What do Fine art, Feng Shui and Fashion have in common, besides the letter F? They are all about energy. Artwork can provide you the kind of energy that can make you happy or sad; be uplifting or depressing. They are also categories that fall under: “one size doesn’t fit all.”
Art needs to fit you, your personality and the size of your home just like fashion needs to fit your body and your mood properly. The energy principles of Feng Shui apply to your wall décor just as they do to all other areas of your life. They either give you positive supportive energy or negative energy. They can be either uplifting or depressing based on subject matter, color and size.
Wall décor can energize your home
There are guidelines on how to choose artwork to meet your specific needs and energize various areas of your home or office to bring about your desired life goals and objectives.
Begin by evaluating your artwork with a Feng Shui perspective of providing positive or negative energy. You will find that certain pictures on your walls make you feel certain emotions. Perhaps there are some that evoke happy memories while others are sadder, while still others are uplifting and some might be downright depressing. Are there any pictures that make you feel uncomfortable but you don’t know why? Is there one that you really do not like but you are holding onto it because your mother told you to never get rid of it? If you don’t love it, it is OK to get rid of it.
Once you understand what you currently have, there are a few basic guidelines you can use to make sure your wall décor will provide positive energy when proudly placed on your walls, rather than negatively affect you or anyone else in your household.
Size matters. Placing a huge picture on a wall in a small room will make the room feel small and everyone uncomfortable. It will overwhelm and dominate the space. If the picture is particularly dark, it can also create a depressing atmosphere.
Pictures or groupings of art must be appropriately sized for each room. While you can use a grouping of varying sizes with other decorative items remember, do not clutter the space – chaos, even on walls, can be overwhelming and you will not be able to concentrate clearly and become confused.
The guideline is, just like clothing, if you wear oversized baggy clothing or items that are way too tight for comfort, your personal energy suffers – clothing needs to fit you. Similarly, artwork needs to fit the room. The artwork in the room should look and feel balanced, making everyone comfortable.
Color is important. For example, if a picture is mostly red, a high energy color; do not place it in a bedroom where the objective is rest and sleep, or in a dining room used for calm relaxed conversation and digestion. It would be a great picture to place in an area where you would like to have lively conversation. Take note that if a red picture, even in the right place, is too large and loud it can create too much energy and cause the viewers to feel nervous and angry.
Similarly, a winter snow scene with wind blowing and icicles forming placed in a room with cool blue walls could be very uninviting and lead to abrupt or no conversation – it would act like the “cold shoulder” treatment. However, that same cool picture would be very refreshing if placed in a sunny south-facing room to cool down an otherwise warm atmosphere.
The guideline is, place pictures with color energy that matches the use of the room. For bedrooms try relaxing greens, calming light blues and earth tones and pastels set the proper mood and energy for sleeping and rest. In living rooms and family rooms, place the more energetic and brighter colors like reds, oranges, and bright multi-colors. The kitchen and dining rooms can also use brighter, livelier colors but an office should have slightly quieter colors that are more conducive to work, focus and productivity.
Subject matter is relevant. Artwork with people repelling off the side of a mountain, surfers catching waves or skiers gliding down a ski slope are all action activities and should be hung in more action-oriented rooms or an office. A peaceful lake, a calm ocean with the breeze wafting through the palm trees, a bubbling stream or a bouquet of roses would be calming subject matter and should be hung in rooms needing quieter energy, such as bedrooms. Still-life portraits of fruits and produce along with pastoral landscapes are perfect for dining rooms; they provide calm nurturing energy that is great for quiet conversation and digestion.
The guideline is, when hanging any picture, be sure that the subject matter is correct for the room and is facing into your room encouraging positive energy to enter rather than facing out a window or door sending all of your good energy out of your home. If you have portraits of you and your loved one hanging together make sure the two of you are facing each other. If you face in opposite directions, your energy will gradually drift apart because you’ve created a symbolic energy wall between the two of you. Do the same with family members and siblings or you with your favorite clients or boss; make sure they face toward each other as well.
Wall décor greatly enhances the atmosphere and enjoyment of a room or it can negatively impact a room. Following these few simple steps will provide the much desired positive energy presented in wall décor while taking care to prevent any negative impact.
© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2016 Pat Heydlauff, a “flow of focus” expert, speaker and consultant designs home and workplace environments that unleash the flow of focus and maximize performance while creating balance and increasing prosperity. She is author of the forthcoming book, Beyond Engagement: Seven Ways Leaders Fuel Tomorrow’s Sustainability and published books, Feng Shui, So Easy a Child Can Do It and Selling Your Home with a Competitive Edge. Contact her at 561-408-270
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