“I’m going to be buying a new mattress and am trying to decide between a double and a queen sized bed.

“If I buy a queen-sized bed, I will only have room for a bedside table on one side of the bed. But if I buy a double, I am afraid it will be too small.

“I don’t have a lover right now, but I would like to attract a partner into my life.

“I am wondering what is more important, the extra space, or having two bedside tables?”

Great question.

The most important thing in making a bedroom welcoming for two, is that there be space enough for two.

As Bobby knows, a queen-sized bed is best for a couple, leaving enough room for each person while keeping them in good connection through the night.

If a queen-sized bed means there’s no room for two tables and lamps, improvise with something like the photo above.

In this small bedroom, lovely hanging lamps illuminate each side of the bed, with very small shelves holding necessities like an alarm clock on either side.

This bedroom has a lot of other things going for it from a Feng Shui perspective: the colors, textures and materials, just for starters.

It’s a bedroom designed for love, and it all starts with the bed.

Thanks for writing, Bobby!

(Photo credit: homedit.com)

As with so many things, the answer is, “It depends.”

If you know the provenance of the item and it feels good to you, there’s no problem — your parents’ wedding china or your favorite aunt’s traveling case, for example.

The situation is more complicated when you don’t know much (or anything) about an item’s history, as with things that you’ve picked up at an antique store or vintage clothing shop.

If you’re among the many people who just LOVE the look and feel of antiques, you’ll be wise to keep a few things in mind from a Feng Shui perspective:

• Try to stick to purchasing things that are actually useful to you, so you can start imbuing them with your own story and energy right away.
• Be sure that you truly love the item itself, since you’ll be living with it, looking at it and using it from this moment forward. 
• If you have any premonitions that its history might not be a positive one, let it go.  Trust the universe to guide you to another, more positive item sometime down the road.

When you bring a vintage item into your home, transform any residual negative energies by symbolically clearing it using Feng Shui:

• Let it rest for a few days in an out-of-the-way location in your home.
• When you are ready, place it in a sunny location for a few hours.  The sun’s powerful rays are the most Yang energy we have available to us. 
• Focus the power of your Intention on the vintage piece. In this case your Intention should be along the lines that this item support and nourish you as it becomes a part of your life.

Combining the powerful forces of your Intention and the sun’s abundant energy refreshes and renews your new purchase, making it into a positive addition to your life.

Irma writes,
“I just moved into a new home and am having difficulty with the bedroom doors. They are kitty corner into the rooms.

“How do I place the Bagua and determine where each part of it goes in this particular case?”

Here’s an example of a floor plan with angled bedroom doors:

You can see that the two smaller bedrooms on the right have angled doorways where it is not immediately clear which wall you might use to orient the Bagua Map.

In these kinds of situations the role of intuition comes into play in Feng Shui.

Here is how I answered Irma’s great question:

“Hi Irma,
“There is no absolute way to know the correct answer only by looking at the floor plan. 

“In my consulting rounds I stand in the doorway in order to let my intuition tell me which corner “feels” more like the far left corner — the Wealth sector of the Bagua.  After I determine this the rest of the Bagua falls into place.  

“So this is what I suggest you do for each bedroom in your home.  One way of positioning the Bagua will always feel more correct than the other.“

This was a great question — thanks Irma!

(For everything you need to know about how to use the Bagua Map, click here to check out my new ebook Map Your Space To Change Your Life.)

(Floorplan credit: dreamhomesource.com)

“I just laid the Bagua Map over my home and discovered that my Fame & Reputation area is located in my bathroom!  This can’t be ideal — please help!”

Dear reader, while you are correct that it’s not ideal, don’t panic –> you don’t have to move out of your house, and your reputation can still be enhanced!

Think of this as yet another reason to make your bedroom as spa-like, warm and cozy as possible. 

Candles + red accents = bathroom luxury….

The Water element dominates the bathroom so to begin with use the Wood element for balance.  (More on balancing the Five Elements in the bathroom here.)

At the same time since Fire represents the sense of expansion, illumination and brilliance associated with your Fame & Reputation, you’ll want to make sure Fire is well-represented in your bathroom.

Candles, warm lighting, pointed or star-shaped objects and subtle red accents all bring Fire to life.

 You may also wish to bring in an inspiring reminder of your own brilliance: a photo you’ve taken or piece of art you’ve created, for example.

In other words, create a bathroom that inspires your intention to create a positive reputation in the world!

I welcome other ideas for creating an uplifting bathroom!

(Photo credit: homedecorarcade.com)

“I adore the look of open shelves.  I have a whole Pinterest board devoted to them.  And, yet, I read on your blog and in other feng shui resources, that open shelves are like knives that cut the residents of the home.  Ouch!

“Do I have to abandon my dream of open kitchen shelving surrounding my one kitchen window?  Or is there something I could do to diminish the cutting effect of the open shelves?”

Indeed Krys’s fear’s are valid. In fact open shelves create two Feng Shui issues:

• The knife-edges of open shelves create “sha chi,” or poison arrows, aimed right at you.

• Open shelves invite dust and clutter, violating the #1 rule of good Feng Shui, to keep your space clean and clutter-free.

For instance in these two photos you can see that things are stacked behind other things on the shelves, making them inaccessible at best.

Your Feng Shui goal is to blunt the edge of the poison arrows.  You’ll create good kitchen Feng when you:

• Build the shelves so they’re just deep enough to hold one later of kitchen supplies. 
• Pull things to the front of the shelves to create more of a blunt-edge to the look of the shelves.
• Design the shelves with rounded edges to reduce their sharpness.
• Avoid using Metal for the shelf material.
• Keep the shelves clean and tidy.

