According to feng shui experts, lights & lamps symbolize the sun. Is the overall lighting adequate in your room? Moods & attitudes of the residents can be affected without proper lighting. Use candles and fireplaces when natural light is inadequate to bring energy to the room. Light is energy.
An easy way to see if your colors in your room are complementary to each other is to pull colors from a rug, existing fabric or even a picture that is in your room for your inspiration colors and/or motifs. For example, if your rug has red and blue in it, you could paint one wall red and accessorize with blue accents! When I consulted on a recent remodel in Burland Ranchettes of a kitchen, dining room and living room, this is how we picked our colors for a house. Once I helped clients pick out paint colors for their large living room that was open to the kitchen. We pulled three colors from their granite countertop in the kitchen for the wall colors and the colors worked great! Maybe your walls just need a fresh coat of paint. Paint can fade over a period of time. Sometimes by reviving your space with a different color on the walls, some new pillows on the sofa, or new art on the walls, for example, can make all the different as to whether a home is ho-hum or feels good.
Is your dining room or kitchen table too big, too small? Is there at least 3’ of walkway around the table that allows people to walk comfortably around it? If the dining room is cramped and there are no other doors or windows, add a mirror opposite a window on the wall. Mirrors attract light and visually double your space. The larger the mirror the better.
Are your dishes, silverware and linens readily available to set the table? Are your glasses stored in the wall cabinet near the refrigerator water spigot & icemaker? Is your microwave near the refrigerator? After all, doesn’t almost everything come out of the refrigerator into the microwave?
Years ago, my sister was moving to another state and just before she left she asked me to write down my secret for being organized. The first thing that came to me was that “everything has its place”. I believe that is the most important concept to being organized. If you know where the scissors are, for instance, and that they are always kept in the same drawer then you will save many steps that it may have taken to find those scissors! Is your life in order? If you have a small table or console table in your entryway to lay your car keys, put your cell phone in the charger so that when you leave home again you will know where they are. Do you have plenty of file storage? Do you sort your mail ‘as you get it’ by throwing away the junk mail immediately and putting your important mail in a place that requires immediate attention?
Order is the Shape
Upon which Beauty Depends
Pearl S. Buck
Finally, enjoy your emotional comfort in your home. By making your home function for your needs, you will grow into the essence of your home. Your home is your spiritual center and reflects your personality and energy. It is your 'Sacred Place'.
Deborah Nansel is the owner of Interior Elements. She is an authorized dealer for Hunter Douglas Blinds and Shades and offers Archival Custom Picture Framing. Deborah has a degree in Interior Design.