December is an incredibly busy time and as a Feng Shui consultant, I support many clients to make sure their homes are set up for success, good health and happiness in the hosting season.
As Christmas holidays draw near, these principles will help manage the energy of your home so your planned festivities are relaxed and enjoyable for everyone – including you.
Here, I share how to tap into the benefits of good Feng Shui to add sparkle to your holidays and make Christmas less overwhelming, whether you're doing it as a team, or hosting falls squarely to you.
1. Boost your productivity
The most important aspect of Feng Shui is that it boosts positive energy and neutralizes anything difficult or un-supportive in a building.
If you can’t function effectively in your home, the positive ‘chi’ or life-force energy won’t circulate either, and that’s when you’ll feel stuck, grouchy, and things become harder and more irritating than they need to be.
So treat yourself to some pre-holiday house decluttering to make space for the love and happiness you want your guests to feel.
Declutter closets, organize kitchen drawers, and delve in to organize your pantry for Christmas. Cherish the good stuff and ditch the bad without second-guessing yourself. It’s incredibly liberating.
Every bauble, trinket and ornament should bring a sense of joy when it’s hung. If holiday decorations are past their best or carry unhappy memories (this often happens after a divorce), there is no obligation to keep them.
Believe me, they will always make you sad when you see them, so why do it to yourself? If you aren’t quite ready to send them on their way, put them back in their storage bag, a protective bauble holder like this from Amazon is handy and don’t display them this year.
You can make a decision next time around, although I bet, when you realize the pain they cause, they won’t make it past next January.
An important concept in Feng Shui terms is that once you’ve decided to let something go, don’t procrastinate about passing it on, and certainly don’t allow it to create stagnant energy in the basement, garage or by the front door.
In Feng Shui, every part of your home energy map impacts on one important part of your life or another. There is no ‘safe space’ to store clutter. Instead, remove it straight away. Your home will thank you for it. You could even take a leaf out of the book of minimalists, who avoid these storage essentials and work to clear as much as possible from their homes to avoid needing storage solutions.
The great thing about doing this now is there is still time for charities to re-sell your unwanted stuff ahead of Christmas, boosting their coffers and ensuring you make a difference with minimal effort and maximum effect
2. Increase pleasure with Feng Shui Christmas colors
Here’s a fun way to use basic Feng Shui color energies in different areas of your home to help you and your guests channel their wishes and desires.
You can use it area if you are decorating or sprucing up ahead of Christmas hosting. For example, making use of the best Feng Shui color for entryways if you want peace is green, so you can add some accessories in this space to bring this energy for guests
To do this ahead of Christmas hosting, all you need is a smartphone compass, or a regular compass, available at Amazon, to identify the direction of your home accurately, and make use of the important energy mapping centers (called guas) of your living space.
- Use blues and blacks in the north area of your home to support career and life paths. Perhaps you have teenagers or young adults coming to stay and they are making some important life decisions. Your home's energy can intersect with their lives during their festive stay.
- Use earth colors in the Southwest of your home for good energy for relationships. In the northeast – earthy colors will bring good energy for family, community and the past. Placing soft and fresh earthy-colored throws, such as this taupe blanket from Walmart will keep guests cozy and reverberate good energy for interactions.
- Use greens in the east for building feelings of family, community, and for dealing with the past. Greens in in the southeast will bring wealth and abundance.
- Use metallic like gold, silver and white in the northwest to inspire and channel opportunities for travel and encourage helpfulness from friends. Using metallics in the West will channel energy for new beginnings and children.
- Use reds, hot pinks and fiery colours in the south to bolster Fame and Reputation.
Remember, you’re only decorating for a couple of weeks, so if you’ve already decked your tree in your crimson traditional Christmas decor ideas and it happens to be in an area which thrives on metal colors, please just relax and relish it precisely as it is.
3. Positivity
Acts of kindness are such beautiful things, whether truly random or adding to the lives of others with absolutely no expectation of receiving anything back.
On Christmas Eve, each apartment in our building receives a small gift, quietly left on the doorstep when everyone is safely home. No one knows where they come from, but for some of the residents, it might be the only gift they get.
One year it was a tiny Poinsettia, another homemade jam or cookies. The neighbors love their friendly festive mystery and the clandestine gifter believes in sharing the magic of Christmas with everyone around them.
Try this for yourself. You’ll be astonished at how good it feels.
Keep this live poinsettia in a bright space with indirect sunlight until you gift it to friends, neighbors or guests.
4. Permission for peace
If everything has changed this year, there is no requirement to stick to past customs. Give yourself Christmas your way. Take a holiday; invite someone new; eat in the evening rather than the middle of the day. It’s your holiday, so spend it the way you choose. It's actually one of the things as a Feng Shui expert I wish everybody knew.
I can honestly say my most memorable and happy Christmases are the ones where tradition was turned on its head and we went with the flow. Just thinking about those wonderful years is guaranteed to make my eyes shine with happiness.
Let’s be real too about the belief that someone has to be up at the crack of dawn to cook the turkey and spend all morning red-faced in the kitchen whilst everyone else hits the sherry. Take shortcuts. Your home is not Downton Abbey, and when it comes down to it, it’s just a roast dinner with a few more sides.
Prepare all you can in advance, don’t cook veggies no one will eat, and clear up as you go along, which will help you clean when you are busy.
Create drop zones with stair case baskets, available at Amazon, and baskets with handles so if things get messy with guests piled in, you can scoop them into one space and reduce visual clutter till you're ready to handle it.
These come in two colors and are perfect for storing extra throws, towels, blankets, or implementing of the Desire Path Decluttering method, where you place storage solutions in clutter hot spots.
5. Mindful giving
Now you have your own house in order, let’s talk about the minefield of hostess gifts and how to stand out as a considerate guest. The traditional chocolates and a bottle of wine still work well in most homes, but what are the alternatives if your hosts are teetotal, vegan, or have special dietary needs?
I always use the principles of Feng shui to help me, and that means only gifting something I know will be appreciated, and definitely a gift that won’t become clutter.
- Welcome new beginnings with a beautiful white orchid, available at Walmart.
- Harmonize relationships by choosing gifts which come in a pair rather than a solo item, such as a pair of rustic candle holders from Target.
- Invite healthy energy with vegan wines, chocolates, soy candles from Amazon or one of the best diffusers. I love Spry Scents which don’t leave a sooty residue and smell divine. By layering in an additional sensory experience, a home feels more alive.
- Wish abundance on your friends and family, or if invited anywhere, on your host. Fresh flowers always enhance a space. Avoid anything spikey which can provoke bad tempered outbursts, but rather a bouquet or display.
Wherever and however you decide to celebrate the holidays this year, find joy in the simple things, notice the beauty, love and enchantment of the season, and above all, be kind.
Next, delve into how to get your home guest ready for Christmas.
