Feng Shui Design: Art For Every Budget

Photo & Sacred Space Design by Elana Kilkenny.

THE FENG SHUI OF ART:

Art is a wonderful way to add beauty, personality, and inspiration to your home. From a Feng Shui perspective, I always suggest that you buy art that you love and that makes you feel the way you desire to feel...which is not necessarily the same as what you are currently feeling.

For instance, maybe you are single and wanting to be in a relationship. Are you drawn to art that contains solitary figures or images? While you may be attracted to these pieces, it might be echoing back to you a sense of living a solitary life that you may no longer desire. Try adding some other art into the mix and consider taking down some art that may not be nourishing your dreams. In this instance, consider adding some art to your home that has duality, reflects how you want to feel in a relationship, or somehow signifies love to you.

If you are feeling overworked or stressed in your life, look for some art that is more calming, serene, and/or joyful. Do you find yourself vigilant in your life, feeling a need to be protective and avert getting hurt or possible danger? Having a collection of tribal war masks might not be the best choice for you. Are you prone to fiery spurts of anger or simmering rage? Art that depicts or symbolizes conflict whether in abstract or figurative form might just be fanning your flames rather than helping you get to a more peaceful place in your heart. You get the picture...

Our relationship to art is ultimately very personal, what one piece of art might mean to you, might mean something else to another person. Understanding your own relationship to the art you already own and to that which you are drawn to bringing into your home can be a very significant form of support and catalyst for creating the life that you desire.

ART FOR EVERY BUDGET:

Now that you are thinking about the art in your home, below are some tips and resources for Art For Every Budget that I use frequently with my Sacred Space Design clients:

• Prints and Photography: are wonderful options for adding art to your home. While this option can run the gamut of pricing from reasonable to pricey there are some great options out there in all price categories. Many of the resources I have listed below also offer a limited selection of framing options that are often cheaper than having it framed at a frame store.
  
  Here are some resources I often use for my Sacred Space Design clients: 
  1. My Pinterest board "Prints I Love"
  2. Etsy
  3. Minted 
  4. Domino Magazine
  5. Specific sales from One Kings Lane
  6. Some of the artists you love but can't afford at this time, might sell prints of their more expensive works. For instance, many painters now sell prints of their in-stock and/or sold pieces of artwork. 
      
• Misc Options: Beautiful pieces of wrapping paper, fragments of wallpaper or fabric are a great and often cost-effective way to add art to your home. Another option is framing cards or postcards with a design you love. As these are generally smaller in size, think about hanging a bunch of different pieces that work together or adding them to collection of art that is on one of your walls.
  
  For Example: To add more meaning to our home I took a handmade sheet of wrapping paper that I used to make our wedding invitations and I had it matted and framed. It now hangs over our couch in our living room as it is a beautiful reminder of our love and commitment to one another.
  
  Here are some resources I often use for my Feng Shui Design clients:

1. Etsy
2. Paper Source
3. My Pinterest board "Wallpaper"

• Paintings: Paintings are one of my favorite ways to add depth, texture, beauty and soul to your home.While paintings can get expensive, there are plenty of options for every price range.
  
  Here are some resources that I often use for my Feng Shui Design clients:  

1. Etsy 
2. My Pinterest Board "Artists You Should Know About"
3. Local flea markets and craft fairs
4.  Ugallery

• Make Your Own: Last but not least, one of my favorite ways to bring art and new energy into you home is by making your own art. You don't have to have dreams of showing your art in a gallery or call yourself an artist to create your own art. Whether you love to draw, paint, make collages, etc. it's never too late to unleash the inner artist in you. It's one of the most soulful, fulfilling and budget-friendly ways you can bring art into your home.
  
  If you need a little help to get your artistic juices flowing, look for some local art classes that resonate with you in your area. My beloved journey into painting started with some amazing classes that I took with Rebecca Schweiger (one of my favorite artists and people) at her amazing The Art Studio NY .
  
  As always, I'd love to hear from you!
  
  Does you home's art currently reflect your dreams and, if not, what tip or resource are you going to utilize to create a home that inspires your desires?
  
  Who are some of your favorite artists or resources for art?
  
  Let us know in the comments below.
  
