Q&A Sunday: Tackling Clutter

Anjie Cho August 2, 2020

I feel like I need to declutter my home, but it feels overwhelming and I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks for your question! Clutter is a really popular topic right now. Pretty much everyone in the western world, including myself, has clutter. I’ve been going through some of my books and jewelry recently and letting go of some things I no longer need.

First, from a feng shui perspective, clutter is not inherently good or bad. However, if it’s a source of stress, is making you feel stuck, or is getting in the way of you accomplishing your goals, it’s probably something that needs to be looked at.

When I was in my 20s and had just started studying feng shui, I was living with roommates and was really depressed. I remember sitting on my bed instead of looking around the room because I had so much clutter around me. There were piles of magazines all over the floor that I was hoping to go through some day; all that clutter really said a lot about how much stress I was under and how unhappy I was. The clutter that accumulated in my spaces was a representation of how I felt.

If there’s an area of your home where things are piling up that you plan to get to one day, it can start to weigh you down. Although you can consciously ignore a pile of magazines, subconsciously it takes a lot of energy for your psyche to push that pile away and it becomes exhausting over time.

If you do have clutter in your home that you feel is negatively impacting you, my first piece of advice is to be kind to yourself. This is one of the most important teachings I’ve received from my teachers. Next, take it step by step. Start with the things that you know you don’t want that are easier to say goodbye to; don’t jump right to the sentimental items that are much harder to let go of.

I would also suggest you start with nine minutes a day of decluttering. It doesn’t have to be nine minutes, but nine is an auspicious number in feng shui. Set your phone timer, and then feel good that you made some progress and get on with the rest of your day.

Another way to minimize clutter is to have enough storage to keep the things you need organized. I love the calmness of concealed storage like closet or cabinet doors; some people really like open shelves but I find that they can create a lot of visual distraction.

I hope these tips help you begin to declutter and simplify your life!

by Anjie Cho

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If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Can You Design Happiness?

Guest User July 29, 2020

Anjie Cho was featured on Business of Home

For many designers, the link between living spaces and well-being is intuitive. A thoughtfully designed, personalized space sets you at ease, whereas a poorly planned one can bring on stress or blues. But what that actually looks like can vary widely: Some people feel most at home among rich hues, ample texture and low lighting; others prefer clean lines and sun-splashed minimalism. And while experts have reached certain points of consensus—like that greenery can boost mood—other topics, like how much symmetry matters in design, aren’t so clear-cut.

The good news is that design’s connection to mental health is garnering growing interest and resources, which means we’re likely to see plenty of new insights in the future. In the meantime, here’s a look at how beautiful spaces affect our brains, how art and nature can act as feel-good tools, and how color and light might influence our emotions. One thing’s for sure: In this ever-evolving realm, it’s worth keeping an open mind about how design choices can elevate (or inhibit) well-being.

…read full article

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Q&A Sunday: My Number One Feng Shui Tip

Anjie Cho July 26, 2020

Hi Anjie, I love your blog and podcast! I would love to know: if you could only give one feng shui tip to someone, what would it be?

Thank you so much for your question! The most important piece of feng shui advice I can give to anyone (it’s also the last tip in my book) is to love your home. If you’ve been incorporating a lot of feng shui tips, remember that it’s your home so your energy and intentions are key. It’s not about taking something you read from a book or something that someone told you as truth. It’s important to test things out and see how they feel for you personally. My goal is to suggest things based on what I’ve personally learned and experienced as powerful, but that doesn’t mean what works for me or my clients will necessarily be the right thing for you. Not every adjustment is necessary for every person.

Each time you try a feng shui adjustment, take some time to reflect and see how it feels to you. Does it feel good? If not, try shifting something until it does. It’s also possible that something worked well in the past and now needs to be updated.

You want to love the way your home looks and feels. The most rewarding thing about what I do, whether I am teaching my students to become feng shui consultants, working with individuals in their homes, or working with architecture clients, is helping people transform their homes and spaces into places they really love.

I encourage you to take a look around your home and take note of what you love and also what doesn’t feel right any more. The more love and attention you give to your home, the more your home will serve and support you. BTB feng shui is also a shamanic tradition and everything is considered alive, so you can even say thank you to your home for supporting and nurturing you.

What I have always loved about architecture is not just designing buildings for how they look, but creating spaces that can support people. This is why I love working with interior spaces as well as teaching, so that my students can create spaces they love, and help their clients to do the same.

by Anjie Cho