apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm totally breaking the last rule by hanging a poster of the Velvet Underground and Nico poster with the ripe banana over my bed. Peaceful? No. Saucy? YES!

Hang a round mirror in the bedroom, but not in front of the bed.
Use soothing colors.
Don't leave messy clothes overnight.

Wow, I fell out of the tree and hit every branch on the way down. Among the issues: the only wall where I can put my bed without a window behind it faces the doorway. I have very little space so I put things under the bed. Opening the window most of the year will let in heat, humidity and car exhaust, therefore the ceiling has a fan which causes distractions. And if I close the door, the cats will scratch it and wake me up.

There's some good design sense in some feng shui principles, but a lot of it's bunk. And it's species-ist against cacti and other spiky plants (which allegedly create bad energy.) Nyeh.

i say to each his/her own!! i recently moved my bed and put it (with headboard) against my bedroom windows. i wake up more peacefully with the sun (a few minutes before my alarm clock) and my bed is opposite the door. i have been sleeping better than ever!!

tip for people with awful built-ins in a rental: get ceiling hanging curtains (track and curtains under $40 at ikea), it hides the clutter (or computer) making things more serene!

i don't get down with any of this whosawhatsit. i'm really more inclined to let design be dictated by personal taste and the situation of a room and the objects of one's life. i don't follow these 'rules' and somehow i've managed to avoid feeling constantly weighed down by negative energy. pshaw!

I once heard not to nave the foot of the bed facing a mirror, as it will "suck the life out of you". Not sure if this matters too much, but I follow this rule, because if you sit up in bed in the middle of the night and catch something moving in the mirror it can really freak a person out!

Open windows everyday? Even in January? Also, I cannot close the door, especially with a cat and dog...they don't like closed doors...and they let me hear about it.

I love looking at the chandelier in the bedroom, it's much better than the "calm clear ceiling" before. Just looking at it relaxes me.

i think these tips are interesting and see common practical sense in most of them. thanks for sharing.

sure feng shui isn't for everyone and yes - space and personal style does dictate decor preferences but i see nothing wrong with some simple tips that may have (or may not) a positive impact for someone.

Oh cool! except for covering my mirror every night... I'm all feng shui'd!

Hahaha. More mis-appropriation of asian culture by non-asians. To the people who don't "buy it." We aren't trying to sell it to you. It's Jane and John Doe who are making money off of trend-sters; just take a look at most of the "authentic" feng shui books out there being published by western press. Not Jane and John Wong. And that white bedroom is awful. The "color" White, as it has been known for thousands of years, stands for death and ignorance in a lot of Asian cultures.

I don't believe in feng shui. During the course of my life in many different homes, I have both followed and broken all of these rules with no effect.

I like some of the design principles of feng shui, such as keeping clutter to a minimum and opening windows to let fresh air in, but I can't really subscribe to the idea of covering mirrors at night or that white represents death and ignorance. A mirror is just a piece of silvered glass and white is just a colour.

Feng shui seems to be reserved for those with the luxury to pick and choose the physical size/layout of their living space, complete with separate bedroom. Welcome to SF and NYC, feng shui!

We're planning on putting a large mirror on the wall at the foot of our bed, because it will reflect the outside pool and yard through the large sliding glass doors that are next to the top of the bed. I'd say that benefit outweighs any feng shui bugaboos.

We did move some walls and doors so that we don't look directly at our toilet when sitting in bed - definitely much more serene. I can't imagine how they lived that way for 30 years. (It was also noticeable from the pool when you were outside looking in. Ick.)

I tried to Feng Shui an old apartment on a very limited budget and...no. It's nearly impossible to follow all the rules. I think you need to make your bedroom a space where you feel at home, whether that means it is devoid of clutter and distractions, or if it means you've created a cozy little cave. Whatever helps you sleep at night is what is right for you.

My own tip - I think it's nice to have a pretty focal point to gaze at when you wake up, before you get up. I look at the top of a tree out my window, but a nice nature painting or tablescape would work too.

When we were staging our last place for sale, we worked hard to decorate it nicely with decorative accessories on the dresser top instead of stacks of clothes and junk, and it did feel a lot more restful!!

Since many of us are westerners appropriating the principles in a sort of half-assed way anyway, I like seeing these. This isn't "shame on you for not doing them." And lots of them aren't exactly occult practices, but are pretty darn practical. It feels comforting to me to have my bed in a cozy (i.e. headboard against the wall) spot but nightstands are a Good Thing if you possibly have room not to stuff the bed in the corner. Not having to store stuff under your bed means less dust/mold spores down there. I've been compulsive about closing the bedroom door since I saw the fire safety videos (stop, drop, roll!) in elementary school, and so on.

I currently do pretty much all of these things in a 500sqft studio. I've lived in smaller and HAD to have stuff under the bed, but it sure was nice to get it out. The office is in the same room, but out of sight when I lay in bed and so on. I just wish the current weather conditions would allow me to open the window more!

I remember talking to a Chinese friend about feng shui when I lived in China (mainland). She thought it was crazy that westerners believe in/pay a lot of money for it.

jennyat, I've heard that too (that Chinese people think feng shui is a load of bull).

Logically, if you believe in any of the precepts of Feng Shui you should also believe in whole mythology and religious aspect that underpines it.

So I would assume that all those who practice Feng Shui are also believers and followers of ancient Chinese spirituality to the exclusion of Christianity etc?

To me most of the above advice doesn't really have anything to do with feng shui but just common sense. Of course a cluttered cramped bedroom is not very comfortable. Neither is a bed in a corner (for the one sleeping next to the wall).
The mirror thing to me is just hocus pocus. I have one in my bedroom and sleep just fine.

I've seen that nothing under the bed thing for a while and scoffed a bit. But since moving to a new place with a MUCH bigger bedroom and bought a new wardrobe and other storage. I still have one or two things under there, but pushed to the back (and a washing basket that I use as a dirty-laundry recepticle that's tucked under the foot to be out of the way).

It's amazing how much freer the room feels without the underbed packed with junk. I literally would not have believed it.

I think that this stuff can be useful, if only in the same way that most rules about things like this are - they make you think about your space, the way you use it, and the way it feels. My bed is against a wall, facing the door, and also my mirrored wardrobe. The room still feels lovely, restufl and welcoming. Or it would, if I'd only clean up those clothes! :P

If we're going to appropriate other cultures, an exercise fraught with failure, *shouldn't* we cherry pick the bits that fit our own lives the best?