Recently I had the pleasure of changing out the energy in a friend’s kitchen – by simply applying Feng Shui principles to her countertops!  We changed out the energy in about an hour.   Do you have an hour?  Here’s how you can do the same:

Start by surveying your counter spaces and asking yourself for each item:  do I use it on a daily basis? If the answer is yes, the item gets to stay; if no, then you have some additional questions to ask yourself about how often you use the item and whether or not it continues to serve you in your kitchen.   In the case of my friend’s kitchen a large microwave oven, which she seldom used, was situated on her counter.  (It’s going to Goodwill, since she has a built-in over her oven.)

Once every item on your counter has gone through the test, there could be items you need to find storage for.  In Feng Shui, the inside of the cupboards is an important as what you can see on the outside on the counters, but the inside of your cupboards may take you more than our allotted hour!   In the example of my friend’s kitchen we did work on one cupboard – by changing the height of her shelves we made space for olive oils and vinegars that were too “tall” for the shelf spaces.  Once we lifted the bottom shelf and adjusted the middle and top shelves we found plenty of room to store the bottles she didn’t use daily.

Next, look at the art, plants and other things taking up space on your counters – do they still fit who you are, do you use them, are they broken?  In the case of my friend’s kitchen we found a very funny picture of a woman drinking coffee with her feet up on a kitchen counter covered with a mess of children’s artwork, old dishes, newspapers, etc.  This picture had been given to her when her kids were toddlers and life was hectic.  With both my friend’s children launched in college and not living at home, plus her desire and willingness to keep the mayhem at bay, this picture very much no longer served who she is today!   It’s gone.  We also removed the broken clock radio that no longer told time but had a working radio.   She’s getting a new clock radio .

Allow yourself the time to live with your creative chaos while clearing your counter tops.  We used the island in her kitchen to put anything we were unsure of.  The space became crowded and messy – but we knew we wouldn’t leave it that way. Once the counters were cleared and arranged with items she uses daily, she could see and feel a different energy.  Then it became easy to take care of the “discarded” items on the kitchen island.  There was no way any of them were going to go back to their old spots now that the kitchen felt so good.

Here’s what she had to say:  “I LOVE my “new” kitchen.  It’s so much easier to clean and keep clean.  I want to spend time in here.  I even invited friends over for dinner.”

An hour of Feng Shui can change your kitchen, too!