doors the worse this patten is. Parents may feel a barrier between them and lead separate lives. Parents and children lose touch. Money may leak and opportunities dry up. Money, motivation, reputation, health and good luck may fly out the back door.
• A split at the front door can affect all areas of life dramatically. The brain is activated unevenly and the two sides will start to lack coordination. The inhabitant may act more and think less. Or think more and act less. In either situation there is an imbalance. As a result illness along the midline can development. Also confusion and the lack of sound decision making can cost a family their health or business. Non-stop arguing and violence can result with a split at the front door. Extreme marital, family and business interactions can take place here.
• A split stairway (typical of split level homes) aka Mandarin duck stairway creates an environment where everything begins to fall apart; it can even shatter a person’s peace of mind. The different levels affect partners where they are more likely to experience miscommunication or not speak at all; children have difficulty feeling accepted; finances fluctuate wildly. Invariably health is unstable. When it is a company and affects all the employees, the consequences can be disastrous.

 Bad Luck That Colors Your Morale
• Seeing a cemetery, a morgue or a deserted house from your front door may bring illness and sudden expected disasters.
• If your home is at end of a “double T” intersection your luck may dwindle in all areas but in particular health and finances.
• A narrow driveway or path. The opportunity to expand your heart and mind may never happen. And if you see opportunity you won’t be able to grasp it, feeling shut down.
• A toilet over the front door brings bad luck to the entire household or business.
• A stove that is backed up to the toilet that is on the other side of the wall affects your luck to the point it may run out.
• A dead door is a door that is nailed shut or that cannot be opened. This feature may stifle’s one’s voice completely. If the original door has been closed there can be a sudden downturn in fortune or slow loss of resources.

Details That Design Conflict
• Arguing Doors are two doors that when they are open bump up against one another. The clashing is jarring to the senses and disturbs the inhabitants equilibrium. Conflict results. It may run throughout the house.
• Biting Doors are doors that are out of alignment with one another. Visualize walking out of your bedroom and seeing part of a door entry and part of a wall. This design feature creates a split and has the effect of a front door split. Biting doors create discord between parents and parents and children. In a child’s room it can create a bully. You may lose friends and neighbors can turn into enemies. In an office setting there may be gossip, back stabbing and power struggles. Biting doors at the front door are especially detrimental as the conflict and verbal fighting can reach into the neighborhood.
• Piercing Heart Doors are three or more doors which you could walk in a straight line. They create an invisible obstacle through the house which impedes relations between partners, partners and their children and between siblings. Alienation and separation tear the family apart.
• Many doors opening into a small space. I think we all have this one, especially around the bedrooms and bathroom. A door is a “mouth”. This area can be especially noisy because all the voices are trying to speak at once. Listening is difficult and family members may end up quarreling. This design feature is the underpinnings for health issues, particularly the digestive organs.
• Too many doors in relationship to the windows and the adult voice may be too powerful. This ratio may silence the voice of the children. In a business situation management (the adult) may not heart the feedback of employees (the children). There may be a conflict of wills.
• Too few doors in relationship to the windows and the children may create havoc. On the job, employees may strike or rebel.

Architecture That Exhausts All Your Emotional Resources
• A door that is below the level of the street make every movement feel like an uphill climb. Time becomes altered and energy depleted. There is an inability to follow through and complete projects.
• A contrary door is a door that opens to a wall instead of the main part of the room. Everyone who lives in the house may find they are laboring and not enjoying the results of their work. They may feel exhausted and disappointed most of the time.
• If a stove is in line with the front door, family problems may never be resolved. There is constant worry and pressure which can exhaust everyone who lives there.
• If a bedroom is the first room an inhabitant sees when entering the house, they may be too tired to take care of their responsibilities and daily duties.

 Exterior And Interiors That Are Blueprints For Illness
• An industrial park or factory next door may be overwhelming. The distraction and pollution create physical and mental imbalances. Being empty at night they create a yin presence. All of this affects your ability to concentrate, be clear and effective.
• A bathroom in the center of the house or office can deplete all life situations. Poor health can plague every inhabitant year after year, effecting succeeding generations.
• A fireplace in the center of the house can burn up money, create infamy and heat up passion so it is burns outside the house, drying up your creative juices. The flow of your career may come to a drizzle and your inner growth may be non-existent. Your vitality is depleted and your emotional capacity to lift your life to joy is severely restrained.
•A stairway that ends too close to a wall may impede the flow of Ch’i in the building and the bodies of the inhabitants. You may feel blocked physically, emotionally and in your career.

