Your home is your safe space. It’s where you eat, sleep, and spend most of your days. So, it’s only natural to want to optimize it in order to create a serene, creative, and healthy oasis.
Eerie artwork
The artwork you choose to put in your space is up to you. However, if you want your home to be a feng shui oasis, you may want to skip those eerier pieces. “If it is dark, sad, or scary, then that’s the energy you’re promoting in your home,” says Kendra Gardner, an architect, designer, and feng shui expert. “Your home reflects your dreams and desires. Do you desire what those images are representing? If not, why encourage that energy in your home?”
Unwanted heirlooms
Sure, your great-grandmother may have loved that creepy doll collection, but that doesn't mean you have to. If an unwanted antique or gift is given to you, consider rehoming it with someone who will value it. "Whether they are displayed throughout the home or relegated to a storage container, these items are keeping the home's energy mired in the past," says Berry.
Cacti
In most cases, plants improve the feng shui of your home. Unfortunately for those of us with a black thumb, that's not true with cacti, despite being easy to care for. "Those plants have points that are sending prickly energy to everyone in the space," says Gardner. "They serve as protection if used on the exterior, but I would avoid using them inside."
Exercise equipment in the bedroom
Many of the spaces in our home serve a variety of purposes. Your dining room is your office, your living room is your daycare, and, maybe, your bedroom is your gym. But if you can avoid that, you should. "The bedroom is a room that evokes play, not work," says Berry. "Also, using and storing an exercise bike or stair climber in the boudoir will contribute to exhausting and arduous relationships."
Dried flowers
Unfortunately, not all greenery is good greenery. Past-prime flowers—and even purposefully pressed flowers—can throw off your home's feng shui. "Dried flowers are dead and that is an energy you don't want to encourage in your home," says Gardner. "If you have a black thumb, use faux flowers instead."
Clutter
Clutter is a more general concept—disordered shoe collections, overflowing snack shelves, and too-full junk drawers—but it's something we all struggle with. If your clutter is constant, take note. "Clutter in any area blocks the flow of chi, therefore stifling creativity, good health, and success," says intuitive coach and feng shui expert Angela Lenhardt.
