Create a Home of Beauty and Comfort with Feng Shui

Everyone has different tastes, likes and dislikes about home decor. But one thing most people want more of when improving their home environment is comfort and relaxation. Creating a comfortable home goes beyond how a space looks and focuses on how the space feels.

Feng Shui is a centuries old environmental system that studies the environment and how it affects people. By utilizing some simple basic feng shui principles when designing our home environments we can turn any space into a place that nurtures, inspires and rejuvenates our bodies, minds, and spirits.

In my best-selling book Feng Shui that Makes Sense; Easy Ways to Create a Home that FEELS as Good as it Looks I go into great detail on how feng shui works to lesson stress and discomfort in our built environments. When we minimize environmental stress, we create a space that supports our health and well-being, making it easier to experience happiness and joy in our daily life.

Here are ten quick tips that you can apply to your home in order to make it feel more relaxing and rejuvenating. I suggest that you take inventory of each room in your home and see how these suggestions can help you bring a greater sense of peace and calm into your surroundings.

Kitchen Feng Shui

 The kitchen is another one of those rooms that in some Feng Shui literature, has a lot of misinformation, superstition and myth associated with it.  I’m going to share some basic information with you on how you can create a kitchen that has good Feng Shui, while dispelling a couple of the myths you may have heard.

      Let’s start with the myths. One of the most common Feng Shui myths is

Feng Shui for Love & Romance

Whether you are already in love, need to perk up your current relationship, or are still looking for that special someone, feng shui can help you create an environment that will support the energy of love and romance. Below I’ve given you ten tips on how to get your home “in the mood” for love! 1. Out with the Old I often work with clients who hold on to keepsakes, belongings, and mementos from former relationships out of sentiment or habit. The problem with keeping items that either belonged to or remind you of a former flame is that physical items hold energy, and the more emotion associated with the item, the more energy that item holds.  When you hold onto items from the past, it can keep you stuck in the past and prevent you from embracing the joy of the future. Physically letting go of items that remind you of former loves can be a very empowering first step towards welcoming in a new, happier and healthier relationship. 2. Are you Loving YOU? Whether you want to admit it or not,

Beamed Ceilings and Feng Shui

Are open-beam ceilings bad luck?

I get asked this a lot when I consult with clients. This question exemplifies some of the misunderstandings people (including some Feng Shui consultants) perpetuate in Feng Shui.

     Many of my clients say that they have either read or heard that beamed ceilings bring all sorts of negative experiences—from headaches and joint problems to divorce.  I even had a client tell me that they were going to pass up buying a home that they loved because the living room had beamed ceilings and they had read in a Feng Shui book that this would bring their family “bad luck”.

Healing Grief with Feng Shui

A few weeks ago one of my previous clients called me to schedule an appointment. They were a beautiful young family with two darling little boys whom I had worked with just before Christmas. My client’s voice was small and hesitating on the phone. When I asked her what was going on she began to cry, telling me that her youngest son had died tragically in May and they were so deeply mired in grief that they hoped I could help shift the energy in their home. Stunned, I told her that of course I would help them, and we met right away.

     To lose someone you love is always heartbreaking…

Beautify your Outdoor Living Areas with Feng Shui

Summer is the time of year when the outdoor portions of our home expand the living areas of the home itself. Barbecues, pool parties, Fourth of July celebrations and more take place outdoors and after the confinement of winter, it feel great to be outside and enjoying the nature that surrounds us. Here are ten feng shui tips to get you all set for the summer fun.

Easy Feng Shui Tips for Every Room of the House

I stumbled across this great picture with numbers for the different areas of the home and it inspired me to do a walk-through (by number) of the different areas of your home. The numbers in the picture are a bit random, but it is a fun way to present some quick tips on how you can optimize each area. Ready, here goes!

1. Bathroom: Don’t believe what you may hear about the bathroom in feng shui. Your money does NOT flow out your drains or your toilet! That is nonsense! In order to have a comfortable bathroom, choose warm earth tone colors and add fluffy, soft towels for added comfort.

2. Garage: For many of us, the garage is our first impression when we return home. Keep it neat and organized. Opt for closed cabinets to store items to give a sense of peace when the garage door goes up instead of chaos.

3. Bedroom: Make sure to position your bed so that  you have a clear view of the door instead of being directly in-line with the door. You will relax better knowing that you can easily see when someone enters the room.

Nature, Feng Shui, and Your Well-Being

One of the most important aspects of feng shui is to bring items and materials from nature into our homes and offices. While we know that it “feels” better to have these items around us, we may have never thought about the reason why.

       For millions upon millions of years human beings have primarily lived outdoors. Sure, we found or created shelter to protect us from the elements of nature, but for the most part we spent the vast majority of  our time outside in the natural environment. It is only within the last 150 years or so (with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution) that people began to move away from farming to work in factories. Most of us now spend a great deal more time indoors than our ancestors did, but the way we respond to our indoor environment is actually influenced by the same factors that allowed the human race to survive in nature environment up until this very moment.

Feng Shui for Love and Romance

Feng Shui is a wonderful tool for freeing up the energy in your life so things will flow more smoothly. While it (unfortunately) can’t solve all romantic woes, it can help create a most positive environment for love to grow. Whether you are single and looking for a relationship or already involved with someone, Feng Shui can help you increase the positive flow of energy for love and romance. Below are ten tips to get you started.

1. Locate the Southwest portion of your home. Find the location where the Southwest meridian point intersects the wall of your home. If you don’t know how to do this, you’ll find easy-to-follow directions in my book, Feng Shui that Makes Sense. This is your “Love and Romance” location. The element for the Southwest is earth (rock, stone, tile, etc.). One of the easiest ways to bring stone into this area is by adding a pair of Rose Quartz hearts in the Southwest area. The rose quartz hearts are available for sale HERE. You can also use regular stones, items made from earth like ceramic, pottery, cement, quartz, granite, etc. Statuary and figurines made of earth are nice too. Remember that in feng shui, and especially in the romance section, we like to have things grouped in “pairs” so be sure to have two items made of earth in this area instead of one.

2. Choose artwork carefully. In order to enhance romance, choose artwork that

Feng Shui Tips for the New Year

Letting Go of the Old, Welcoming in the New

The ancient Chinese were masters at understanding energy. They used their understanding of energy meridians in the human body to create the healing practice of acupuncture and their understanding of the energy meridians in the earth to create the system of feng shui.

   Another great understanding they had was knowing the importance of marking a new year as a time of letting go of the past and welcoming in  fresh energy and new beginnings. While those of us using the Gregorian calendar celebrate the new year every year on January 1st,  the Chinese celebrate their new year on the second new moon after the winter solstice. This year the Chinese New Year (the year of the Black Water Dragon) will be celebrated on February 4th, 2012.

       No matter when you celebrate the new year, it is an ideal time to reassess what is working in your life and think about what you’d like to change. From a feng shui point of view, this involves