FengShui your Bedroom

By Deborah Lambeth

The goal of feng shui is to create a pleasant surrounding that supports health and invites happiness. Simply put, feng shui is a decorating belief that our surroundings influence us. And no room in your house should have more influence than your bedroom, since you spend more hours a day there than anywhere else in your home.

First ask yourself these questions, is your bedroom a peaceful haven? Is your bedroom a retreat for you to rest? Is it a place for romance? Is it a place where you feel refreshed and renewed? If not, a little feng shui may be just the thing your room needs. Jayme Barrett, author of Feng Shui Your Life, says that in the bedroom, "feng shui helps you arrange the space to support your best rest and connection with your partner and with yourself,"

Here are nine approaches you can take to turn your "nothing" bedroom into one that exudes comfort, serenity and peace.

1. Make use of color. We all would agree that colors play an important part in our reactions when we walk into a room. Warm, rich earth and skin tones such as terra cotta, copper, coral, cream, peach, tan and cocoa tend to create a cozy and inviting atmosphere in the bedroom. Light, natural colors like light blues, greens and lavenders make the bedroom a tranquil place as well as invite healing energy. Pink and red are the colors of romance and using them sparingly around the can enhance the romance in a relationship. Other colors like burgundy, magenta, and deep purple are also colors that can be used to create the same effect. "There's no doubt that color impacts our psychology and our physiology," says Kennedy.

2. Where you put your head, where to put your bed. In order to give you a sense of safety while you rest the best place to position your bed is as far away from the bedroom door as possible. The corner of the room diagonally opposite the door is usually best, since it distances you from the door and keeps the bed out of direct alignment with the room's opening. Positioning your bed under a window, which lacks the symbolic support and protection of a solid wall, can lead to fitful sleep as energy enters and exits through the window, Kennedy says. "Headboards, especially solid ones made from wood, are considered good feng shui because they provide additional strength and support behind your head." Footboards, on the other hand, are seen as blocking forward progress in life. Your feet should not point out the door while in bed. In traditional Chinese culture, because the deceased are carried out feet first, this is called the "Death Position." Make sure in the positioning of your bed to leave enough room around the bed for energy to flow freely, and for each partner to get up with ease.

3. Cut corners. If you're looking for bedroom furniture, choose pieces with soft lines and curvilinear forms. "Square corners have too much pointed energy and can create a 'sharp' environment," explains Jayme Barrett, author of Feng Shui Your Life (http://www.jaymebarrett.com). The "poison arrows" formed by right angles are thought to cause a feeling of uneasiness.

5. Close the door to the world. Rest, reflection and intimacy is what your bedroom should exude. Exercise equipment, office desk, computer, tv, boom box, etc. all indicate "busy-ness" and do not foster calmness which needs to prevail in your bedroom. You need a place where you can de-stress and your bedroom should be that place.

If your bedroom has to function as work or exercise space, use a folding screen or beautiful fabric hung from a ceiling-mounted curtain rod to conceal them. Only keep a few books on your nightstand, turn off the ringer on the phone, and if you simply must have a tv in your bedroom, keep it in an armoire or cabinet. "Shutting the door" gives a sense of calmness in order to have a peaceful sleep. Fabric draped over the TV when you're not using it will serve a similar purpose.

6. Create a space for two. "Having only one nightstand or space on only one side of the bed to climb in and out is very symbolic of solitude, and can actually hold your single status in place," says Terah Kathryn Collins, author of The Western Guide to Feng Shui Room by Room. "Single people also tend to have accessories and art that depict solitude, [like] a single flower in a vase."

One way to decorate if you’re single is to visualize two people in the room. Place nightstands and lamps on both sides of the bed, and accessorize in pairs or multiples. Replace that one flower with a bunch of flowers in a vase and use art that emphasizes romance and unity.

7. Opening and closing your eyes. "The last thing you see before you go to sleep and the first thing you see when you open your eyes should be something that makes you feel joyful and inspired," explains Barrett. In deciding what that "thing" will be, think about things you’d like to see reflected in your life—success, love, inner peace, joy, etc. Most feng shui decorators will suggest not putting family photos in the bedroom. The bedroom should focus on you (and your partner).

8. Use the right light, not the nightlight. During the day, in the feng shui bedroom, you want lots of natural light. There should be soft light in the evening and darkness while you sleep. Aside from the positive energy it imparts, sunlight in the morning increases serotonin levels and can influence you for the rest of the day. When choosing window treatments, choose coverings that can easily be opened to welcome the day and pulled closed for privacy and an embracing ambiance after nightfall. Put all the lights in the bedroom on dimmers to that you can manually create a sense of calmness.

9. Create your own little space. It’s important to create a beautiful bedroom, but it’s also important to create a space that appeals to things you love to smell, touch, taste and hear. "Make the bedroom your sensory treasure box," says Collins. Using nice linens, playing relaxing music, hanging a wind chime outside your window or lighting candles will all bring tranquility to your bedroom so that when you go to bed you are relaxed and when you wake up, you are refreshed and renewed—ready to face the new day!