As the West continues to face challenges economically, many people are starting to expand their awareness and philosophies and look for answers and suggestions from other cultures. Feng Shui is an ancient Art and Science that started over 3,000 years ago in China. My personal opinion is that the West and East will continue to learn and borrow from each other as we find the balance between our lifestyles and thinking. Feng shui is a balance in the energies that exists around us continuously. I have developed a list of necessities that I think are important for sellers to complete before listing their property. My hope is that you will have fun with it as the feedback I usually get from people is, "After I did this I felt so much better!"
Picture is taken from Murins in Bali on http://www.flicker.com/
1. Come in or go away? Stand outside your home and face your front door. What do you see? If you see garbage or other debris/unnecessary items, remove them. Are the plants and trees healthy? If not, remove them. Do you have flowers and a nice welcome mat welcoming your potential home buyer into your home? Is the lighting near your front door bright and working? Is your front door in good working order? Fix any items that need fixing. Remember that broken/dirty or old items drain fresh energy from the surroundings making it difficult for new energy to enter your home.
2. You feel welcomed to keep going or you feel trapped and want to leave? Once you open your front door take a look around your home. What immediately do you see? Are the halls open allowing energy to flow through? Are there obstacles immediately facing you as you open the door? If there are shoes near the front door remove them. Place them in a closet or other modern organizer (shelf, bench) so that as one opens the door they are greeted immediately with open space as an invitation. I once opened a door to a home that was listed for sale for over 6 months and the first thing I saw was over 15 pairs of shoes that smelled really bad! Each time you open the door in Feng shui the energy from outside comes in and disperses the energy throughout your home. I think I could even smell the shoes from the kitchen of this home!
3. You see open space for future or you see chaos? Now take a look at each room of your home. Don't do this all at once! Do 15-20 minutes at a time. This is NOT easy. Look at all the furniture and "stuff" you have. It is probably time to de-clutter. Clutter is stagnation and energy gets stuck here. Clutter, "usually represents things we resist and places we don't wish to pay attention to" http://tinyurl.com/cksgv2 One would think that it would be easy to de-clutter but it can actually be really hard for people who "hold onto" the past or get stuck in their emotions. Do yourself a favor before doing this. Open the windows, turn on ALL the lights and play your favorite upbeat music to put you in a good emotional mood. Take three boxes and start with one room at a time (maybe even one corner of a room if you have A LOT of clutter). Now, for each item in the room, pick it up and hold it. What do you FEEL? Does this item hold positive memories for you? Do you smile when you think about this item? If the item reminds you of something unfriendly, throw it in the first box. Give it away. It no longer serves you. If it is trash and you are certain that NOBODY wants it then throw it in box number two which you will later bring to the dump. If you love this item and it makes you FEEL good when you hold it, put it to one side. If you are uncertain about the item, perhaps conflicted about if you really need or want it still, place it in box number three. This box will get saved in a basement or garage which you will unpack in 6 months. If you open it six months later and decide you did not miss this item, it is time to give it away.
Now again, this is not an easy exercise for everyone. Do it in stages. It gets a lot easier over time and I actually look forward to it and encourage my family to do this regularly with me. In the past three weeks I have donated over 7 boxes of items to the Salvation Army. I LOVE giving away beautiful items that I no longer need. The act of giving makes me feel good when I think about how someone may love that picture or item in their home and it opens up space for me in my home to bring in newer ideas and new opportunities and energy. To this day, I have NEVER regretted giving anything away. Isn't that interesting? Practice non-attachment. Have fun with this. Once you start giving, you won't stop. It feels good and my opinion is that the universe will support this behavior! It saddens me that a lot of Westerners are living in fear and "scarcity mode" holding on to all they have right now. The media even encourages us to "save, save, save!" The East would argue that we have everything we need and as long as we continue to give we will continue to receive. I've given more away to charity this year than I have ever given previously. Trust this process.
4. Sit down and relax or be careful not to trip and fall? Similar to removing the clutter in your rooms, are there pieces of furniture that are waiting to stab you or trip you as you move through the room? Remember that Feng Shui is about energy flowing and moving. If there are large pieces of furniture in a room with sharp or pointy edges, they may jeopardize your future and keep it in the shadows. I am a fan of antique armoires and I used to own about eight. I'm down to three! I've learned that the Chinese do not like sharp corners and prefer round smooth edges (ex round tables, and round end furniture and coffee tables). If you have an item that has sharp edges, consider placing a plant with long leaves to hang over the sharp edge so that it doesn't "stab" you or someone sitting across from it. These are known in Feng shui as, "poison arrows" and can do a lot of harm to someones well being. Along this line, are there too many pieces of furniture in your home? If you remove some pieces will you have more room for energy to flow and more light? Remove it from the room for a few minutes and see how it looks and feels.
5. Remove personal items. No potential buyer wants to see what toothpaste you use. They don't want to see your brand of coffee on your counter. Imagine that you were taking a picture of the room for a magazine. Do you see these items? Put these items in cabinets and drawers and get into the habit of doing it daily. Remember that real estate is about people buying a dream. You want them to walk into your home and imagine themselves there...not you. The more that you can hide personal items (especially photos of family and friends) the more people will be able to envision themselves living there. I can't tell you how many times I have shown a home and my clients start to get involved with the pictures of the people that live there. 9 out of 10 times they turn to me after viewing the house and say, "I like the home, but it doesn't feel like my home". Get the picture!?
6. Clean clean clean! Are your windows clean to allow in new light? Are your mirrors clean? Are the floors bright and shiny? Are your counter tops clean and sparkly and free from all daily use items? (Place your toasters, etc. in cabinets). Try to only have three items on your counter top! Coffee maker, butter dish, toaster oven (you choose your three items)...that is it! Try it...its not easy.
Picture from http://tinyurl.com/cy7t5n7. "Oh there is lots of room" or "I would outgrow this place quickly". Now open your closets and cabinets (hopefully you don't have to take a step back to protect yourself). Is there space? Lots of space? If a potential buyer opens your closets or cabinets and sees that it is full to the max, they will immediately think that they too will outgrow the space and have no room. If they open the space and find that there is LOTS of room and that items are neatly placed in bins and carefully organized, not only will they be envious and want to be as organized as you but they will envision that if they live here they could have that closet with lots of space as well!
8. Finally, do your walls need a fresh coat of paint? Are your walls painted bright orange, purple, neon green, hot pink, or electric blue? If you answered yes to any of these its time to neutralize. Look to paint your walls soft colors that are neutral such as off-white, ivory, cream, etc. Fresh paint can really brighten a room and the less color you have the more a potential buyer will be able to envision their furniture in that room. If you have strong patterned window treatments or bed spreads, its time to take them down and again look for light, neutral colors.
This portion of the Feng Shui real estate blog is to help you de-clutter and sell your home. In another upcoming blog I will speak more about how to increase your likelihood of selling as well as increase your wealth by using feng shui enhancers. If you have any questions about this or would like to comment, feel free to email me at mbedard@hickokandboardman.com In addition, please keep in mind that it is important that you have your home priced appropriately! If you have had your house on the market for awhile and you are not getting offers, in addition to the above you may want to consider a price reduction.
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