Preparing Your Home for the Holidays – Entertaining and Decor

My friends and clients always ask me what they can do to fill their homes with good energy for gathering and entertaining during the holidays. From an energetic and Feng Shui perspective, find out more from New York based, Julie Schuster

Cleanse the Home

Preparing your home requires a clean home with a fresh energy, so clutter and space clearing before, and after, your celebrations is crucial. Space clearing can be achieved any number of ways such as by burning incense or sage, or by performing an orange peel ceremony.

If decorations are coming out of storage, give them room. Your year-round, normal décor and room accessories can easily go into the holiday boxes you’ve pulled from the attic to be packed away until after New Year’s Day. There’s no reason to suffocate your rooms and surfaces with both your everyday arrangements and seasonal accents. Edit the two together, and let your house breathe.

Harness the Power of Scent

Pay attention to the subtle messages of your home, particularly the home scents featured in different areas. Keep the energy of your home consistent by deciding on one scent (maximum two) to use throughout your home. Candles and essential oil diffusers are all perfect ways to keep the energy of your home fresh this time of year. Thanksgiving, in particular, lends itself to cozy, spicy smells such as cinnamon, rosemary, pine and wood.

Accentuate Earth and Fire Elements

Depending on the season and the celebration, there will always be a predominant Feng Shui element energy that needs to be heightened or strengthened. With Thanksgiving we emphasize and celebrate the Earth and Fire elements:

Earth Element: This element celebrates the bounty of the earth and is represented using light yellow and sandy brown colors. Incorporate the grounding, solid square shapes representative of the earth element wherever possible. Earthenware containers are highly recommended.

Fire Element: This element has a nourishing and supportive relationship with the earth Feng Shui element and is represented using reds, oranges and gold. Incorporate triangular shapes wherever possible to represent fire. Work candles into centerpieces or light up the fireplace to warm up and purify the energy of your home.

Keep Good Company

Ultimately, the best celebrations are the ones that keep you in great company. Creating a comfortable setting for friends and family is the best way to achieve “Good Feng Shui” for the holidays.

Good food, good friends, and a dose of the tips suggested here are the best ingredients for a well-celebrated holiday.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

This article also appears on Julie’s website, Julie Schuster Design Studio.

Julie Schuster is a professional Feng Shui consultant and designer from New York City who focuses on creating beautiful, engaging and functional spaces while uniting both the physical as well as the emotional well being of a space. She is also a regular contributor with the IFSG.

If you are looking for new holiday ideas or want to incorporate Feng Shui into your design for the first time, have a look at our cheers to the holidays article series.  And if you are thinking about Chinese New Year – we have a ton of articles on that too!