Employ these three simple feng shui tips for small spaces and you’ll absolutely love where you live.
So, you live in a tiny space. That’s fabulous! Who really needs a whole bunch of rooms anyway? Small is beautiful.
Still, without some feng shui know-how, small can be cramped or just plain no fun…But this needn’t be the case! Employ these three simple feng shui tips for small spaces and you’ll absolutely love where you live.
Step 1: Clear Clutter
Clearing clutter is the ultimate feng shui basic. And, as someone with extremely limited space for stuff, it’s even more important for you. But don’t think of it as a punishment: think of it as an opportunity! Your unique situation makes it absolutely imperative that you live with nothing but the bare essentials, and just a few beloved ornaments or other extras. This is a spiritual practice that will simplify your life and create a beautiful openness to true abundance and success.
I know it’s tempting to store stuff behind doors and under the bed, but do your best to keep these areas open and clear. It will make all the difference in energy flow: the space will feel light rather than tight, and you’ll feel blessed rather than stressed. (But if you absolutely must store something under the bed, linens would be the best choice.)
Step 2: Create Versatility
Here’s a feng shui rule to live by if you live in a one-room space: do your best to make it feel like a bedroom at night and a not-bedroom during the day. This will enhance both your sleep and your waking activities. (i.e. you won’t feel like working at night or sleeping during the day.) Futons are great for this purpose, and so are things like folding tables and laptop desks. (Check out this video for inspiration.)
Step 3: Activate the Bagua Areas
As you may know, the Bagua is the feng shui floor plan, which reveals the nine sections of your space and how the correspond to major areas of your life. Because you have a small space or a room, your bagua will be very simple! You can see each of the nine areas just by looking around the room. Most feng shui books and blogs coach you to find the bagua of an entire house, but the same principles apply to a single room. When figuring out your bagua, simply consider the main door to the room as you would the front door to the space. If you don’t already know the bagua areas of your room, you can discover them here.
Next, visit my DIY Feng Shui series and explore parts 9-17, to become familiar with each bagua area and what it represents. Then choose one simple way to accentuate and activate each area in your space. The accents you choose for each area don’t have to be big or visible: in fact, they probably shouldn’t be. In your case especially, think quality not quantity. For example, for your Serenity (or Knowlege/Self-Cultivation) area, you could choose a small Buddha statue, a framed postcard of a mountain landscape, a tiny vase of living bamboo, or just a single crystal sphere. The important thing is that each object feels powerful for you and reminds you of the qualities you’d like to experience in each life area. The center of the room doesn’t actually need any object to empower it, as it is just represents the area where all the other areas merge and mix.
…Have fun feng shui-ing, and let me know how it goes in the comments!
AND, if you want to learn to feng shui like a pro, check out my DIY Feng Shui series.
Hi Tess!
Thank you very much for this article. I have a room with private bath in a shared apartment and it has a number of problems for which google doesn’t have a solution. The room is rectangular, the front door is at the right corner of the shorter wall (if you face it from outside of the room) and opens directly into helpful people and travel area. The bathroom is also a rectangular and is in the opposite corner from the front door along the same wall with it (the shorter and longer sides of the bath are aligned with the front door wall and the longer wall of the room respectively) . The bathroom door is on the longer wall of the bathroom near its corner furtherst from the front door wall, but when you enter the room you can see it immediately although not directly in front. Now, a major problem is that the rectangular foldable desk is fixed directly to front door wall along the remainder of it, and on the perpendicular wall (which is bathroom wall) it almost reaches bathhroom door. So it’s in the corner between the doors and there is no way to put my work chair anywhere except sideways next to the front door, and when I’m on the computer, I’m right next to it (about 20 centimeters away) and it’s impossible to go out of the room without standing up and moving the chair away (front door opens inwards). I can’t sit next to the bathroom door instead, even if it would be better, because there is a wide shelf along bathroom wall at about head level and after a while having its corner next to my head becomes unbearable. Neither the desk nor the shelf can be moved. So, when I work I block front entrance sitting sideways next to it (in helpful people sector) and I face the bathroom door diagonally. Also the toilet is next to the front door wall and directly in a corner of wisdom and knowledge area (all of which is inside the bathroom). I would be very grateful for any advice on what I can do to fix these issues. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Irina
Irina
Irina, I’m not entirely clear on your bagua concerns (if you have any), but as far as the placement goes, can you use the built-in desk for a shelf and put a different, small desk elsewhere in the room? There are also laptop stands that are quite portable and even storable when not in use.
I had to make my room the laundry room.A fouton bed align with back door . with windows on two sides. HELP PLEASE !!!!
Hi Carolyn! What exactly are you wondering about?
Hi Tess!
hope you remember me from Palmdale, CA you came to my house for a feng shui consultation. Well, that was many years ago. Since then my husband and I have “reinvented” ourselves. We rented out our house, sold most of our things, only keeping those items we really love and moved into a 5th wheel after I accepted a super job 5 hours north of Palmdale.
with that said, how would I feng shui my 5th wheel? I thought this would be a great idea for a video!!!!
hope to hear from you soon.
Happy in Merced, CA
Tina! So sorry for the delay. I’ve been away from my desk. I’m overjoyed to hear from you! How fun that you moved into a 5th wheel. You know what else is fun? I’m from a town very close to Merced! Los Banos. I was just over there visiting family, actually. Love the Central Valley. Anyway, thanks for reading the blog and dropping a line!
How did you know I was moving into a studio apartment? 🙂
It is thankfully a clear square with no outside parts.
Nice! I love simplicity. Congrats. 🙂
Hi Tess!
Thanks again for taking the time to write this blog! It was really helpful. I spent all of yesterday dusting, organizing, and moving around the furniture in my room. I recently graduated from college and am still living with my mom so I don’t have a whole lot of space that’s all mine to decorate (though I do have a Gilmore Girls like relationship with my mom so we pretty much decorate the rest of the house together. But still, it’s different, you know?).
At the new year, my mom, her boyfriend, and I moved into a new town home and while we really like it (I have sliding glass patio doors in my room that lead me right out to a lake!) I had to adjust to having a smaller room (the lake makes up for it haha!). But it’s been a struggle. It didn’t seem like I had this much stuff in my old room haha! I mostly need to downsize. I think I’m going to have a box to store my “little treasures” aka knick-knacks and then seasonally rotate the ones I’m displaying, that way I don’t have to stress myself out about what I can keep and what I need to get rid of. I majored in International Studies and spent some time in Africa and Russia, then went to Italy after college and just got my yoga teacher certification in Nicaragua so I’ve collected some beautiful things from each place. But some things do need to go. I definitely feel how a cluttered space can clutter all areas of your life, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Now, I’m off to go through my closet! Have a lovely day, Tess and thanks again! I love your new website design and I love all your posts! xoxo
Stacy, great to hear the blog post was helpful and that you like the new site! I so appreciate the awesome post idea. It definitely needed to be written. Lots of love and many blessings to you on your magical journey! xoT