Clear the Clutter
Posted By Becky Cochran on March 13, 2009
Are you a spring-cleaning fanatic or do you just wish you were?
Clearing the clutter, reorganizing the drawers and even rearranging the furniture can improve your life. It’s about “creating a balance of peaceful harmony, to surround the space and individuals that live there.
To give your rooms a feng shui spring cleaning, consider adding greenery, rearranging artwork and refreshing home accessories.
Clutter is one of the main reasons people experience energy blocks in life. Therefore, spring cleaning should begin with removing clutter.
The easiest fixes for blocked energy come down to basic feng-shui principles including the theory of the movement of energy within a space. Sometimes bringing in elements such as appropriate colors, wood, metals and water help a room feel more balanced and less cluttered.Experiment with different furniture arrangements. Repaint the rooms. Find and use only your most interesting objects to accessorize.
Bringing in lucky flowers and plants, such as jade and bamboo, real or silk, to generate fields of energy that release trapped energies and lives. Chimes also can help achieve that because they bring in good energy, the wind element, which helps eliminate energy blockage.
Look around your house – in closets, spare rooms, drawers and even random piles of stuff – and determine what you can toss out this spring.
Keep only items that nourish and inspire you.
TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS
•Divine Decors owner KIM ANDERSON (www.divinedecors.com) recommends:
Clean out all unnecessary items. Pare down knickknacks: A few items make a personal design statement; too many items make a room feel overstuffed, and your favorite items lose importance amid the clutter.
Don’t be afraid to paint. Often paint is the easiest, most affordable way to make a room feel cleaner and more inviting.
Add some color. Basic items, such as a sofa, can take on an entirely new look when paired with new throw pillows with a punch of color.
Add simple elements. Water (a flower vase with water, artwork that depicts water or a running fountain); metal (iron artwork, or gold or silver elements); and wood (furnishings) used throughout the house create a flow of energy that keeps the chi moving, which is important for maintaining a home that “feels” good.
Add greenery. Natural elements from outdoors instantly provide a clean, earthy feel to rooms.
KATHLEEN CLEMENS, owner of An Inside View Interior Design Studio (www.aninsideview.com), suggests:
Renew by rearranging your artwork. It makes a huge difference when you take everything down and start over.
Refresh your accessories. You don’t have to make a huge investment; just add new throw pillows to your sofa or bring in new lighting, plants and artwork to freshen a room.
Charities are looking for donations. Give away items to the less fortunate and revamp with the new space and with additional light.
Box it. If you just can’t let go of some items, box and store them.
Let the sunshine in. Clean windows, open drapes and move furniture out of the way to let the sun shine through.
ALEXANDRA SHAW, certified professional consultant with Feng Shui Institute International (www.powerfengshui.info) offers this advice:
Throw out all dried flowers, dead plants or dirty silk flowers. Dead things have all of the life drained out of them and often mean you feel the same about your own life. Displaying them only keeps the negativity around you.
Clean out your bedroom. Is it receptive to love and loving situations?
Fix all broken things or get rid of them.
Start small. Release those things from your life that have no meaning, but that someone else would enjoy. Work only 15 to 30 minutes each day to blast right through that clutter.
Reference: Clear the clutter, rearrange for better Feng Shui: by Rita Cook/ Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News 10:02 AM CDT on Friday March 13, 2009
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to clear away the psychic residue (another kind of clutter). It’s easy to do: burn sage, incense, or candles and/or use sound cures such as Tibetan bells or chimes or sacred music such as chanting to clear away negative energy in your space, making room for a breath of fresh air. Love your site. Keep up the good work. Namaste, Katy
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