My Favorite Things: 5 Ways to Bring Metal into Your Home

Welcome to My Favorite Things! Each month, we highlight products to help you create a holistic lifestyle that inspires and nurtures you, so that you can be happier and feel supported.

For April, we move forward in our series on the five elements and talk ways to bring the Metal element into your space. The Metal element is related to the Benefactors and Completion areas of the bagua map and is very helpful in balancing the ability to stand up for yourself and to remain focused and efficient. Be sure to listen to tomorrow's podcast, Feng Shui and the Metal Element, to learn more about how to balance the Metal element!

Wind Chimes and Bells

Adding a wind chime or bell to your space is one of the easiest ways to balance out the Metal element. There are so many beautiful options for wind chimes, but be sure to look for chimes or bells made of metal material, as this relates directly to the Metal element. 

This is a bell that I have on my desk to ring in more prosperity and abundance!

When you hang a bell or chime, it's also important to ensure that it has space to ring or chime. These small adjustments are powerful in many ways and can signify change and the arrival of benefactors.

Available at: Feng Shui Shopper

SAARINEN TULIP TABLE

I love the Saarinen Tulip tables, especially in white marble. They're truly a classic. They come in many sizes and are customizable in material and color. White marble is a gorgeous addition to any space in itself, but it can also help to bring in the Metal element!

I have a white Saarinen side table in my living room, which is in the Completion (yin metal) area of my home.

White, circular, marble tables add Metal to your space because of the shape and color. The Metal element is related to the color white and circular shapes, so keep this in mind when customizing! 

Available at: Design Within Reach

Benjamin Moore: Simply White Paint

We've talked about the benefits of choosing white paint in your spaces, but opting for white walls can also add the Metal elemnt to a room. 

Because the Metal element is related to the color white, going for the purest color in the color wheel can help provide balance for a space with too little metal. One of my go-to whites is Benjamin Moore's Simply White. It also happens to be the Benjamin Moore color of 2016.

Check out our other blog posts on my favorite white paints.

Available at: Benjamin Moore

Agate Non-Metal Feng Shui Rings

Everyone always wonders why I have a delicate agate ring on my middle finger on my right hand... well it's a feng shui adjustment!

Non-metal rings like these agate rings can balance out too much or too little metal. For women, wear it on your middle finger, right hand. For men, the same but on the left hand.

This personal qi feng shui adjustment can help if you talk too little or too much, as the metal element is related to the mouth. Don't fret if it breaks; it's doing its job! Be sure to listen to the podcast or read our blog post about the five elements to learn more!

Available at: Holistic Spaces

Metal Pinwheels

I have these lovely metal pinwheels in two places in my home. Not only do they add more metal element to your spaces, they're beautiful, and they can go indoors or outdoors. 

Pinwheels also have the secondary effect of stirring up the qi in your holistic spaces, to get things really moving. 

It may be beneficial to locate these in your Benefactors area to stir up and attract more helpful people in your life. Or skillfully placed in the center of the Knowledge area of your property (outside or inside), pinwheels may bring winds of change to your self-cultivation and spiritual life.

Available at: All Modern

Dents, Holes and Pops: Prepping Your Walls for Paint

There’s nothing quite like setting your brush down, sliding back into your favorite cozy space and admiring a well-painted room. Before you get to that point, however, there’s ‘pre-paint’ legwork that must be done, starting with the repair of holes in your wall. Before you crack open the bucket of joint compound and grab the joint knife, keep reading. Not all wall damage is created equal. 

Small Dings, Nail Holes and Dents

Before you break out the joint compound, scrap away any loose paint or other debris from the area you’re repairing. Using your joint knife, spread the compound over the small area requiring repair. You should completely fill in the damaged space. Using the joint knife, pull away excess compound to make it level with the rest of the wall. Allow the space to dry according to the directions on the package. Keep in mind that it may take as long as 24 hours, so plan your room renovations accordingly. Once the repaired section is dry, sand it smooth and get ready to paint!

Small Holes

Don’t confuse ‘small’ with the nail-sized holes mentioned above. We’re talking about the hole created from a doorknob that met a wall with a little more pop and punch than it ought to have. If you’ve got a repair about that size, you’re going to need a bit more than joint compound and sandpaper to fix things. Pick up a peel-and-stick patch to repair this type of damage. The patch is a screen covered by fiberglass. Remove the backing and press the patch into place over the hole. Now pull out your joint compound and joint knife. Cover the mesh patch with layers of compound being careful to smooth each layer and level it off with the wall. Plan on applying three coats in total, letting each coat dry before applying the next one. Once the final coat is dry, sand the repaired area smooth and flush with the rest of the wall. Now you’re ready to paint! 

Note: You can find repair kits with patches for holes up to about six inches. Some patches are mesh like the one described above. Others will be a reinforced center panel surrounded by self-sticking tape. Larger holes require a different approach that we’ll cover in a future blog article.

