Feng Shui: Creating a Comfortable Home

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Since Feng Shui became particularly popular in the states in recent years, with an increasing interest in the emotional affect of a home’s interior. There’s no proof that perfectly situated furniture can truly bring you peace and prosperity, but most experts agree that interior design can definitely affect emotions. If you want to make your home feel more comfortable, follow these tips.

Tidy Up

Image via Flickr by rogue-designs

 

A tidy home helps create a feeling of comfort, but don’t take cleaning too far. You don’t want your home to feel sterile. It’s good to eliminate clutter and keep a house that feels clean, but you want to leave a few things out to make the house feel interesting as well.

Think of cleaning up as an art project, rather than simply getting rid of clutter. Try to make the room you clean fun to look at. Once you’ve removed the clutter, you can replace it with simple items add to the room’s decor. For instance, put a vase with flowers on the coffee table after clearing it off, and place a few interesting books next to it to establish a relaxed, casual atmosphere.

Furniture Arrangements

One of the hardest things for a lot of people when it comes to managing their home’s interior is furniture placement. Your furniture arrangement consists of two purposes, one practical and one emotional. You want to place the furniture so it has practical application to daily use; for example, putting chairs around the dinner table to eat, or facing the sofa so you can see the television. Finding the balance can help you create a room that fits your personality and lifestyle.

First off, try to arrange the furniture in a way that makes the room feel lively. You don’t want a room that feels stagnant; it’s not the same as a feeling of comfort. You may need to try different chair types or other seating options to really get the feeling and practicality that works best for the room you’re arranging.

Together or Separate?

Think about the most realistic situations you’ll have in your home. Who’s coming over? Who lives there? What kind of relationships do you have with these people? You can increase the comfort by anticipating when and where people will want to sit together or away from each other. For example, comfortable sofas work great for situations that call for people sitting together, while several mini sofas and comfy chairs work better when people want to congregate but keep a sense of separation.

Lighting Levels

If possible, give your rooms different options for lighting. Many people agree that lighting sets the mood of a room more than any other element of the room’s design. A light hanging over the dinner table brings the focus of that area to coming together and bonding. Accent lighting such as table lamps can create a more intimate and cozy feeling.

Go for adjustable ceiling lights if you can. Once you’ve got that covered, you can add room lamps. On top of that, create specific task lighting. Many people neglect this, but it creates a much more comfortable feeling in your home and can also help in situations where one person needs light when another needs dark. For example, when one person has to sleep while another has to do some late night homework/paperwork.

Make Room for Art

Sometimes art acts as the most powerful emotional healer. Make room for art in your home. Paintings, music, sculptures, photos, and other types of art can make your home feel much friendlier than a home without. Keep a few instruments around, especially if you know how to play. Have an open mind when it comes to tastes. Obviously don’t bring anything into your home that makes you feel weird, but you don’t have to brush off anything that you don’t immediately love. Again, it helps to think of the entire design process as a work of art.

Pay Attention to Scale

Regardless of the size of your home, the size and shape of the furniture and items in the home can seriously affect how big, small, comfortable, or cozy the rooms feel. If you have a smaller room, get shorter furniture to help reduce the feeling of a tiny space. Fill up enough space so the room doesn’t feel empty, but not so much that it feels cramped. Hang your art in empty wall spaces, but don’t put so much that it feels cluttered.

There are so many ways to up the cozy factor in your home. From furnishings and accents to color schemes and textures, everything you add to your abode enhance its appeal. Follow these tips and your home should feel comfortable in no time.