Here's some tips for using Feng Shui to stage your kitchen, whether you are staging your Los Angeles home to sell, or staging it to live.
Its that time again: the New Year is fast approaching and its time to give your kitchen a Feng Shui tune up. I've updated a post I did last year, and added some new information.
Stage Your Kitchen With Feng Shui
Welcome prosperity and good health into your home with sound Feng Shui practices. With the New Year 2010 approaching, now is the perfect time to invite positive change into your life.
Whether you are staging your home to sell or staging your home to live you can use the principals of home staging and Feng Shui to prepare your home for more comfortable, pleasing and prosperous living for you or your potential buyers.
There are many schools of Feng Shui.
Recommendations will vary from Feng Shui school to school and practitioner to practitioner. Here are some tips to get your kitchen in top Feng Shui shape with little or no cash outlay, just an investment of your time. Despite the fact that different schools have differing "cures", following are some basic changes you can make that apply to all kitchens. We can affect many positive changes in our lives just by applying intention - putting the energy into making a change and welcoming that change into our lives.
In Feng Shui, the condition of the kitchen can influence your level of prosperity and good health.
The goals of both home staging and Feng Shui are increasing cleanliness,functionality and organization and getting rid of clutter to make room for whatever your new prosperity will bring. Follow these steps to increase your prosperity, good health and general well being:
- Clean out your refrigerator and your pantry.Get rid of any out-of-date food or 'science projects' (all of which hold negative energy, by the way). This includes any outdated vitamins or medications you keep in your kitchen. Wipe down the shelves, clean up any old spills and crumbs. If you use shelf paper in your pantry, and it is torn damaged or worn, replace it. If you are staging your home to sell, your pantry should be half full and very neatly arranged. If the items are awkwardly shaped, put them in baskets.
- Restock your refrigerator and pantry. A fuller refrigerator and pantry equates to prosperity and generosity. It also allows us to be prepared for whatever may come up, be it unexpected guests or a change in employment status. Don't overfill the refrigerator and pantry. We don't want them cluttered, just sufficiently full to meet our nourishment needs plus a little extra. Put a small open box of baking soda in the refrigerator to absorb odors. Opening the refrigerator should be a pleasant experience.
- Restock your refrigerator and pantry with healthy food. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. One of the fastest paths to good health is eating healthy food. If your intention is to improve your health, then walk the walk.
- Display fresh fruit on your counter. Abundant fruit is a symbol of prosperity and generosity (yours and the Universe's) in Feng Shui. Besides, you are more likely to eat it if it is readily available, which will improve your health and well-being.
- Remove everything from your cabinets. Assess everything and determine if it is really useful. With the exception of some seasonal items, if you haven't used it in the past 6 months, you should get rid of it (donate, give away to a friend, recycle or throw it away). If it is chipped, broken or otherwise damaged, either fix it or get rid of it. That broken toaster that has been sitting in the cabinet since 2004 may be burning off some of your prosperity - send it on down the road. If the item can be fixed (and you are likely to have it fixed) by all means, do so. If it can be repaired, but you are not inclined to do so, label it with the problem (so the recipient know what they are getting) and then donate it. If it can't be fixed or recycled, then throw it away. The goal is to get rid of clutter and make space for new and better items that will come into your life in the coming year. If you are staging your home to sell, keep your cabinets half full. It allows potential buyers to imagine their things in the cabinets.
To read more about creating prosperity with home staging using Feng Shui, please visit my Los Angeles Home Staging Tips blog.
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2010 RESA Professional Stager of the Year
Michelle has staged hundreds of Los Angeles homes, many of which have sold with multiple offers, above listing price.
She works with home sellers, listing agents and asset managers to prepare homes for sale throughout Los Angeles.
Moving Mountains Design provides vacant home staging, occupied home staging, color consultations, corporate and executive relocations, move organization, redesign, and interior design. We also stage model homes, REOs,foreclosures and auction properties for real estate investors and asset managers.
For more information about our Los Angeles home staging services, contact Michelle at (626)385-8852 or by email.
Click here to see our Los Angeles home staging portfolio
Click here to go to our Los Angeles home staging blog
Click here for more information about home staging in Los Angeles and how we can help sell your home faster and for the best price
Thank you Michelle! Great tips! I feel good already!!! =)
Thankyou for the update. It is always interesting to learn about different approaches to help us in our own home and that of our clients.
Michelle, What wonderful advice! Cleaning out and restocking the pantry and fridge are excellent ideas to really bring in a wonderful New Year. It's coming up quickly this year and I've started my cleaning already :)
FEATURED IN FENG SHUI FOR REAL ESTATE
Nyssa: Glad I could be of service :o)
Sasha: Feng Shui is a valuable tool to help us live better and sell better.
Carole: Its a good idea to get started with end of year cleaning ASAP. We don't want to bring any sticky, bad energy into the new year if we can help it. My kitchen is pretty tidy, but I like to wipe everything down and do some deep cleaning (like the extractor filters) for the New Year.
Thanks for the Feature, Carole!
Hi Michelle,
Funny but I've never really given a lot of thought to Feng Shui when it comes to a kitchen. Funny, but I've always had to have all my labels face front in my own pantry. I always want to have everything visible the moment I open the doors.
Lynda: In Feng Shui, as in home staging, the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in a home. I love that you have all your labels facing forward. I bet the rest of your kitchen is orderly as well.
Great tips to implement now or after the new year Michelle. We spend so much time in the kitchen it would make sense to have it be orderly - especially during this chaotic time of year.
These are awesome tips, Michelle. My labels are also facing outward. Well... in my dreams they are. (smile). In all seriousness, there's so much merit to these suggestions. Thanks for sharing them.
Kathy
Michele: While these tips can be implemented anytime, for us Feng Shui followers, it is best to implement them before the New Year so you are not bringing bad energy from one year to the next.
Kathy: I can only imagine that your kitchen is a paragon of orderliness. Glad you like the suggestions.
I have been in the getting rid of mode myself. It amazes me how much we accumulate, and don't use. I've organized the kitchen pantry's and refrigerator. Now the drawers with the misc. utensils!!!
Excellent post and the end of the year if the perfect time to organize and get rid of everything we have not used in 6 months. Fresh fruit on the counters and pantry organization are two items every home for sale needs to address. When I moved a few years ago, I found a food can from a Grand Union store (they went out of business about 12 years ago) - yes, I am very guilty of clutter. Kate
Good luck, Cindy. Its not a fun task, but the rewards can be great.
Kate: I'm sure if I dug around I could find some "antiques" in my kitchen too. Its an ongoing process.
Great tips --- thanks for posting on the feng shui group--- and happy new year!
Hi Michelle - Good tips for everyone - even if feng shui weren't the goal. I have to smile at the front-facing labels. I used to do that, but with a houseful of folks all into my cupboards while my kids were growing up, I had to learn to let that go. We do a "sort of" job of that now that it's just the two of us.
Thank you Bob & Carolin
Susan: Feng Shui is kind of like home staging. You create a list of improvements for your clients and hope for the best :o)
My cabinets go from super organized to total dissarray in the blink of an eye. All that needs to happen is that a certain someone can't find the condensed milk or shredded coconut for a recipe and everything gets rearranged. That's life!