Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui for a Garage and a Second Level

Anjie Cho March 17, 2019

My garage is on the ground level and my front door is next to it, which opens into a hall and stairs up to the first level which is my living area, dining room, lounge and kitchen. Is this townhouse a good design?

Melanie Y.

Dear Melanie,

Thanks so much for reading the blog, and for your wonderful comment on this blog post. It’s interesting that the townhouse you’re describing is probably pretty similar to the house shown in the image in that post: a garage on the ground level, the front door next to it, and then a lot of your living spaces essentially above the garage.

A lot of people ask the question: is this a good design or not? That’s a very loaded question! Feng shui is not necessarily about creating duality by labeling things as absolutely bad or absolutely good, and there’s no perfect feng shui. So I would say, if you love your home and it is a supportive place for you, let’s make it work.

Traditionally in feng shui, it's not ideal to have most of your living spaces above a garage. In a garage, there’s a lot of movement and a lot of energy going in and out of the home. However, this isn’t necessarily bad; for instance, it can be helpful if you want to travel a lot or you need to make connections with people. But, if you need a little more support in your life, it may feel somewhat destabilizing to have your entire home over a garage. Of course, there are a lot of places in the U.S. like this. For example, in San Fransisco and some areas of New York City there are a lot of townhouses where a good portion of the home is above a garage.

Rather than labeling this as bad, we can look at what this situation means about your life and then work with it. The main question I’d ask you is: do you need more stability in your life? Do you feel like things are a little bit challenging, and things are moving around a lot?

If you do feel like you would like more stability, there are some different ways you can do that. There are specific secret feng shui cures you can work with if you hire a feng shui consultant. I’m not going to share them here, because they’re something you should do with a consultant. If you’re not going to hire someone, you can try to find a way to make your life feel more steady and supportive. One way to do this is through routine. You may also find it helpful to add more earth, because the earth element represents stability. You can do this by bringing in browns and earthy colors, as well as heavy objects to provide more support and weight. It can also be as simple as going outside and getting your hands in the dirt; this would really allow you to connect with the earth element of your home.

I hope that helps, and I really encourage you to reach out to a feng shui consultant. We have students at Mindful Design School who can definitely help you with this situation. Thank you again for responding and reading our post!

by Anjie Cho

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our a unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish. Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com.

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Arrange your bedroom exactly like this if you want a better night's sleep

Anjie Cho March 13, 2019

featured on Hello Giggles by Kelly Gonsalves

In these chaotic times, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear you’ve been having trouble sleeping (same here). If you’ve tried everything and anything to improve your sleep quality with no luck, you might want to consider taking some time to get smart about your bedroom design. Quitting coffee after lunchtime and abandoning your phone in another room before bed are great hacks for making it easier to fall asleep at a decent hour, and a dedicated wind-down routine or a little meditation in the evenings can help put you in the right relaxed mood. But no matter how much you set yourself up for some good shuteye beforehand, if your bedroom isn’t conducive to sleep, you may still find yourself tossing and turning.

“Your bedroom, the arrangement of your space, and everything in your space has a huge impact on your sleep quality,” says Anjie Cho, an interior architect and feng shui designer. “If you’re not in control of your bedroom space when you’re sleeping, everything that’s in your space absolutely can affect you, from the mundane aspects like the light quality to the electronics.”

You may be in a passive state, Cho explains, but your brain is by no means turned off when you’re asleep. Your subconscious mind can still process external stimuli and thus be affected by your surroundings.

Want a bedroom that will help you sleep better? Here’s how to arrange your bedroom, according to interior designers:

…read full article

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish. Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com.

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Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui for Toilets

Anjie Cho March 10, 2019

My husband had knee replacement surgery, so we added a 4 inch seat raiser to the toilet seat and cannot close the lid. I have been putting a folded towel over the open bowl--do you have any other suggestions?

Angela L., Victorville, CA

Dear Angela,

Thanks so much for your question. I hope your husband is on the mend after his knee replacement surgery.

First, it’s great that you’re accommodating his needs in a practical way by adding a riser to the toilet seat, but it sounds like you’re concerned that you can’t close the toilet lid. For the readers, ideally it’s good to keep your toilet bowl lid closed. There are practical reasons for this: the moisture in the toilet actually adds to the moisture in the bathroom and can create mold and mildew. Closing the lid also energetically puts a lid on the excess downward water energy in a bathroom.

It’s nice that you’re mindful of trying to maintain this cover by putting a folded towel over the open bowl, which is a great solution. You of course want to keep that towel clean and change it regularly, because it can accumulate bacteria. You can also keep your bathroom door closed, which effectively does the same thing as closing the toilet lid. Another suggestion is to put a mirror outside the bathroom door, which energetically helps the bathroom disappear from the floor plan.

Because your husband had knee surgery, another thing to pay attention to is your landscaping, and especially the trees on your property. The health of a landscape affects the health of the people living there, and the branches of a tree can represent joints, including knees. If there are any trees on your property with broken or extremely heavy branches, it’s a good idea to prune and take care of them. This can be helpful in terms of your husband’s recovery as well as preventing possible joint problems in the future.

Thanks so much for your question, Angela. We’d love to hear more about what’s going on with the trees on your property. Good luck with your husband’s recovery!

by Anjie Cho