Feng shui/faux shui
I decided to Feng Shui a room in my house. I realize that sounds like something an un- /under-employed person would say, but I've been learning a bit about Feng Shui and sincerely wanted to try my hand at it.
The other driving force behind this experiment, beyond curiosity over what a Feng-shui-ed room would look and feel like (read: how it might change my life for the better), was to figure out a way to keep my dear, darling child--who believes that my desk is a play place more fun and magical than Disneyland--out of my office space, which also happens to reside in my bedroom.
Not to #humblebrag (RIP Harris Wittels), but my bedroom is ridiculously, waste-of-space-y huge. Like a freaking bowling alley. (And it has TWO bathrooms, one of which lacks a toilet. But that is neither here nor there. It's just weird.) So much so that the logical choice was to make it both a sleeping area and a home office.
In mapping out the bagua (i.e., the logistics of applying Feng Shui to your space), I realized that, as it was, my desk was situated RIGHT SMACK DAB in the middle of the "Children/Creativity" section. Maybe that was why she couldn't keep her hands off of my desk or refrain from "decorating" my paperwork. She couldn't help it! IT'S BECAUSE OF THE CHI, MAN.
So I set about reconfiguring the room per the bagua, thinking about what exactly I want to be attracting in my life and taking care to put those items in the corresponding areas. In addition, I followed the principles of not putting your bed under a window or aligning it so your feet directly face the door (lest chi escape), as well as not having your desk facing a window--adjacent is OK, but face it and your good ideas will float out the window. I also wanted to have an art space with good natural light that didn't feel claustrophobic (another problem with the previous arrangement).
In a lot of cases, I'm stuck with the architectural configuration of the room (e.g., there is a closet in my Power/Wealth area). My understanding is that the main things to do are to 1) somehow incorporate the corresponding color to that area (see bagua map above), 2) keep the area tidy so chi can flow about freely, and 3) make use of mirrors or other shiny objects to reflect/bounce chi around.
Here's what I did:
- Area: Growth/Knowledge
Inherently contains: Entryway, linen closet
What I did: Nothing can really go there, but I decluttered the closet, including releasing the inmates of Toy Jail (#loveandlogic). - Area: Career/Work/Success
Inherently contains: Slider
What I did: Put my desk there for some good chi in this department. However, this does not solve my keep-the-kid-outta-here problem and in fact made things more accessible to her. I'm going to live with it awhile longer because this is an experiment. - Area: Travel/Helpful People
Inherently contains: Windows
What I did: Put my art space there, to attract opportunities in some regard. Plus lovely windows equal lovely light, and having nothing behind me as well as my supplies to the right felt good. - Area: Family
Inherently contains: Bathrooms doorways, small bit of wall that fits our dresser perfectly
What I did: Nothing, other than making sure our clothes were tidy. - Area: Health/Wellbeing
Inherently contains: Floor/rug
What I did: Nothing. So much space for chi to flow, man! - Area: Children/Creativity
Inherently contains: Windows
What I did: Removed my desk, now it's mostly empty space adjacent to my art area. I need to put something reflective here, lest my creativity chi escape! - Area: Power/Wealth
Inherently contains: Closet
What I did: Cleaned it up, deliberately stored in that space things I want to attract (e.g., board games = fun and friends). - Area: Fame/Reputation
Inherently contains: Wall obviously intended for bed
What I did: Tidied up bedside table drawers. Note the wall-hanging above bed has mirrors in it, to reflect the back the chi that we might otherwise lose out the slider. - Area: Love/Marriage
Inherently contains: Closets
What I did: Tidied up, culled a few things.
What our newly Feng-Shui-ed space looks like in real terms--mainly in the vast expanse that is now sectioned off into art studio and office--is this:
Room-dividing bookshelves, put into an L-shape, making a nook for a desk on one side...
...and an art studio on the other side.
And there you have it!
I did this a few months ago now and I suppose an epilogue might be that I now have a new office all together up in our attic space. My desk/Disneyland is now safe from little hands. So I guess the Feng Shui worked!