51 Feng Shui Experts Share Their Decorating Secrets

featured this month on Insider Living by Jennifer McBride

image credit: Insider Living

image credit: Insider Living

Oftentimes you come home tired and stressed after a long day of work and you can barely wait to relax and stop all the hustle. Your home is a refuge where you spend precious time with your family.

More than the overall home, your bedroom is a place for intimacy and rest. If you are part of a couple, the way the bedroom looks and feels can influence your relationship. It can be the perfect environment for love and romanticism.

Even if you are single, the way your room looks impacts your state of mind and productivity.

The best solution for transforming your bedroom into a place of harmony that is pleasant to the eye and spirit is to follow the rules of feng shui. To do that, it would be ideal to hire a feng shui expert or even an interior designer. If you are on a budget and want to arrange your room alone, then we have a solution for you.

We reached out to forty-nine feng shui experts and interior designers and asked them:

What are your best tips to feng shui your bedroom?

We got some great feedback that we would love to share with you.

51 Feng Shui Experts - Anjie Cho.jpg

Anjie Cho

One important area to address in the bedroom is actually under the bed. It is best to leave this space clear, so as to allow qi to flow freely. However, if you must keep items below your bed, aim for soft, sleep-related things, like linens and pillows, and avoid items that may cause stress or distraction, like old love letters, sharp objects or even shoes, which can keep you walking in circles!

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Q&A Sunday: Does the Feng Shui Bagua Map Include the Garage?

When laying out the bagua, do I include the garage?

Brandi E.N., Rosamond, CA

Hi Brandi,

Does the Feng Shui Bagua Map Include the Garage - Floorplan.jpg

This is a great question, and thank you for being curious about it and sharing your floor plan. You have an attached garage in the front of your home. The answer is…. yes! You do include the garage in the layout of the bagua map. 

I am guessing maybe you would feel bummed out that now you have a huge missing area. But, you lay the bagua at the front based on the “kan line” and that aligns with your front door. You can see it in the image here where I’ve drawn in red the bagua as well as the kan line. Since the kan line aligns with the front door, your garage doesn’t create a missing area. Instead it creates an extension of the Path in Life and Benefactors areas.

The extensions are a bit out of proportion to the rest of your home. Your garage is twice the size of your bedroom, and the extension is about half the size of your bagua. Also this creates a “boot” or “cleaver” shaped home. The very large extension in the Benefactors area may mean that there are a lot of people who offer support but it’s overwhelming or out of balance. The cleaver and boot shape may suggest sharpness or pressure in certain areas of your life according to the bagua areas that occur at the blade of the cleaver or toe of the boot. 

Take a look at the Path in Life and Benefactors areas in your life. Is there an overabundance of helpful people? How is your career? Thanks again for writing in, and please let us know if you have follow up questions! 

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday".  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui or Green Design questions!

Power Houseplants: Peace Lily

So far, we've gotten to know the Golden Pothos and the Dracaena, also known as Janet Craig, both of which are incredible additions to any holistic space. But what if you prefer flowering plants? Good news! Fourteen of the 50 top plants for homes and indoor spaces include flowers! The most helpful of these options is the Peace Lily, part of the Top 10 list of purifying plants. 

The Peace Lily is one of my favorite plants and is actually something of a superstar in the world of indoor plants. Only a few plants meet or exceed the Peace Lily's ability to remove VOCs from indoor air and improve air quality through transpiration, and it is noted as one of the only plants that will reliably bloom indoors. In fact, Dr. B.C. Wolverton touts the Peace Lily as a plant that "should always be included when seeking a variety of indoor plants." 

The Peace Lily features sturdy stalks and white flowers which can even be trimmed to avoid pollen, if allergies are an issue. As with many houseplants, there are a number of varieties, including the Cleavelandii and the Mauna Loa, which can reach two and three feet, respectively. It is worth noting that the Peace Lily is poisonous to humans and animals if ingested, so it's important to take care if you have pets or children! If you can place the plant out of reach, do so. If you are not confident your pets will leave the Peace Lily alone, take a look at some of our other favorites here. 

This plant is relatively easy to care for and resistant to insects, so as long as you can commit to regular watering and a little light, a Peace Lily is the way to go! 

To Grow Successfully:

- Place your plant in semi-sun or semi-shade. Not too much of either!
- Maintain a daytime temperature of 60 - 75 degrees and a night temperature of 55 - 68. 
- Keep the soil evenly moist and wash leaves occasionally to ward off insects. 
- Hold off a bit on the watering during winter!

Is there somewhere in your home or office you can add a Peace Lily for a little Wood element, healing and fresh air?

by Anjie Cho