Nail Pops

When you look at your wall, do you see small protrusions about the size of a nail head? This happens when the nails used to affix drywall to the studs pull away from the wood. You’ve got two choices on how to repair this, but both begin with scrapping away the ‘popped’ bit of drywall until the head of the nail is exposed. One option is to drive the nail back into the stud. Once you’ve done that, drill a drywall screw into place slightly above the nail to reinforce the drywall. Alternately, you can remove the offending nail and replace it with the drywall screw above or below the original hole. Regardless of which option you select, make sure the nail head and screw are slightly recessed into the drywall creating a dimple. Grab that joint compound again and fill in the small holes created by the removed (or re-driven) nail and the new screw. As above, wait until it’s fully dry and then sand the compound down again for a smooth even finish.

by Anjie Cho

Rituals and Holistic Spaces: Katie Dalebout

Morning Rituals - Katie Dalebout_Main.jpg

I'm so happy to have our frequent guest, Katie Dalebout, as the very first post in our brand new series on rituals. We've talked about rituals before and the power they can have in our lives. From my shambhala calligraphy to a daily meditation or yoga practice to dedicated reading time or, in Katie's case, journaling, it's important we each make time for our own rituals to ensure healthy, holistic and successful lives.

Katie's just published her first book, Let It Out: A Journey Through Journaling. It's so thoughtfully put together and my new favorite book!

Besides being beyond proud for this huge accomplishment, I'm excited to chat with Katie about how she sets the atmosphere for her personal ritual: journaling.

AC: Can you share with us how you personally set up for "letting it out"? In the book you list supplies including your journal, writing instrument, as well as the environment. You list "A comfortable, quiet place.. a cup of tea.. a burning candle.. and calm, soft inspiring music".

KD: To be completely honest I journal in all different places. Sometimes it’s on my phone while I’m out on a walk or in my car or out in public at a coffee shop. Ideal set up though: candle lit, music on, clear desk or table, comfy clothes, blanket over me, and a cup of herbal tea...something like this photo, in my dining room or bedroom. 

I love how you touch on all the senses. Why the candle? Why the tea? Why the music?

I think pleasure is super important in our lives in general. We have so few sensory pleasures in our life and we often miss truly experiencing them by just rushing through the monotony of daily life. We hear a lot of talk of self-care lately but not much emphasis is placed on pleasure in our beyond busy society, and our culture doesn’t emphasize the importance of hitting all of our senses with pleasure, so that’s why I thought it was important to engage as many touch points of pleasure as possible. For me there’s something so visually appealing and calming about lighting a candle, that soft light, plus the scent is amazing and makes the entire act of journaling seem more intentional. Same with tea, it’s so warming, comforting, and healing to me. Tea is like hugging your insides with warmth and love and so grounding to me. Then having music on is super essential too because it again sets the mood and helps bring you into the present moment of what you’re doing by drowning out outside sounds and keeping you focused on the space you’re in.

You mentioned journaling on planes in the book. I also love writing and journaling on planes. Somehow, for me, I think I get away from everything and it frees my mind. And I love your metaphor of being elevated! What are your other favorite places to journal?

I love journaling on planes so much. I always start out by writing about where I’m going and what I want that experience to be like, and on the way home I write about what it was like and compare the two. I’m sad planes are starting to have wifi now because I really enjoyed that uninterrupted time with myself free from distractions or even the ability for distractions.

I find myself craving that disconnection in life but really having to force myself into it, so sometimes at home I’ll turn my phone on airplane mode to be distraction free while I’m home. I also love taking my journal and a specific exercise I want to work through to a coffee shop and leaving my phone off or at home. It allows me to be completely present to what I’m there to do. You don’t have to do this every time you journal, but I think there is for sure value to distraction free, unplugged journaling and treating the journaling like you would a meditation, because stopping to look at your phone during a deep journal session can really take you out of it. Think of it like a conversation with yourself. Just like if you were having a conversation with someone else, try to not look at your phone in the middle of it, that’s rude. Give yourself the same respect you’d give to someone else.

by Anjie Cho

Katie Dalebout is an author, speaker, yoga teacher, social media butterfly, life-coach, podcast host and most importantly, mayor of the Wellness Wonderland. Katie believes that every detail counts, positive thoughts make miracles, authenticity creates strong relationships, and that every day you should dress, eat, and act like it’s a special occasion.

With her grounded Midwestern roots and astronomical dreams, Katie has taken her passions for communication & wellness and blended them together to share them with the masses on this platform. And elsewhere including Over The Moon, MindBodyGreen, The Beauty Bean and Bella Life. 

With her thoughts, Katie truly lives in her own…well…wonderland, visit her there often and create your own state of  bliss. If you’d like more inspiration from the girl behind the blog, hop on over to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Be well…

​