Your Happy Home
July 8, 2010 by Linda Binns
Filed under Feng Shui Space
What connection does your home have with your happiness? Quite a big connection actually. First of all, there’s the question of whether you actually like where you live. This doesn’t mean you have to live in a big mansion with a swimming pool to be happy – although that might make you very happy indeed! For example, someone who has just purchased their first house may love their new home, even though it might be very small.
Rather than your home making you happy, it’s more true that your home reflects your current state of happiness (or unhappiness). How do you know? There are several ways to tell:
- A question I often ask people is what do you love most about your home and what do you like least about your home? The answers to these questions reveal a lot about the person and what’s going on in their life right now and even how they feel about themselves. Let me share a recent client example to illustrate what I mean. My client told me that she loves the inside of her home, the layout, etc., the feel of the house. What she doesn’t like so much is the way it looks on the outside.What that tells me is that she is confident in her abilities and her direction in life. She’s comfortable with where she is, but that people don’t always see her the way she sees herself. They don’t see what’s inside, but perhaps make judgments based on appearances, which turns out to be true for her. Think about these questions yourself – what do you like most and least about your home and see what that tells you about yourself and where you are in your life right now.
- Believe it or not, what your home looks like on the outside also reveals a lot about you and how you feel. For example, if the landscaping is overgrown, if the front door and windows are obscured, if the appearance is dilapidated and your doorbell doesn’t work, that would suggest that you are unhappy or angry, or overwhelmed, or you just don’t want to be around anyone. You may feel like withdrawing from the world.There’s a very good reason that realtors talk about curb appeal when you’re buying or selling a house. People can make a decision about your home as soon as they see it from the outside.
- If you have lots of clutter and your home is very disorganized, you’ll be feeling very overwhelmed in your life. There will be a lot of chaos. You probably have low energy and may even feel depressed and suffer from multiple health issues.
So if your home reflects how you feel, can changing your home change how you feel? The answer is yes. You and your home are energetically connected, so if your home reflects how you feel and you want to change how you feel, changing the energy in your home helps to change your own personal energy – and you feel better. But don’t take my word for it – try it for yourself. See what you can change, and notice how you feel once you’ve changed it.
It’s also amazing how doing something very simple can immediately give your energy a boost and, yes, make you feel happier. For example:
- Add color – this will change the energy immediately. Bring bright, vibrant colors to lift your energy and your mood, or soft, soothing colors to calm your energy. You don’t have to paint the walls to do this, you can bring in color with artwork and accessories.
- De-clutter – this also will change how you feel instantly. There’s nothing like letting go of old stuff (old energy) to make you feel lighter and more energized, and that helps you to feel happier.
- Add plants – bringing nature indoors is a wonderful way to add vibrant, healthy energy to your space, which will have a very positive effect on your mood.
- Let go of the negative – look around your space to see if you have any items that have negative memories or associations for you. They may remind you of a particularly difficult time in your life, a time of struggle, or of someone who treated you very badly. Hanging on to them is just like keeping the negative situation (or person) in your home. Let it go and you let go of that old, unsupportive energy, which immediately helps you feel better.
I hope, through these articles, that you’re starting to get more of a sense now of just how connected you are to your home. And, I hope you’re beginning to see how you can work with your home to help you change and grow and improve your energy. Start looking at your space in a different way and you’ll be amazed at how your life can change – for the better.
Photo Source: Wisteria Cottage by Neosnaps
Colour and plants work well for me. Fresh flowers, too, with their colour and fragrance. They change my mood instantly.
Love the photo here in your story. The colour of the wisteria is quite dramatic against the stone isn’t it?
I love that picture. Could I just live there please? What would that say about me?
Sometimes I have to take myself aside and give myself a good talking to and sometimes I just have to laugh at myself. I was a top producing Realtor for several years, I mean, COME ON WENDI!!! I KNOW this stuff!!! But, alas, my front yard, garden and curb appeal is often the first thing to slip away when life throws me a curve ball. My War against Clutter never seems to get the upper hand when it comes to the weeds in the garden or the kids’s random toys scattered about if I take my eye of the mark for one second. Within just a few days…helter skelter-it all falls apart and it looks like a tornado lives there!
You know decluttering does it for me, and when I’ve done my own home and work on others’ ;). But seriously, you’re right, it does have an instant effect. And I love colour. That photo of the gorgeous purple tugged at my heart-strings right away.
Linda, the first thing I wanted to say to you was, “I love the house in the picture, with the wisteria”, but I’ve been beaten to it ~ three times! What does that say about all of us? Perhaps there is a Feng Shui message in the style of it?
I’m thoroughly enjoying your articles Linda. It would be interesting to know if certain colours are better for each aspect of the home, (eg, gold in rooms on the south-eastern corner).
Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments. I have to confess that the credit for the photograph goes to Karen – she found that photo and yes, it is beautiful. Wouldn’t it just make your heart sing if you came home to that every day?
Wendi, it’s so true that even though we may know this stuff often we apply that knowledge to ourselves last, if at all! It sounds to me like you may need to give yourself permission to ask for help with the garden and with housework and de-cluttering. People always expect me to be really organized and neat and tidy. When it comes to paperwork I’m really not. I need help and I admit it. I have someone to clean my house (or I’d go crazy) and every now and then I have to get someone to come in and help me organize all the papers in my office.
I think the Feng Shui message of the picture comes first of all from the color. The flowers are a very rich color – and with the wisteria growing around the door to me it just says ‘welcome.’ And you’ve all felt it, just from looking at the picture – you all feel welcomed there.
It also has a simplicity to it – you get a sense that life there would be uncomplicated and not cluttered. That’s how I feel when I look at it. You’re all responding to the energy and it’s very uplifting. Karen has chosen an absolutely perfect picture for the feeling of happiness. Just looking at it makes us feel good.
Thank you all for sharing your comments.
Yes, there are certain colours that go with each area of the home – I’ll work on including that in a future article!
Great article, thanks Linda! I know what I’ll be doing on the weekend :)
Like everyone, I too think the photo is gorgeous – the colour against the stone and the flowers themselves but I couldn’t live there. I’d be too afraid a spider was going to drop out of the flowers everytime I walked under it! :)
I am a little late to the housewarming party but wanted to say that I enjoyed this article, too, Linda. I look forward to reading your posts here each month and learning more about our homes/ourselves.
I have always known how connected we are to our homes and I so enjoy your articles because I rarely think of the relation between the two. You know after last month, I refused to let my bedroom reflect that I lack a sense of direction. I completely rearranged it, and I am just waiting on a few final touches now. You just know I am going to be off to pretty up the front of the house now…. Thanks Linda.
Vie
Thanks for your comment Dee – I think the color is what’s most uplifting about it.
Chanaia Girl – I’m happy that you enjoyed the article and I love how open everyone is to learning more about the connection between our homes and our lives.
Vitania – great job on your bedroom. Hopefully you’re finding more clarity and direction now – even more so if you work on the front of the house too. Nice!