Balanced Feng Shui Interiors

Yesterday, I wrote about how I approached Feng Shui as a way to reach balance for yourself.

No surprise that balance is very important in Feng Shui itself :

1. Balance between textures (wood, metal, glas, textiles, etc.)

In Feng Shui, you have five main elements : Water, Wood, Metal, Earth and Fire. These elements can be present by themself or by some particular texture.

Water can be expressed with glas, cristal or mirors. Fire can be expressed with anything coming from an animal (like skin or leather).

Credit : Domestic Stories with Ivy

2. Balance between colors (warm tones, cold tones, earth tones, black and white)

In Feng Shui, it's recommanded not to over-use colors in your interior. Also, you have to be carefull in balancing colors, including the natural color of some textures (warm tones for leather or wood and cold tones for silver or glas).

Some colors also represent an element. Like dark blue or black represent water... It has to be taken into account : try not to use to much black if water is already very present or use it when it's not present yet.

Via : Desire to Inspire

3. Balance in shapes (vertical, horizontal, angles and curves)

In Feng Shui, each shape represent also an element. Horizontal shapes represent the stability, the Earth. The verticality represent the water (downwards) or the wood (upwards). Round shapes represent metal. Waves represent water (obvi). Fire can be represented by a triangle.

In general, Feng Shui doesn't like angles or corners...

Credit : Erin Gates

4. Feminine vs. masculine

Just like in the balance between the ying and the yang, feminine an masculine are very important in Feng Shui. Try to keep them balanced. For example, you can balance the feminine side of a very curvy shape with a moody, masculine color.

Credit : Emily A. Clark

Feng Shui : The Easy Way

I don't know much about Feng Shui. I share as I discover. So, if you know better or have other opinion, be free to share!

I approach Feng Shui as a way to reach balance. The environment influences us. Stimulation, images, colors, shapes, textures can inspire us. Some color inspire movement, other inspire rest. Some textures inspire  stability, other change. Some shapes inspire strenght, other fragility and softness.

I our live, we need a bit of everything. Sometimes, not everything at the same time.

I remember theses posts from Jennifer Hagler, the author of a Merry Mishap Blog. She is a jewelry designer and blogger. So I understand she is in a constant state of visual stimulation to inspire he work. But, she says, sometimes, she clears all the "visual noise" and litteraly stripes her all house!

Credit : A Merry Mishap

I mean... waow! What an incredible way to rest your mind, meditate and focus!

As a young working mother, my days are very intense, full of stress, joy, noise, feelings, pictures, etc. I am almost never by myself anymore and I feel sometimes overwhelmed by everything. Many times, this is expressed by anxiety that I transfer to my loved ones. So sad.

I did not always feel the same. A few years ago, a friend of my was reading L'art de la simplicité of Dominique Loreau. When my friend told me that the author preconised to eat every day the same thing, limit your wardrobe to four or five colors, etc.... I was thinking that the author was taking away all the fun things from her life. Killing the creativity.

A bit later, Geraldine Dormoy, the blogger behind Café Mode, wrote about Dominique Loreau's book and I think at the time, I was already less negative about it, but still not convinced and not interested in reading it. Now, when I read Geraldine's post again, I totally get the point! Geraldine highlights in the book the importance of empthyness, the japanese conception of quality, the importance of rituals, etc. Read Geraldine's post here.

It's funny how we value all these thing for babies and neglect all these principles for ourselves. Young parents are taught about how babies need rest after a day of stimulation, how this is important for the construction of their little brain. Young parents are taught about the importance of rituals, so important for the balance of young child.

With all the changes in my life right now, I totally understand the importance of all this. Now I really want to read Dominique Loreau's book.
Feng Shui concures with this idea.

Here are the first Feng Shui tips that you can apply immediatly :

1. Declutter
2. Fix what is broken
3. Open the window every day
4. Open the curtains every day
5. Hide or store what you don't want to see (like bills and invoices!)
6. Prefer items that have a real value for you instead of random decor items
7. Clean all your linen (curtains, bed sheets, etc.) for some fresh smell in the house
8. Buy some plants (most of them are very good against contamination, even in the bedroom)
9. Get rid of unused items
10. Clean a closet

Tomorow we'll speak about balance and the elements of Feng Shui!

Credit : Peter Margonelli

How I got interested in Feng Shui...

Hello! I hope you enjoyed last week color week! This week we will speak about something a bit new and confusing for me (but we are here to share!!) : Feng Shui...

So, last week, as the bedroom was totally in works for the built-in closet, we were sleeping on the sofa. Needless to say, it wasn't very easy to keep the house very tidy. On friday, I was feeling totally depressed. This could be due to the rainy weather we had last week, but the mess in the house was definitely an other cause.

As I had the afternoon free, I went to go shopping. With my boyfriend working on week-ends recently, I have to take care of Anouk and have no time for shopping. And since I was depressed, I really wanted to buy myself all the pretty things I dreamt about : a new camera, this lamp from Zara Home and a few accessories there... I also received an invitation for a private sale, were I could buy a nice scandinavian knitted pouf... I really was going to spend a lot of money....

However... the day before, I posted  very nice pictures from Janice's blog. I don't speak swedish (yet), so I hadn't pay much attention before but I discovered that Janice was Feng Shui consultant.

You can think whatever you want, what I say is that :

1. I could have dinner here :

Credit : Add Simplicity

2. I could chill here :

Credit : Add Simplicity

3. I would sleep 8 full solid hours here :

Credit : Add Simplicity

So while I was shopping, I had Feng Shui in my mind.

I don't know Feng Shui very well, but I remembered a few principles from Amelie's blog. Check her posts here, here , here and here.

I remembered that :

1. For different reasons my bedroom wasn't feng shui at all (but we'll speak about that later)

2. LESS IS MORE

3. It's good to take your time while decorating your home

So I filled my eyes with beauties (the Zara Home collection is even more beautiful in person... we'll speak about that!), but did't bring any more clutter at home.

The house is full of boxes of unassembled-yet-furniture. I felt that any new item would be unnecessary until we finish the works... I wanted to buy desk accessories for the unassembled-yet-desk, but then I felt it would be better to see the desk assembled before...

This is how Feng Shui made me safe a lot of money.

This week, we are going to speak about feng shui, if you'd like!