Simple Ways to Refresh Your Home

What if lifting the energy in your space (and in you, by extension) could be really simple?

I have a colleague who writes a column for the Spirit of Change magazine. Lynn Taylor is a senior Feng Shui practitioner based in the Boston area. Her answers to peoples’ questions are wonderful; loaded with practical tips that anyone can put to use right away.

Here’s an example. Tell me you don’t feel lighter and fresher just from reading it!

Dear Lynn,
I have been reading about feng shui for a while. I don’t have anything in particular about my house that I don’t like, but I wonder if there are any general all purpose uses for feng shui that would be good in any home to help give it a lift? — Georgette, Westminster, MA

Dear Georgette,
Hmm…there is something of a “flat line” in this question. It inspires me to suggest invigoration. Have a house-warming party! It could be said that creating an event is not feng shui, but changing energy is and that’s the goal here.

Uplifting an environment can be fairly easy. Start with “out with the old.” As much as your energy allows, go through every room, even closets. Discard what you perceive as offensive, draining or dull and disliked. Re-locate or dispose of these items in a way that’s helpful to you and others.

Clean the house. It’s magic medicine and centuries have proved it. Filthy rugs, especially stained or worn carpets, should be ripped out. Let that foundation, whatever it is, breathe. You will be both the agent and beneficiary of such a change. I’m a great fan of Oriental rugs; red is preferable. In general they embellish your very foundation with qualities suggestive of comfort, security, luxury and knowledge, providing an uplifting and beautiful platform for everything else in the area they occupy. Clean everything that is even partially used as a container for water: sink, toilet, fishbowl, etc. (Don’t go so far as to drain your hot water tank, though!)

Redefine and refresh your main entrance. Fresh flowers uplift us wherever they are located and can usually be made visible from at least part of the entrance. How is your lighting? Allow for spaces to be lightened up even if you don’t necessarily use them very often. In seating areas and bedrooms use warm lighting. Table lamps work well. Even minor changes can create very positive outcomes, giving you a boost of optimism that can open an entirely new door into the same house you’ve lived in for years!

–Excerpted from Spirit of Change Magazine

Spirit of Change Magazine has a beautiful, calming look. Check it out!

Photo: “Peonies in my kitchen” by Stephanie Bennett Vogt