6 Decorating Tips to Transform Your Home, According to a Feng Shui Expert

Do you have an uninspired home office, dark living room or cluttered entryway, but don’t have a huge budget to redecorate?

Cliff Tan, a London-based architect and head of dearmodern, a design account on TikTok with nearly 3 million followers, has some ideas for improving your living space without spending a lot of money on new furniture, renovating, or moving. These ideas are inspired by the principles of feng shui, an ancient Chinese practice of designing spaces that promote harmony.

When decorating, you should consider the flow of energy in your home and create “an environment that makes you feel good and supports everything you do,” says Tan. This might mean rearranging your existing furniture, intentionally defining the function of each piece, and adding more light to your space.

Tan, author of the 2022 book Feng Shui Modern, shares simple, inexpensive ways to transform your home environment.

1. Keep the entrance to your home clear

“The front entrance is the most important part of the house,” says Tan. And it’s often the first impression people have of the house, not just for visitors, but also for yourself.

In feng shui, the door is a gateway for life energy, or chi. And there’s a lot you can do to influence how energy flows through it, Tan says. One way is to make sure the door is as clear as possible.

Examine your entryway. Is there a lot of clutter around, like shoes, coats, bags or umbrellas? Or “a pile of recycling bags that you have to kick every time you open the door?” Tan asks.

Find ways to keep the area clutter-free. Put items back in the shoe rack or coat closet where they belong. Or repurpose a table or bench from another room in your home to neatly store your recyclables (in a cute bin if you can find one) and keys.

2. Deal with the unpleasant things first

So you look around your house, a never-ending list of projects dancing through your head. Where do you start?

“With the ugliest things in your life,” Tan says, “deal with the worst things first. That’s where the impact is greatest. There’s no point in creating a pretty shelf in the kitchen if every time you walk in, you see that shoe cabinet and it makes you angry.”

If something negative is disrupting your sense of harmony in your space, “fix that first,” Tan advises. This will free up energy to make other, rebalancing adjustments.

Move the shoe rack somewhere else, or if you prefer to leave it in your kitchen, “make it pretty,” Tan advises. “Paint it pink, build a curtain around it.” How you solve a problem can turn an annoying element into a decorative feature, or even a favorite part of your home.

3. Spend your time in the most enjoyable part of the house

Walk around your home and ask yourself, “What’s the most enjoyable part?” Tan advises. The most enjoyable areas are usually near a window. As a source of light and natural ventilation, they can help light, air, and energy circulate.

This is where you want to spend most of your time. “It seems like common sense, but you’d be surprised how often it’s not done,” Tan says.

For example, some people who work from home put their desks in a dark corner so they won’t be reminded that they’re working during their free time, Tan says. “Even if they work eight hours a day, they’d rather have their empty couch in the sun.”

So move your desk near a window and “let the light shine on your face, which can also make the room seem much brighter,” says Tan.

4. Create an energy that makes you feel safe and comfortable

When you’re at home, you want to feel safe, Tan says.

In feng shui, you can achieve this by placing yourself in what’s called the “command position,” he explains. Everything behind you should be nice and solid, and make you feel like you’re in command of the space.

In a bedroom, always place your bed against a solid wall and try not to point your feet toward any openings in the room, advises Tan. Too much energy travels through doors, which can leave sleepers vulnerable. And don’t put your head next to a door. “I’ll do whatever I can to protect my head from all that movement.”

5. Use multiple lamps to create warmth and consistency

According to feng shui, complementing any natural phenomenon (like light) must be done with care.

To mimic the variations in light and shadow in our natural environment, use multiple indirect light sources to illuminate a room, advises Tan. A large overhead light will cast harsh, artificial shadows on the floor. Table lamps and spotlights, on the other hand, create depth by giving you more control over the direction and quality of the light. Use these smaller lights to highlight areas of interest, such as a piece of art or a reading nook.

To create a warm, cohesive ambiance in your home, “make sure all your bulbs are the same color temperature,” Tan advises. He recommends bulbs between 2,700 and 3,000 Kelvin. They provide a warm, relaxing glow.

6. Consider the dimensions of a room when choosing furniture

Social media can be a great place to find interior design ideas, but what might work in one room might not work in another. That’s how you end up with a beautiful round table that looks lost in your long, rectangular dining room, Tan says. “It’s too big, too short, and doesn’t fill the space.”

When designing a room, the goal is to optimize flow, Tan says. You want to keep energy from moving too quickly through the space, but a room that’s too stuffy or cluttered can also make it feel stagnant.

So choose furniture that fits well in the room. You don’t want a coffee table so big that you’ll scrape your shins trying to stand up, and you don’t want two small armchairs in an area that would be much better suited for a full-size sofa.

“There’s nothing like designing your space,” says Tan. Your furniture should highlight the room’s best qualities and “make the space as enjoyable as possible.”

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This episode was produced by Sylvie Douglis. The digital story was edited by Malaka Gharib. The visual editor is Beck Harlan. We’d love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823 or email us at [email protected].

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