Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of harmonizing individuals with their environments using energy forces. There are many basic principles to follow, and beginners can find it challenging to remember all of them. Through being a feng shui beginner or misunderstanding the principles, many people make these common feng shui decorating mistakes:
Installing Storage Under Your Bed
Many homeowners invest in under-bed storage to take care of clutter in their homes. However, you might be making a call to a dumpster rental business when you learn this is something you shouldn’t do if you’re trying to practice good feng shui.
Under-bed storage is undoubtedly practical when you own lots of items and lack space, but storage boxes and containers can be frowned upon. It’s believed that under-bed storage can represent a subconscious ‘block’ in your life. Energy can’t flow freely around you when you have boxes of items stacked under your mattress.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t put anything under your bed. Things specifically designed for your bed won’t disrupt your energy field according to feng shui principles. These are items like blankets, comforters, and extra pillows.
Blocking Your Doors
Our furniture and possessions don’t always fit perfectly in our homes. It’s not uncommon for a side table to stop a bedroom door from opening fully or a coat stand to stop your entry door from providing full access. If you’re trying to create a harmonious home with feng shui, consider rectifying such issues. All doors should be able to open their full 90 degrees without any obstacles in their way.
Buying Random Asian Knick-Knacks
It’s easy to assume that any ornament, knick-knack, or trinket with Asian inspiration is a vital feng shui decoration to include in your home. You might even think it serves a crucial feng shui function because of its Asian style. However, something looking like it serves a feng shui purpose doesn’t mean it does. Consider only buying items that serve a purpose and place them in locations that make the most sense.
Not Having a Headboard
Having a headboard is a core part of basic feng shui design principles. A headboard is a representation of having a firm foundation for rest. However, not just any old headboard will do. It should be of a calming color for good energy and curvy and rounded to avoid bad energy. If you can’t have a headboard, you can create an improvised version with European square pillows behind your regular pillows.
Decorating With Dead Flowers
As pretty as dried flowers and plants can be in artwork and craft projects, they are not advisable for feng shui. Remember, feng shui is all about life force energy, and dried, dead plants are the opposite of that. Instead of life force energy, they can represent death energy.
There is nothing wrong with having dried flowers that mean something to you or serve a purpose, such as dried lavender in a clothing drawer. However, dried flowers are not something you decorate your home with for feng shui purposes.
Being a beginner at feng shui means you’re at risk of making mistakes. However, learning about the most common decorating mistakes might improve your chances of avoiding them and mastering feng shui design in your home.