De-Stress Your Relationship

Valentine’s Day is an opportune time to look at your primary romantic relationship. No matter how well it’s going, all relationships can use some support. Feng shui gives us some practical and magical tools to give your relationship some extra support. And if you’re not in a relationship, these tips still apply!

1. A headboard for support

A stable headboard that is securely attached to the bed represents solid support and stability in a relationship. The best type of headboard has no bars, holes or perforations. The bars may indicate feeling imprisoned or caged! Holes or perforations lack stability and may weaken a relationship. If you already have a headboard, just make sure to tighten it to the bed. The headboard should be securely and mechanically fastened to the bed (rather than attached to the wall, or almost falling off). If you don’t have a relationship, the headboard will help you to attract a relationship that has enough support to last!

2. Equal partners

Be sure to maintain equality in the relationship by having equal space on both sides of the bed. If possible, each person should have at least 18” of space between the wall and the side of the bed. You also want to have equally balanced nightstands with lamps. The nightstands need not be matching, but close in size. I had a client whose husband had a huge nightstand, and she had this tiny little thing. Such a situation may manifest itself in an unbalanced power relationship between the couple. If you’re single, this lets the universe know that you have space available to accommodate someone into your life.

3. Pair of rose quartz

Rose quartz is a natural semi-precious gemstone that assists in opening up our heart to receive and give love. Place two similarly sized pieces of this natural stone on your nightstand to symbolize and attract supportive openness between you and your partner. If you are looking for a romantic relationship, the rose quartz can support self-love and healing so that you can attract the best partner.

4. Clean under the bed

Whether you’re single or have a partner, the objects and storage underneath your bed can represent unconscious blocks in your love live. The energy of anything under your bed truly affects you in a great way, especially because we spend many passive “yin” hours sleeping in bed. If you must have some storage there, stick to sleep related items such as pillows, blankets and linens. Absolutely no photos of ex-lovers or anything sharp or dangerous.

5. In case you need more passion

Hey, we can all probably use a little more passion in our lives right? Maybe for Valentine’s Day it’s time to treat yourself to a racy little lingerie set… in RED! Red is the color passion and fire. Get yourself some sexy red underwear and see how it makes you feel. I promise it will make a difference. You can also get yourself some red sheets to heat things up in bed!

by Anjie Cho

Greenwashing and How to Avoid It

With the increased focus worldwide on taking better care of our planet and preserving our natural resources, marketing campaigns have started to focus on sustainability as a selling point in many fields. This is an awesome move if the company really is an active advocate for preserving water, energy and the like; however, many times companies toss a green marketing claim to consumers based on little to no actual action. Customers who fall for these claims and purchase advertised products from companies who aren't actually green are doing little to help save our planet and, in reality, may be unwillingly doing more harm than good. We call this "greenwashing."

Fortunately, greenwashing is a villain that can be stopped relatively easily if consumers are careful and pay close attention to products they purchase. The most accurate way to avoid being greenwashed is to properly research "green" products before purchasing. If your favorite detergent company has just launched a green cleaner, take the time to check facts about what exactly makes this new detergent qualify as green.

On this same note, avoiding greenwashing is about more than just ensuring that you buy holistic products. The idea behind going green requires that we do everything in our power to reduce the carbon footprint each of us leaves on the world. In this way, we can directly save many of the non-renewable resources we're currently flying through. That said, even if a product really is "green" on the consumer side, if the company is required to use more energy and produce more waste in order to create the product, perhaps promoting its production isn't the best thing for our planet. Just like you research your products, research the companies who make them. Are they really following a green initiative or just trying to make a buck off the good efforts of others?

I'm very happy to see the overwhelming number of new environmentally friendly options on the market, but remember the reason for these products. If we aren't actually conserving the earth's resources, perhaps these campaigns are less "green" and more "greenwash."

by Anjie Cho

Experts Give Decorating Tips for the Minimalist

featured on Homeclick

Much of current modern design has gone the direction of a minimalist style. To understand exactly what that means and how to achieve a sense of artistry within this style, we’ve sought the advice of several design experts who have the experience to guide us.

Architect Anjie Cho gives these tips related to building storage into a minimalist design: “It is best to have closed storage - minimize open shelving. Keeping things behind doors keeps the space clean, minimal and looking uncluttered. White storage against white walls, has the most minimal look. It's clean and sleek and blends into the wall.”

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