Here’s an example of open kitchen shelving with good Feng Shui:

The shelves have been build just deep enough for the spice jars so you’re hardly aware of the sharp edges of the shelves at all.

Here’s another positive Feng Shui example, with dishes:

(Photos: tessituracrafts, collarcitybrownstone, bhg.com)

“If mirrors are a Feng Shui no-no in the bedroom, where is a good place to hang them?”

It’s true that Feng Shui frowns upon mirrors in bedrooms, especially if you suffer from insomnia or wish to make your bedroom into an intimate sanctuary.

But in just about every other part of your home, mirrors are one of Feng Shui’s main tools for creating positive energy.

• Mirrors add light – so they are wonderful Chi enhancers for dark rooms and hallways.
• Mirrors expand your space – so use them to enlarge a small room.
• Mirrors magnify what they reflect – so place them opposite a beautiful, abundant view — a view of nature or your abundant dining table, for instance.
• Mirrors reflect you – so hang mirrors that make you feel whole.
• Mirrors add depth – so use one to “fill in” a missing Bagua area.

How do you use mirrors to enhance your life? 

(photo by camil tulcan)

But I’ve recently received questions about the Feng Shui of other organic shapes like domed homes, whose owners  claim a sense of wholeness and warmth that make for great Feng Shui.

For example here’s the floorplan of a double-domed home one blog reader is getting ready to move into.  One dome is the home’s garage, and the other the living area.

This plan is very organic — it’s actually shaped like a peanut!

A home like this can definitely have good Feng Shui, because the circular domes are also considered “regular.” In Feng Shui, squares symbolize Earth, while circles symbolize Heaven, making dome shapes very auspicious for a home.

For more on this you may also enjoy my popular article about the Feng Shui of igloos.

Have a look at some more fascinating domed homes, a few of which look like the just like something Bilbo Baggins might have lived in.

Maybe the hobbits really were onto something;)

 What do you think — could you live in a home like this?

(Floorplan courtesy of trinitydome.com, home photo courtesy of monolithic.com)

Most apartment kitchens have very tight layouts, where the cook can stand in just one place and reach everything he or she needs.

I love to cook, so my kitchen gets a lot of use.

Here’s a photo; even though it’s small it’s still larger than any of my past apartment kitchens

My apartment kitchen.

From a Feng Shui perspective the kitchen symbolizes Health and Wealth: if you don’t have good health, it is much more difficult to create wealth and abundance in your life.

So your kitchen needs to have excellent Feng Shui, which comprises three essential criteria no matter what size it is:

1. Elemental balance. The kitchen is a naturally “Fire-y” place because of the stove.

• Balance Fire’s strong energy with the elements that control it: Earth (seen here in the yellow walls and countertops), and Water (seen here in dark-colored accessories).

2. Good Chi flow. Healthy Chi energy needs clean, clear surfaces to do the best job of nourishing you and your loved ones.

• Keep your counter-tops as clear as possible. Store there only the things you use every day. For example, I’ve gotten rid of our toaster altogether because we used it so infrequently. (I broil toast in the oven if I must!)

Kitchen abundance.

3. Artwork that exudes abundance and good health. No matter how small your kitchen, there’s always a way to anchor and activate your positive intentions through artwork.

• Find a piece of art that really “speaks” to you and hang it up. It may be a painting of fruit like the one I have in my kitchen, or a picture of something else that reminds you of abundance: a family photo, instance. Use your imagination!

How are you creating good Feng Shui in your kitchen?

“Any tips for when your stovetop is in your relationship area? How do you make that romantic?! Does putting your toaster oven and microwave together count as a couple?”

My kitchen's sugar & cream set.

I love a question like this because the answer can be found on several levels.

1. Feng Shui Location
Having your kitchen in the Bagua’s Relationship area is not a bad thing at all. After all the kitchen is the hearth and heart of your home, where you create and receive nourishment of all kinds.

2. Feng Shui Elements
The stove in your kitchen represents the Fire element, which in Feng Shui nourishes Earth, the bountiful element of every relationship. Get some good Fire-y energy going in there to warm your relationship energy right up!

Read more here about the nourishing cycle of the Five Elements in Feng Shui.

3. Feng Shui Enhancements
Enhancing Relationship energy in the kitchen couldn’t be easier — a sugar and cream set for your coffee, a pair of plants on the windowsill, a piece of art with twos of fruit or vegetables.

And best of all, when that happy relationship comes into your life, a happy photo of you and your sweetheart, hanging on the wall!

“Dear Ann, My apartment unit is #400. I assumed there was a #300 below me, but not so: I just discovered that it’s the parking garage for the building.

“I’ve never read anything positive about living over a garage – and there’s a swimming pool down the somewhere also. Help!”

Roseanne is right — living over a garage is not ideal Feng Shui.

Chicago's Marina City apartments, with cars parked below.

Garages and other large empty spaces are considered overly Yin in Feng Shui: dark and cold, dormant and quiet.

This negative energy can affect you on a day-to-day basis as you are conscious of the almost complete lack of human activity nearby.

If you live over a garage, what can you do to improve your Feng Shui?

The key is to symbolically balance Yin with elements of Yang.

• If the garage is part of your home, bring the space to life with lively colors and artwork, and be sure to enhance whichever part of the Bagua it occupies.

• If the garage is not under your control, as is the case with Roseanne, create a symbolic “Yang barrier” between yourself and the space below: a carpet with lively patterns or colors, for instance.

Do you need specific advice for the challenges in your home’s layout? Give me a call to find out what can be done to improve the Feng Shui.