If you want to receive a cure for any one of these design features, I will ask you to honor the red envelope tradition.

Have you decided this will be your year? ”Boldness has genius”…start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

10 Feng Shui Decorating Ideas That Can Stay Up Past The Holidays

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An interior is the natural projection of the soul.
–Coco Chanel

Some people are natural born decorators, they have a flair making their home picture perfect for the holidays. But if that gene bypassed you, relax. I will help you release the worry and doubt associated with, “I could never do that.” Spread the good cheer when you use these 10 Feng Shui Decorating Ideas That Can Stay Up Past The Holidays. I have selected Feng Shui objects and intentions that radiate beauty long after Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice and Kwanzaa have transformed into memories of sugar plums and bliss.

Here’s how to mix tinsel and soul and make magic.

Refresh your state of mind Space clear the house. This is the most important. Perform this ceremony before you start decorating. This removes any unhappy emotions and low energy. From a Feng Shui perspective citrus is the number one choice. Its scent clears a sterile environment and brightens a room. But more than that, the orange’s power lies in its ability to transform that is why has been used for centuries by the Chinese. The Chinese word for orange sounds like gold. Sprinkling peels you have infused attracts abundant energy in your space and in your life. Procedure: Purchase nine oranges. At 11:00 p.m. open all the doors and windows of the house. Cut nine round pieces of orange peels from nine oranges. You will have a total eighty-one pieces of round orange peels. Break the orange peels into smaller pieces. Begin at the front door, take a small handful, toss the peel upward, visualize that all misfortune, illness and bad luck are leaving. All is well. Take another small handful and with palm down, sprinkle the peel, sowing seeds of auspicious light and visualizing any negativity being replaced with new growth of good fortune, health and positive events. See sunlight or universal light filling every corner of your house. The light will evict any bad Ch’i and misfortune and replace it with happy Ch’i, prosperous Ch’i and auspicious Ch’i. Leave in all the rooms of the house. Say a prayer of grace and you are complete. Leave the peels for one night, three nights or nine nights for greater emphasis.

Magnetize healthy Ch’i When the lighted candy canes have reached their due date replace them with electric lighting. Lights draw healthy Ch’i up from the earth, stimulating the energy of the entire front yard.

Create progress for the coming year Purchase a beautiful wind chime. Visualize how it will bring good luck into your household. Hang the wind chime from a red ribbon outside your front door at 11:00 a.m. Say a prayer of grace, this reinforces your request. This enhancement takes your eye level gaze and preoccupation with worldly affairs and redirects them up. At this position, you invite the power of heaven to create joy, stability and forward movement.

Empower your good name Red in Feng Shui symbolism means happiness, righteousness, courtesy, power and strength. The key to your holiday happiness is balancing anxiety with respect. As you paint your door red visualize these qualities and see your neighbors, family and friends admire your color scheme and honor your good name.

Relax your mind A water feature placed near the inside of the front door creates an illusion with sound. With a modest home it adds dimension and gives a spacious impression. And the sound of laughter from the water falling smoothes the Ch’i, putting your guests at ease and in a relaxed state of mind.

Continue your good fortune Lemons, tangerines and oranges are a highly prized fruit. Fruit, in general symbolizes life and new beginnings. Orange or “Kum” in Chinese sounds like gold. It is also a prayer or wish for good fortune. Create an orange wreath with bay leaves for your wall or create a lemon, orange and mandarin garland for your stairway. After the holidays, if your stairway is facing the front door, paint the railing green to lift the Ch’i and keep good luck from rolling out the door.

Attract a prosperous attitude A Harvard study showed that we feel less negative around flowers. “The positive mood that results from looking at flowers is likely to transfer to others – it’s what is called mood contagion.” A seasonal flower for this time of year, the narcissus plant, is a good choice to display. It is both fragrant and it attracts prosperity for the year to come. Adjusting by sense of smell calms the nervous system. Feeling relaxed smoothes your Ch’i and puts you in good spirits when Aunt Sally shows up.

