Adding sparkle to an attic room with Feng Shui
If the only dedicated space you have for an ‘office’ is a small attic room, you may wonder if it’s worth the trouble of getting the Feng Shui right.
Mel knew the answer was ‘yes’. Having worked together before, Mel knew it was more important than ever to make sure the energy in the room flowed and aligned correctly with her business. We worked remotely to achieve this.
A room of her own
I’m sure many of you can relate to sharing your working environment with the rest of the family at times. Perhaps in a room that becomes a dumping ground for ironing, sports kit, and files. So you can imagine how excited Mel was to have a room of her own in the newly-converted, long awaited attic space.
The room is 195 cms x 253 cms and won’t hold much furniture even if she wanted it to. But the placement of what it did need to hold, was carefully considered both to serve its purpose well and to prevent the energy getting stuck; both practical and energetic considerations.
Mel reports back from Stone in the Midlands
“As ever I was delighted with the outcome have invested time online in speaking with Mary. She gave confidence to my intuitive thoughts, helped me see how it all made sense when linking these ideas together. For instance:
- the introduction of the ‘water element’ as cooling relief from the busy-ness of my coaching practice and a reminder to me to ‘dive deep’ at times;
- the placement of my desk to take advantage of this small space that is ALL MINE!
- Mary’s wise alternative suggestion to the potentially claustrophobic bookshelf plan I had in mind.
- her guidance on wall colours from a Feng Shui perspective.
“Amid building work, life, business and everything else, I felt less daunted having to make decisions about colours, textures and placement of furniture, which if done properly, I knew would make the space work beautifully.
“Today as I write this is my first day at my new (adjustable standing) desk. Although there are still things to add – book shelves/storage, a luscious plant, my diving gannets picture and some blinds, it already feels like my calm eerie, hidden quietly and joyously away. The perfect place for me to think, talk, create and just be.”
Top 4 concerns from a Feng Shui perspective
These were my four main concerns I wanted Mel to focus on to make this lovely space sing and dance at its best.
DESK & POSITION
The plan was to tuck the desk up against and facing the right-hand wall.
NO! This is a common mistake people make they believe to hide the technology wires. But it only serves to channel all your mental/emotional energy towards the wall where it bounces back in your face because there’s nowhere else for it to go.
YES! By swinging the desk around, it gives Mel a panoramic sweep of the view, commonly known as the ‘commanding view’. Now she can see the door and who is entering. And, she can glance sideways out of the window for the long perspective and a connection with nature. In relation to the window and the sun’s movement, this desk position will also receive plenty of natural light but her screen will not be blasted with it.
PLUS, she has an empty wall facing her on which to display the beautiful piece of artwork she loves. The image of two gannets diving is predominantly the WATER Element – and a good placement in this section of the room, feeding the WOOD element required for business growth.
WALL COLOUR
Mel was very drawn to blues at the moment (WATER element to balance the ‘heat’ of life as a mum and coach). The paint supplier she’d chosen is a good one: eco-friendly and low in antigens (https://www.little-knights.co.uk/products/) to minimise harm to herself and keep the energy of the room vibrant.
NO! However, using blue for the entire room in a small space, would have been too dense and closed the room in too much for using the intellect and business communications.
YES! My suggestion was she paint the wall opposite her desk in her favourite blue. The remaining three walls to be painted in a pinky-beige, which toned well with the blue, and helped to maintain a sense of space. The warm beige would be facing her online visitors, and made interesting (but not distracting) by adding a plant on her desk like a Peace Lily, which would also counteract electro-magnetic stress.
YES! The WATER Element is associated with this colour too. I like it because Mel’s business is about growth (WOOD Element) and in the cycle of 5 Elements, WATER feeds WOOD as we’ve mentioned before. Yay!
CURTAINS
For dressing the window I liked the curtains Mel had spotted from John Lewis. They ticked several boxes – good price, recycled polyester, thermal. However….
NO! But we both agreed the choice of blue was too dark for the room as well as the painted wall.
YES! I felt a blind would be more appropriate to keep the space light, open and functional while still dressing the windows.
BOOK STORAGE
Something was needed for her business books – but where to place it? Books are associated with the WOOD element ( you can probably figure out why). But too many of them in a small room would make the space feel turgid.
NO! In a small, enclosed space we need to be careful not to locate open shelves pointing directly at where Mel is sitting, sending lines of ‘cutting chi’ directly at her; it’s too disruptive and aggressive. Neither would an open bookcase work for the same reason.
NO! Neither would she want shelving stacked up over her head while sitting at her desk for any length of time. The density of all those books is pressing and could give her a headache.
YES! The best for Mel was to use the space under the window, which was a dead area. A wide and narrow storage unit here will fit the bill. The shelving can be used for her books while the top provides a surface for a few ornaments, an aromatherapy burner, and plants that love the sunshine.
The finishing touches to Mel’s attic space will have to wait now until Christmas is over – at least until the decorations are up. I hope you can see that the small actions she’s taken can have a big effect and will inspire you to facelift any small space in your environment that needs it.
Please let me know in the comments below whether you’ve been able to apply any of these ideas to your home office.
About me
An Intuitive Feng Shui consultant since 1995, I’ve a passion for working with energy to create home and workplaces that align with the vision to manifest the life you desire. Also a Reiki Master, I blend modern day ideas of well-being and energy medicine with traditional wisdom to promote happy, healthy harmonious environments and lives well-lived by all.
Email with a question – mary@marynonde.com
For more information visit – https://www.marynonde.com/feng-shui/
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