Designing with Spatial Energy to Create Harmonic Interiors

In a recent Hub – “Designing with Color to Create Harmonic Interiors”, I explained how the power of Color affects our actions and emotions and offered suggestions for bringing the right Color into your living environment. This installment focuses on the energy and power of Space – the Space you fill up with “stuff” as well as the Space that’s left over.

All photos, unless otherwise indicated, are courtesy of cbmiles.com

Spatial Energy is a living force within each home. I’m not talking about ghosts; I’m referring to vibrations that emanate from the elements of Space, Color and Light within each room. Everything vibrates with energy, even you. If the Spatial Energy flows smoothly around us, then our lives become more physically and emotionally balanced.

It's been shown that creating Harmonic Interiors can affect our personal energy; how we interact with each other and the world around us. It’s also the force that makes the room seem inviting or uninviting.

It’s easy to learn the magic behind manipulating Spatial Energy. Just follow a few basic rules of good design. The methods described here integrate the Chinese art of Feng Shui with several design techniques practiced by award-winning design firms, but it’s really about creating a successful balance of Space, Color and Light in relation to the room.

Feng Shui has been described as the art of creating health, wealth, prosperity and harmony by arranging the elements within your living environment. It integrates many of the ancient Chinese aspects of Yin and Yang. Yin represents the female aspects of nature; the earth, the mountains and plains, curved formations and the dark of night. Yang represents the male aspects of nature; the sky, rivers and streams, angular formations and the light of day. Yin and Yang are complimentary opposites that together make up the natural balance of life and matter.

The Chinese believe this concept of natural balance and equilibrium invites family stability and even good fortune.

When we think about the Space within our homes we usually think about the size of our rooms and the amount of space available to us. Hopefully all of your rooms are of adequate size for their respective functions; however, if a room is too congested, the energy flowing through it is stifled. If it is too spacious, the spatial energy moves too quickly. All this can be psychologically unsettling, but you can correct the flow.

Large Rooms

In a large room where the spatial energy needs to be slowed, the space must be filled, but not with just anything! Your furniture must harmonize with the room’s proportions. You don’t necessarily need a lot of furniture as long as everything in the room is proportioned to the space.

Here Are Some Tips On How to Make a Large Room Feel More Intimate

- Balanced placement of artwork, sculpture, pedestals, plants, screens and hanging objects such as chandeliers and mobile artwork, break up the excessive flow of energy.

- Even the lighting needs to be balanced because it too takes up space, especially the light that is focused on artwork and plants.

- The photos above right show an example of a large living room with a high ceiling. The balanced placement of the furnishings as well as the size of the furnishings (including the chandelier) fills the space but allows the remaining space to “breathe”. A curved love seat harmonizes with the curve of the picture window.

Very often, rooms are too small so they feel congested. Installing a few built-in pieces such as bookshelves and window seats can do wonders for the spatial energy and your energy as well.

You may think that because a room is small, you need small sized furniture. That’s actually a fallacy. You can use larger pieces as long as the fabric is the same hue or is of a darker hue than the walls. It’s really all about balance, proportion and placement.

More Tips On How to Make a Small Room Feel Like a Big Room

- Apply light colors to walls, floors and ceiling and dark colors to upholstery.

- If a room is too narrow, use light colors on the long walls and dark colors on the short walls.

- Using mirrors and creative lighting techniques helps to move the energy around the room, creating the perception of more space.

- Lighting at varied height levels and intensities emphasizes the existence of space that would otherwise go unnoticed. Lighting fixtures such as floor cans, table lamps, ceiling spots and cabinet lighting, make the space visible and the energy more dynamic.

- Depth can be added to a room by using strip lights behind a valance or directed onto draperies. An unlit drapery area is perceived as a wall, signifying the end of the room and consequently, the end of the space, but if you add a light under the valance, or even in front of it, you'll see and feel a big difference in the room's dimension and subsequently, it's positve energy.

You can achieve balanced spatial energy by aligning your home and your family with the elements of nature. Bringing the outdoors into your space can also expand the room. The focal point of a small room could be a window through which there is a lovely view. The energy of nature is powerful and helps to move the energy within the room.

Similarly, by placing a mirror opposite the view, you reflect its natural light and color and expand positive energy within the room.

There are many ways to achieve balance within your space. One way, is to perfect your color scheme. As the light and dark must balance within the Yin and Yang, so must your chosen color scheme. Colors and patterns each have respective weights. Bright colors add weight, neutral or subdued colors reduce weight. It's just like with clothing; bold patterns add weight; solid and small patterns reduce weight.

One color should not dominate one portion of the room. For example, if your color scheme is yellow and blue, you wouldn’t have all the yellow on the left side the room and all the blue on the other side. That’s not only good design sense; it’s good common sense!

Every floor plan should have balance to achieve spatial harmony. Balance can be formal or informal.

Formal balance is achieved when one side of a grouping is a mirror image of the other side of the grouping. Informal balance is achieved when different objects are used on either side of the grouping, but they have equal visual weights. In any case, you'll feel a lot more balanced if your space demonstrates good balance.

The area above your furniture is an important part of the room and factors into the balance of the entire space. Spatial energy flows smoothly when objects within the room are of varied height. This can be accomplished with plants, pedestals, water features, light fixtures and even pet furniture like bird cages and aquariums.

Harmonic interior design must also address ergonomics and our ability to function easily within the space. Is that office chair giving you backache? Is your mattress too soft? Is your pillow too flat? Distracting noises and smells can also bring out the bad vibes.

Before you even being decorating your home, make a list of daily activities of all family members. Get your family involved too. 

- List activities first, then design the related furnishings.  Form follows function.

- What colors and patterns do people like? There’s nothing worse than coming home to a “surprise” plaid chair in your private space.

It’s simple to decide that you need a better, more ergonomic desk chair for your aching back, but it’s not so easy coming up with a way to make your spouse or child more agreeable. Decorating can help. Here’s an example:

Your young son has trouble keeping his toys off the floor. Perhaps he stores them in a toy chest? They’re thrown inside the chest at "clean up time", but at playtime locating the one he wants is a chore. It's a lot easier for him to keep them out, where he can see them.

If the toys were arranged on a shelf or in cubby holes at eye level, they would be easily accessed and things would stay more organized. Consequently, the room has a better chance of generating those harmonious vibrations.

Here’s Another Example:

If there are family members who can’t stand to hang up their clothes, you may need to provide easier access to the laundry hamper. Try placing it in a more accessible location such as the walk-in closet rather than in the laundry room. Keep a handy laundry bag there too, so it isn’t too much of a chore getting the laundry over to the washer.

Ideas for your ideal environment can often materialize when you really analyze common behaviors.

Whether you're beginning from scratch or modifying your current arrangement, following just a few of the design tips found here will improve your Spacial Energy.

So awaken your creative genius and create some Harmonic Interiors! You’ll find yourself in a stress-free environment that invites health, happiness and good fortune.

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