Invite a fresh perspective Pomegranate symbolizes fertility but I am suggesting you use them at the holidays to bring happiness to the family as well as good luck for your descendants. Display pomegranates in a table arrangement either at the front entry or the dining room table. If you like the pomegranate’s color and shape display it as art in your home to attract these qualities year round.

Invoke a hardy resilience The holidays are unfortunately stressful. Family relations go through strain. Pine trees symbolize friendship and loyalty. But also any type of evergreen symbolizes durability and endurance. They never lose their positive energy and can create an optimistic spirit. Place a young, live pine tree in a pot at your entry or in the great room. Trim it with family photos and decorations and see your family feeling unified. After the holiday take it to the forest, plant it and visualize you are replenishing Mother Earth.

Keep your energy well directed Maintain your positive outlook by maintaining your health. If you are prone to sniffles and headaches, place nine lush plants at the front door. The front entry is representative of the health of the entire family, your head, helpful people and career. Visualize that everyone’s Ch’i remains balanced or if stress reaches unbearable proportions, a family conference is held to clear the air. This cure you can keep indefinitely.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

When Home Improvement Becomes Soul Improvement.

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“We hammer wood for a house but it is the inner space that makes it livable.” –Tao Te Ching

Can you fix the unfixable? Beyond the 9 to 5, beyond the soaring career climb, beyond the A lists and A’s on English tests, beyond the cancer scare, beyond is where your heart dares to find happiness. Has it become increasingly difficult to feel your feet upon the ground? What influences you in your surround? Are the things that vie for your attention–forgotten birthday wishes, a sink full of dirty dishes, rushing after work to your child’s soccer game, text messages left unanswered–keep you tethered to a frenzy when really you would rather follow your whimsy? Time to seek another way; it only gets better with Feng Shui.

Your story is in the details.
“My partner and I feel more in sync; we work better together.” “(I) rediscovered stability, confidence and joy in my environment and in my life.” “I’m finally feeling like everything is on track with us! I am a true believer in Feng Shui from all the good things that have happened in my life.” Each one of these individuals came to me in despair. They could not fathom how to fix what they thought was unfixable. Little did they know it was right in the (design) details of their home. It was beyond their comprehension that by changing a design feature they would experience a miraculous change too. Hearing about the “unseen”, learning how architectural features affected their thought processes, influenced their emotions, impacted their physical health, helped them connect to the truth and influence of Ch’i and feel their own life force mirror it inside. Even if they didn’t comprehend how a cure could possibly work, they embraced why to implement the home improvement cures, why to perform the ceremonies, why to say the intentions, why to imagine the visualizations. What they understood was these were lifelines to their well being, these ritual processes were a celebration for their soul.

What my clients learned. Implementing the transcendental concept of the Yin and Yang is the only way real change takes root in our lives. If you are missing your soul connection, start with the Yin, known as the “unseen”. It exists in every situation and its influence is powerful. H.H.“Professor” Lin Yun in his ever present wisdom would share: “we may not see a tornado developing (yin), but we do see the destruction (yang). We may see political demonstrations, murder or hijackings (yang), but we don’t see the underlying intrigue of a political coup (yin). We can see a wind chime or crystal (yang), but we cannot see the Three Secrets (yin). We may see someone fired (yang), but we must also see that his or her firing can affect the next “owner” of the job (yin).” (courtesy Katherine Metz). Now that you know its effect, isn’t time to tune in and turn things right side up?

Your house is talking. Are you pulling your hair out with home improvement projects (a split stairway at the entrance will cause all life situations to spin out of control)? Have you scheduled an unexpected surgery (seeing the stove from a door that leads to the outside)? Are you arguing with your partner (many doors opening into a small space?). Do you wake up tired (contrary door)? Or angry (biting doors)? Your house is talking. Start with your bed, desk and stove, place them in command position. Read my March Blog, “Do You Feel Secure In Your Home?” then tour your home for the remaining details and make corrections. Remember this life is all you have.

Keep calm and carry on. You can do one thing that will make a difference. If you want more vitality, more love, more abundance, create peace in your household, even peace on the streets, implement one of the three color systems: the Five Element System, the six true words color system or the rainbow color system. Or use the color, green, because it is a peaceful color.

Here is a link to Floor Plans Matter, examples of common design details and how they affect occupants’ Ch’i. Perhaps you will recognize your home in one of this.  

Have a brilliant and beautiful October!

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.