Q&A Sunday: Home Office in the Bedroom

Guest User March 21, 2021

Is it ok to have my home office in my bedroom?

This is something that has come up a lot this year with so many of us working from home. Sometimes the bedroom the only area where you can set up a workspace, especially if you normally work at an office and weren’t prepared to work from home.

In general, my advice is to do the best with what you have. Feng shui isn’t magic—it’s not going to add another room to your home or make one of your rooms suddenly bigger. You have to make accommodations and compromises based on your situation.

In general, it’s not ideal to have a workspace in your bedroom. If you can move it to another place in your home, I would recommend you do that. A separate room is best, but you can also carve out space in another room in your home, one that is not dedicated to sleep and relaxation. For example, perhaps there is a corner in your kitchen that would work well as a dedicated home office.

If you must have your home office in your bedroom, there are a few ways that you can make the most of the situation. First, make sure you have a separate space dedicated to work within your bedroom. You don’t want to work on your computer while sitting in bed, because you’re mixing two different types of energy: yin, the more passive energy of rest and sleep; and yang, the active energy of work.

Next, do your best to create a visual separation between your workspace and the rest of your bedroom. You can do this with a freestanding bookcase, room divider, or fabric panel. If you can’t fit something like this in your bedroom, you may want to cover your desk with a beautiful piece of fabric at the end of each work day to create more separation between your work and personal life.

If you have questions about your specific situation, I’d recommend working with an expert. If you do have the opportunity to work with a feng shui consultant, they can help you locate a better space for your home office, or figure out how to best accommodate the workspace in your bedroom if that is really the only option.

by Anjie Cho

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If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Feng Shui and the Kitchen

Anjie Cho March 17, 2021

When we talk about kitchens and feng shui, it’s helpful to look beyond the functional purpose of the kitchen and look into the metaphorical aspect as well. You can look at the kitchen as a place to nourish as well as a place for families to gather. I’m also a licensed architect, and I’ve noticed that kitchens, and open-plan kitchens in particular, are often places where families come together. Everyone tends to make a beeline towards the kitchen island!

In feng shui, it’s often said that white is the best color for a kitchen because it represents purity and cleanliness, which are qualities that we want in our food and nourishment. White is a great color for kitchen walls and backsplashes, as well as dishes, because it shows off the many colors of the food that we eat.

That said, this is very general advice, so you may want to work with a feng shui consultant to get a more personalized recommendation for your situation. They can give you much more background on different colors and figure out what is best for you, if you’re interested in that. Also, if you really want your kitchen to be a certain color, go for it! No one’s going to stop you. I don’t want you to be afraid to do something because you think it will be bad feng shui. You have to keep in mind that you’ll be living in this home, so you should love the kitchen that you design!

Because your kitchen represents how you nourish yourself, you always want to keep it clean and bring in the highest quality produce and items that you can. This includes cleaning products, too. The quality of your food directly impacts your personal energy, so you want to bring in the highest vibration food that you can.

Lastly, appreciate your kitchen! It does a lot for you, and our homes speak in energy, so offer gratitude to this part of your home that nourishes you.

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Q&A Sunday: My Feng Shui Rubber Tree Plant

Guest User March 14, 2021

What is that plant with the big shiny leaves that’s behind you in your Instagram videos?

That’s my rubber plant, gifted to me by my friend Jill! When she left New York City and moved to the west coast, she gave me some of her plants, including this one.

I’ve been thinking about plants recently. More specifically, I’ve been curious about what information we can glean from them, as well how they can help us invite more beauty into our lives.

There’s a lot to learn just from paying attention to the plants in your home. How are they doing? Are they thriving? What is the quality of the leaves? Are they collecting dust? Are there new buds? It’s fascinating to look at the stem, too, and see what has happened over time—maybe the plant went through a difficult time, and then an easier time. A plant can tell you so much!

I think plants also can hold the qi of their previous owners. My friend Jill, for example, had very good business qi, and that rubbed off on me a little by adopting her plant.

I’ve also been working with the idea of how to invite more beauty into your life. Just spending a little time with my rubber plant and looking at it with curiosity gave me a new perspective on this plant that’s been in my home for a while. I can pay attention to how the light looks underneath each leaf, how the shadow and light all come together, and so many other details of this beautiful plant.

How can you start to look at your plants with curiosity? I encourage you to look at different parts of the plant that you may not normally pay attention to. You can even use your phone to snap beautiful images from different angles. I invite you to look with curiosity, rather than judgment, and see what you can reveal.

by Anjie Cho