You probably have one—a closet, a desktop, a room—the spot you shy away from, the place you hate to walk past, the door you don’t open unless you must. In my work as a feng shui consultant, I’ve learned from my clients that these places have names, usually not very flattering:
“The dead space”
“The clutter magnet” or
“The room of doom.”
In feng shui, every space in your home—whether it’s a closet, a laundry room, or a desk—has equal value and purpose. All are made up of vital energy called chi, all are connected, and all are constantly changing. Which means that your “dead space,” “clutter magnet,” or “room of doom” is vitally connected to the other spaces in your home, and it affects the harmony and energy of the whole. This can be a difficult concept to understand because it certainly feels like some of our spaces are more important than others.
When clients grimace talking about their unloved space with the disparaging name, I know we’ve hit on an important trouble spot. In feng shui, we call this “finding the splinter.” My job is to help my clients figure out how to remove the splinter.
My clients April and Rob Schmidt are homeowners with a “room of doom.” They are interior designers and builders by profession, and their home, which also serves as their office, is beautifully arranged and decorated in the mid-century modern style. And while they have spent time and energy renovating their other rooms, they weren’t sure what to do with the room that served as both a pantry and laundry area. Here are some “before” photos.
The room hadn’t been painted to match the rest of the home, they didn’t like their washer and dryer or the open pantry shelving, and they wanted a space separate from their professional office to keep track of miscellaneous paperwork.
My recommendations included painting the room white to match the rest of the home (white represents the Metal Element and is associated with the Helpful People & Travel area of the Bagua), purchasing a new washer and dryer, clearing space for a desk and bulletin board, replacing the open shelving with closed storage, and displaying artwork that represented their love of travel.
And, equally important, renaming the room!
Here are the “after” photographs, shared by my clients, of their new laundry and pantry area. I hope they will inspire you to treat your own unloved space with new respect. When you do, you’ll feel a new connection to it, you’ll end up spending more time there and you’ll experience change and movement in a new direction in your life. When we love our spaces, they love us back!