  As always, deep gratitude to you for reading and sharing so generously! Enjoy feathering your nest!
  
  Much love and blessings,
  Elana

What Season Of Life Are You In?

"Urban Garden" Photo by Elana Kilkenny.

There are these tulips that are planted outside of the building that we live in, they came up hopefully but out of dozens of bulbs only four flowered. When we spoke to the master gardener who lives in the building next door she said it was because they were planted in the wrong season, that they had flowered once already last year and won't flower again. "Next time," she said "plant them in the autumn. If you plant them in the right season they will flourish for years to come."

I heard this and I found myself thinking about how many times we have all planted seeds for ideas in the "wrong" season only to find that they didn't come into fruition. This led me to remembering a theory I heard from master coach Tony Robbins that I often use with my Intuitive Counseling clients in sessions.

"The secret to life is threefold. It's to understand what season of life you're in, to understand what season the world is in, and to figure out how to take advantage of it." He goes on to say that it is important for each person to, "find the season they're in, which is different for everyone, and to take advantage of it. That's the secret to experiencing an extraordinary life."

We often push things to happen even though some part of us know that something feels off. Whether it's a difficult conversation you pursue with a friend even though you know they are going through a challenging time that might make them reactive rather than open to what you have to say. Or a business idea that you push while having the sense that it wasn't quite the right time for either you or in terms of the receptivity of those involved. There are countless iterations of this idea of planting in the "wrong" season.

What Season Of Life Are You In?

One way to find out what season of life you are in, is to take a cue from the animal world.

According to Jamie Sams and David Carson's enlightening

"Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals,"

butterflies reflect back to us that we are always at a certain stage in our life activities. "The way to discern where you are in this cycle is to ask yourself:"

Is this the egg stage:
Is it just a thought or idea?

Is this the larva stage:
Do I need to make a decision?

Is this the cocoon stage:
Am I developing and doing something to make my idea a reality?

Is this the birth stage:
Am I sharing my completed idea

While this is a great way to tune into what stage you are in for your life as a whole or perhaps more specifically for the idea that you are cultivating, what do you do if you have already planted in the "wrong" season? I don't know anyone who hasn't had that experience in life.

Perhaps the tulips can help us out here. This past weekend one of the families in our building dug out the half sprung tulips from their beds. They prepared the soil for a different flower that we were told would grow this time of year. We did some research and decided we would order with the master gardener new tulip bulbs in the fall and plant them together in the "right season."

We went from feeling disappointed about the state of our garden and the extra work that we had to do, to feeling excited that we now have an opportunity to get to know the other families in our building and include our children in planting some brilliantly hued marigolds this spring.

I also realized that that by needing to educate ourselves in order to utilize our time and energy more effectively we have opened up a line of communication with this lovely gardener next door which has presented the opportunity for these two buildings to work together in harmony for the first time in years to make this block even more beautiful for those of us who live here and for all who walk by. It might take us another few seasons to bring our garden up to where we want it to be, but when we do, I imagine that our neighborhood relationships will be growing as well as the flowers.

Back to you. 

So are you thinking that perhaps you planted in the "wrong" season?  If so, first be kind to yourself. No one has impeccable timing all of the time.  If the word "wrong" brings up regret or shame for you, then let go of the word (want to go deeper with letting go of shame read Dr. Brené Brown's truly brilliant book "Daring Greatly"). Beating yourself up is not only an all-too-human waste of time, it also often leads to you missing out on the benefits in your situation.

It can obviously benefit you greatly to know what season you are in and to understand the confluence of how that relates to the season the world around you is in as it relates to what you want to plant. However, I truly believe that there is always something to be gleaned from all experiences.  

Just like we discovered in this chapter with our building's garden, there are always "hidden gifts" to planting seeds in the "wrong season".  Think about what you learned from your own equivalent experience and apply that newly gained wisdom to your present and future.  Then perhaps meditate on whether you are in an egg, larva, cocoon or birth stage in a life activity that is important to you. Once you know what stage you are in, your decisions about how to proceed will be clearer.

The difference between disappointment and opportunity is your perception of the situation, choosing to be loving to yourself in the process, and being creatively open to how you can grow and flourish in this season of your life...right here...right now.