Feng Shui Color Schemes

How to start? Pelosi, author of the book Interior Divine, Walking You Through the Transformation of Your Home, has a number of easy solutions:

• Get rid of baggage. Clean your house of items—whether it’s furnishings or art—that have negative connotations, say from an old marriage or friendship. "For years I had an end table that was a gift from an old boyfriend, right next to my husband’s head!" Pelosi says. "No wonder every time I walked into the bedroom I was annoyed." Clearing out such items is like removing a splinter that constantly antagonizes you at some low level.

• Watch your back. When you can’t see what comes up behind you, whether you’re at the stove or at your desk, you’re at a disadvantage, Pelosi says. The feng shui way to fix this is to hang a mirror, even a very small one, so that you don’t feel that you’re being snuck up on. "It’s more symbolic than anything else. You may not really be able to see everything behind you, but that mirror will be reflecting good energy."

• Color your world. Designers always say to use the colors you love and respond to in your home, and that is a great idea, says Pelosi. But she has learned to also respond to the energy of the colors. "My feng shui consultant came into my living room and said instantly that it reflected me. I’m high energy, and my living room is full of hot fiery colors. But sometimes the fiery side of me burns out, and that was true of my living room, too. It needed cool relief." Pelosi spent less than $100 on new accessories carefully chosen to bring down the heat in the room: silk blue pillows, blue blown glass, pumpkin instead of red candles. "It made a huge difference," she says. "Sometimes you can’t tangibly see the effect, but you know it’s working, like vitamins."