Feng Shui Tips: Crystal Balls

Anjie Cho July 15, 2016

In case you missed it, I was featured on Homeclick earlier this year with tips on how to properly hang a feng shui crystal ball. Check out what Homeclick had to say below, and view the video and instructions here! You can also purchase a feng shui crystal ball with red hanging cord on the Holistic Spaces store here.

We're really digging this latest video with architect and feng shui consultant Anjie Cho. We were first wowed when we saw how a designer like Cho can seamlessly weave feng shui sensibilities into her design work for clients without compromising taste or preference. Feng shui is an intriguing, attractive art-meets-science practice that has been around for thousands of years. Crystals, it turns out, play an important role in creating good feng shui in the home.

The basic concept of feng shui crystals is fairly straightforward. When properly cleaned and used, crystals can attract and disperse good feng shui energy in the home. Different crystals can attract different energies, while placement of crystals around the house can also affect outcome.

In her video, Cho uses a Swarovski 40mm faceted crystal ball and discusses proper cleaning of the crystal as well as three potential rooms in which to use it: an entryway, hallway, or a home's center.

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6 Fun Ways to Use Stripes in Your Décor

Anjie Cho July 6, 2016

Think you can’t balance sass with classic? Fun with sophisticated? Think again. Decorating with stripes gives your home a textural balance of timeless spunk. Here are some great ways to incorporate stripes into your décor.

Pillow line up

Whether you’re sprucing up a sitting area or a bedroom, mingling striped pillows with floral or delicate patterned pillows is a foolproof design trick. Just stick within a one-color palette. The result will be a homey, yet cohesive design.

Lengthen your walls

For the subtle among us, a nice muted or tone-on-tone vertical stripe on wall paper or fabric wall treatment will give more height to your room. Feeling bold? Stripes in more pronounced contrast colors make a statement. Whether you apply your striped finish to one wall as an accent or take it all the way with a roomful, make sure you get those lines hung straight and even. If you decide to paint your stripes on the wall, pull out your blue painters tape and a level to ensure crisp, clean lines.

Jazz up the floor

If you’ve got hardwood, you’ve got beautiful natural lines just waiting for a chance to shake things up! Refinish your floors using the wood slats as a natural guide. Be creative and design the pattern that best reflects your style. If you’re not ready to break out the paints for a wood floor or to create a pattern with tile flooring, area rugs offer the flexibility of a dose of pattern and color without the long-term commitment.

Go up

Make a statement with a striped ceiling. Break out the tape and paint brush! You can keep your bars of color isolated to the ceiling or you can continue the vertical lines of an accent wall up and across the overhead space. If your room has a pendant lamp or chandelier, your lines can radiate out from the light source like sun rays shining across your room.

Cushions and bedding, oh my!

Your furniture is a great place to introduce stripes. Pick a piece to spotlight instead of going all out. A single chair or ottoman in a stripe pattern demands notice. In the bedroom, bring in the lines with your bedding. A striped bed skirt paired with a floral or solid duvet can be stunning. Alternately, striped sheets can complement a more demure bedspread. Like the throw pillows, you can mix and match your patterns of your seating and bedding as long as you stay within the same color palette.

Accessorize

From lamps to mirror frames, from wall art to drapes, stripes can be an accessory's best friend. Just don’t overdo it. Pick a few items to feature lines, and intermingle them with solids and complementary patterns.

by Anjie Cho

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Sagging Sofa? Refresh Rather Than Replace.

Anjie Cho June 22, 2016

There’s a time in every day when you want to kick off your shoes and sink into the welcome embrace of your favorite seat in the house. Over time, however, the well-loved and much used couch can show its age. If your once plump and lush sofa is looking more squished and sagging, follow these six steps to bring new life into your favorite seat.

1. Snap a photo of your sofa.

While it’s always fun to admire your work with a good before/after visual, that’s not our goal here. Having a picture will help you reassemble the couch properly when you’re done. And if you’re going to spice things up with a few new throw pillows, having that snapshot for your designer or with you in the stores will come in handy, too!

2. Remove the seat cushions from the sofa.

The cushions likely have a zipper on the side that faces into the couch. Remove the covers. This is a good time to wash those! Just make sure you follow the directions on the tag. Go the eco-friendly route and air dry the covers outside. While you’ve got everything taken apart, vacuum the foam cushions and the base of your sofa.

3. Inspect the frame of your sofa.

Is it in good shape? Are the springs looking worse for the wear? You may find the bones of your favorite coach are beyond your abilities to repair. If that’s the case, it might be time to find a new love. However, if the frame just needs a little TLC, one option is to place a sheet of plywood over the base of your seat. This will create a new platform for the cushions to sit on. Cut the platform to fit the base properly. Once you put your cushions back into place, you’ll never know the wood is there.

4. Plump your back cushions up.

Use Poly-fil batting and/or quilt batting to plump up the back cushions of your sofa. If the back cushions don’t come off the frame of your couch, they may still have a zipper at their base. That’s when you reach for the Poly-fil. Tuck generous handfuls of fill behind the existing pillow or foam. If you need help, use a ruler to get the stuffing into the corners and edges. Fill each cushion until you achieve your desired level of plump and comfy.

If you can remove the cushions, wrap the foam with layers of quilt batting. Use spray adhesive to help hold each layer of batting in place. How many layers? That depends on how plush you want your seat and how much space you have between the existing cushion and the seat cover. You want your revitalized cushion to have a tight fit, but it still needs to get in the cover.

5. Reassemble your sofa.

Place the now clean and plumped cushions back into place. If you have any extra Poly-fil, freshen up your throw pillows before you place them back into place. Or take your sofa photo shopping, and pick up new throw pillows or fabric to make your own covers for the existing pillows.