Creating Energy Flow in Your Home
By Corena Lea Kessel, Interior Designer -
Design Wise San Diego

Let’s start the year off right by arranging and coloring our living environments in ways that will contribute to our health, peace, and success. You would be amazed at how having just the right sized piece, placed in just the right space, will make you feel. The right arrangement will produce harmony, comfort and balance in any space!


Here are some simple ways to tackle this thing
we call “Energy Flow.”

Feng Shui
The main concept of Feng Shui revolves around the belief that there is a constant flow of energy in nature. This energy can be either good or bad or a combination of both. In order to deflect the bad energy and receive the good, we must take into consideration the arrangements and contents of rooms in order to maximize this “Energy Flow” on our lives.

Clutter
Get rid of it! If a room is cluttered it means that the mind is probably also cluttered. Clutter breaks the “Energy Flow”.

Furniture Layout

• If you can, plan furniture purchases to the room you're in. It's easier to add on pieces later, than to pull something off and stick it in another room, or in storage because it doesn't fit.

• Arrange your sofa so that you have the most expansive view of the room and the entry.

• Furniture should be kept in a circular arrangement and if possible, no chair should have its back to a door. If it is necessary to have a chair with its back to the door, hang a mirror on the opposite wall so a person sitting there can see who is entering the room and the mirror will also help redirect the “Energy Flow”.

Measuring

• For good conversation and traffic flow, keep at least 4-10 feet between sofa and chairs.

• Place your coffee table between 14-18 inches from the sofa (although I would only use 18 inches if you have 'lonnnnng' arms!).

• To view a 30 inch TV screen, the sofa or chair should be at least 90 inches away.

• To create an easy flow in any room, there should be traffic lanes which are at least 3 feet wide.

Hanging things on your Walls

• Collage your pictures or art and use many different sizes and styles of frames.

• Don’t hang something just because you have it.

• Use the appropriate hardware and if possible hang items on studs.

Dressing the Windows

• Do an outside mounted treatment and use half of the space from the top of your window to the ceiling, for your treatment so your windows will look bigger.

Color

• What colors make you feel good ? If you get stuck, start with Earth tones.

• When you paint, make sure where your colors start and stop is on an inside corner.

• Paint more than 1 wall with color, add 2 or 3.

Thinking closely about your environment not only helps the energy flow, but it is a great intellectual and entertaining endeavor that enhances your intuition and your enjoyment!

Big Blend Radio - Corena was a featured guest on Garden Gossip on January 9, 2010. To meet the rest of the guests and listen to the entire show, please click here. To listen to Corena's interview, please double click on the Play Button below.