Q&A Sunday: Water-Themed Art in the Bedroom

Anjie Cho May 5, 2019

I read somewhere that paintings of water were bad feng shui. Is this true?

Magalie R., Los Angeles, CA

I have been taught that there are no feng shui issues with having images of water in the bedroom. Actually, I personally have a photograph of water in my bedroom above my bed. I am a water person and love being near and seeing water. It is calming. In four pillars I am yin wood, so water also nourishes me in five element theory.

I have been taught that water elements like fountains and fish aquariums are not ideal in the bedroom. Perhaps this is where the question comes from. The moving water may be too active for some people, and a bedroom is a yin space where we seek out rest and relaxation.

As with most objects in the bedroom, be thoughtful about what the images represent. If you have trouble sleeping, a painting of a rushing river or surfers riding waves might not be so calming. Use your intuition to determine if that piece of art is appropriate for the type of mood you want for your bedroom. A bedroom is there to support and nourish you while you sleep in a passive yin state.

If there is a particular piece of art you are looking to add to your bedroom, please feel free to submit it for Q&A Sunday!

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design feng shui cerfication program. Laura Morris and I launched our program in September 2018. Check us out at www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our a unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish.

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday". We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui or Green Design questions!

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9 Cliché Decorating Rules We Should All Start Breaking

Anjie Cho March 6, 2019

featured on Apartment Therapy by Caroline Biggs

While some decorating rules of thumb are definitely worth paying attention to—think: "Decorate rooms one at a time" or "Always design rooms around furniture"—others are made to be broken. To prove our point, we asked a few of our favorite designers which old-school decorating clichés they believe should be ignored, and their responses didn't disappoint. Read ahead for nine decorating clichés our experts say you should avoid following.

1. The Rule of Threes

"There's this very cliché rumor that if you do a pop of color in a room it should appear in three different places, which is just such a funny thing to suggest! I never think a room should be that contrived. Accents are great when they are unique." —Alyssa Kapito, Alyssa Kapito Interiors

2. There's No Room for Experimentation

"It's not necessary to match every single item in one room. In fact, we always mix it up. Many people fall into the habit of matching the artwork with the couch and the rug and even an accent piece such as a throw pillow. Experiment by incorporating different patterns and colors that go well together in order to add character. We like to mix vintage with new and love texture." —Caroline Grant and Dolores Suarez, Dekar Design

3. All White Walls are Boring

"I think that people tend to think that white walls are boring, but personally, I love white walls. There are many shades of white, one for every taste. White paint brightens and expands spaces visually, and it's a blank canvas that can inspire you to engage and play with more daring colors in your accessories (which are easier to change)." —Anjie Cho

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Live the Green Dream and Let Plants Take Root In Your Home

Anjie Cho February 20, 2019

featured on Irish Examiner by Kya deLongchamps

Minimalist or austere? The uptight, sleek, relatively empty neutral space spiked with worthy mid-century inspired furnishings is being challenged in 2019 with the return to a cosier more full inhabited feel of maximalism. Celebrated American architect Robert Charles Venturi Jr, who sadly died this year, tangled with the Mies Van Der Rohe’s sacred but paralysing adage trotted out in the last 10 years of decorating – ‘Less is more’, Venturi stated flatly, ‘- and less - is a bore.’

One of the most popular and luxurious interpretations of the ‘more is more’ school of aesthetics is the Memphis look – a 1970s fantasy of brass bound tables, marble, velvet and abstract art layered joyfully over every wall, glass and lacquered surface. It’s still chic, but there’s a lot more ‘you’ in these playful rooms.

In lush imagery of the Memphis lifestyle in European and American trade shows, living and faux greenery softens glass counters, orphaned corners and empty vertical voids using the exquisite geometry of rosette succulents, string-of-pearl (trailing Senecio Rowleyanus) and statuesque palms-house super-stars.

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