What is Feng Shui? Tips for a Harmonious Lockdown

Well, we’ve landed in another lockdown. Having been here before, we know what to expect - plenty of time at home. 

This is the perfect opportunity to spend some time in the flat filling your space with good energy. Using the ancient Chinese principles of Feng Shui to order and declutter, you could create true harmony in your home, storing your unneeded goods with Stashbee. 

A quick Feng Shui consultation could be the pick-me-up your floor plan needs to boost the flow of positive energy throughout your living spaces. 
 

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui is a popular practice originating in ancient Chinese culture. It arranges the natural elements earth, metal, wood, fire, and water with interior spaces through strategic design. Consider your home like an energy map. Your living room, dining room, and home office all influence the way you feel, and Feng Shui can help you balance the yin and yang in each of these spaces.
 

How to Feng Shui Your Home

We’d recommend starting where energy enters your home; at the front door.

1) Clear out your entryway

First things first - when you enter your home, can you open the door a full 90 degrees? This is an important question to ask in Feng Shui, because the front door is the first opportunity energy has to enter your home. Think of the impression you’d want to make on someone visiting your house or flat for the first time. 

If you open the front door and are immediately met with obstacles cluttering the entryway, chances are you’re missing out on optimal energy flow in your home. Consider the things that are practical to have by the front door, like your coat and shoes, and leave the rest in storage until you need it
 

2) Arrange your bed, desk, and stove in a command position

Let’s move on to the rest of your home. Interior designers who work with Feng Shui would direct you to arrange your furniture in a “commanding position”. Sounds intense doesn’t it? It’s easier than you’d think. A commanding position means that certain pieces of furniture, like your bed, desk, and stove, are facing the doorway. Just like the front door, the main doorway to any other room in your home is how energy enters your life. 

A Feng Shui expert would tell you not to place these special pieces of furniture directly in line with the door, but diagonally from it. 

We know it may not be possible to rearrange some rooms - just the thought of lugging the stove about the kitchen has us sweating. No need to fret though. A helpful tool could be a thoughtfully hung mirror so that the main entrance of the room is visible from it.

3) Avoid overstuffed closets and under-the-bed storage

The more clear space you have in your home, the easier it is for good energy to find its way into your life. Overstuffed closets tell the world that our life is full, and there’s no need for anything new. Storing things under the bed blocks good energy from flowing all around us when we sleep. If under-the-bed storage is a must in your home, best keep it to soft things like extra pillows and blankets. 

Okay, so you want to rearrange your room, but you haven’t got the space for Feng Shui? Give yourself some inner peace by stowing the stuff that’s spare in a trusted storage rental. It’s okay. Those “maybe I’ll fit into them again one day” T-shirts will be perfectly happy staying with one of our trusted Hosts.


 

4) Consider color

Feng Shui invites us to consider how we can use those natural elements we mentioned earlier - earth, fire, wood, metal, and water - to slow down energy in the home so it can remain in our lives. When we include earthy colours like yellow, orange, and brown into our interior design, we create stability. Metallic tones like grey, white, and silver add clarity and precision. Black accents help wisdom flow through your space, like water.
 

5) Slow down good energy

We don’t need all the good energy you’ve invited into your home just flying out the window as soon as it’s arrived. Think about energy as a visitor. We want to give them something to linger at - a painting on the wall or a patterned rug on the floor. Accents like these slow down the experience of your home, allowing for energy to move gracefully throughout your life.

Feng Shui is about balance and allowing inner peace to come into your life without trouble. These are stressful times, indeed. Decluttering can make for a productive afternoon as you make room for positive energy in your home. And it’s easier than you’d think - there could be storage waiting for your unneeded boxes just a five minute stroll from your place. 

What room are you going to declutter first? Find storage space nearby with one of our local  trusted Hosts, and let them know how Feng Shui is helping you find harmony during lockdown!