Declutter Your Home With Feng Shui

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By Maria Palma

Most of us look at cleaning our homes as a chore, but revitalizing and organizing your life should be a joyous activity. When there is harmony in the home, all feelings and emotions within the space are harmonious. The Chinese view their lives as having chi energy, which is a “cosmic breath.” There is yang energy, or good energy, as well as yin energy, which is negative energy.

Tired energy is clutter, whether it be physical, emotional or spiritual. Dealing with the physical clutter first can make way for a better emotional and spiritual life. By decluttering your home, you push away bad energy and make space for new energy to enter. Bad energy can be created simply by dead insects, old newspapers and magazines and junk accumulated over time.

Go with the flow
Keep energy flowing smoothly throughout the home. Watch and observe which rooms in the house everybody tends to gravitate to. Work on those rooms that seem to be lonely. Colors, music, children, lights, water and sound contain strong energy which every room should have. Try painting a room and see how it affects your physical energy. Plants symbolize life and also bring color to a room.

You can tune into the energy of a room by walking clockwise around and close to the walls. One room to pay close attention to is the bedroom. When chi energy in the bedroom is unwelcoming, this may cause problems between couples. Keep all dirty clothes in a laundry basket. Don’t place junk under, over or beside a bed. Keep windows clear of clutter. Open the windows and let light and fresh air in. Morning sunlight is the best yang energy.

Take extra care with corners where negative energy, cobwebs and dirt tend to gravitate. The corner diagonal to the door of a room should be full of good chi. Do not use it for storage, and keep it clutter-free.

Prevent blockages
Blocked energy vibrations have a negative effect on our mental well-being. The foyer, hall and staircase are the most susceptible places of being blocked. When your foyer is clear, it helps good chi enter the home freely. Corridors and hallways move energy from room to room. Staircases should always be clutter-free, not only for safety but so that the flow of chi is smooth up and down to the living spaces.

When you feel like you need more space to breathe, it is most likely due to the images in your home disturbing your subconscious mind. Art can be beautiful and a joy to look at, but over time it can become distracting and stagnant. Changing the surroundings from time to time is the best way to make you feel better.

It is important to clear table tops on a regular basis. When we come home we tend to throw our keys, mail, purse, etc., onto the closest table top. Things accumulate quickly! Choose decorative objects to place on tabletops and display full bowls of pots, as they attract abundant chi.

A well-kept and clean kitchen keeps yin energy away. Clean the refrigerator at least once a month. Check out all the cookware and throw away broken plates, cups and bowls. Make sure the garbage is cleaned out regularly. Out of all the rooms in the home, this one is the most vulnerable to yin energy.

Declutter regularly
It takes some time to get into the habit of decluttering on a regular basis. Realize that if you do not do it, it could be detrimental to your mental, physical and emotional well being. It’s easy to declutter if you’re single and living alone. If you have a family, be sensitive to other family members’ belongings. Have a discussion on the importance of having positive energy in the home and let them know where things should be.

Once you take the step to create positive energy in your home, you’ll see your life change for the better.

© Maria Palma

Maria Palma is a decorator, real estate consultant and artist based in San Diego, California. She owns and manages two web sites, www.salondemaria.info and www.homesolutionssandiego.com. Subscribe to her newsletter to receive home decorating resources and updates on the real estate market in San Diego.