Moving house? Create a 'daily ritual area' first in your new home, a Feng Shui consultant urges

Moving into a new space can be a challenging but exciting time with a blank canvas offering a huge range of opportunities to create a space that energizes us and our families. 

This same blank canvas can also be overwhelming, however, and previous residents' energies can throw off how you feel in the space, not to mention the lack of furniture and purpose you are yet to imbue your new home with. Applying Feng Shui principles to this space is the perfect way to start off on the right foot, say experts. 

But where do you begin with using Feng Shui in a new home? Feng Shui consultant Emily Grosvenor suggests that there is one main area you should really focus on to get the energy flow just right: the 'daily ritual area'.

Emily Grosvenor

Emily Grosvenor, an editor for Oregon Home and home consultant, has been writing about places and spaces for over a decade. She is drawn to people who are going through life’s big transitions by re-doing where they live, whether they are adjusting their homes to get along with others, exploring their sense of self, or empowering themselves to make contributions to the world outside the home. This inspired her to get her certificate in Feng Shui, and she began helping her clients adjust the messages in their homes to help them make shifts in their lives.

How to Feng Shui a new home  

You may have heard of burning sage or cleaning a home with salt to remove bad energy. But focusing your attention on good Feng Shui furniture placement to create mini moments that mean a lot to you personally is a better way to create good Feng Shui in your home, reveals Emily Grosvenor in an exclusive interview with Homes & Gardens. 

‘I always like to start in terms of what kind of moments and values clients want to have in their lives,’ Emily begins. ‘People will have this idea of what they need and what is important in terms of those big investments but I focus it around what is most important in your day. 

'If you don’t spend a lot of time at home, for example, and are going out into the workplace, then maybe the most important thing to you is having a perfect, beautiful chair with a gorgeous little side table where you can reset or drink your tea in the morning before you leave – whatever that morning ritual is,’ she shares. 

‘If you know that at the end of your day, your ritual is to have a nice bath, then you want to focus that attention on finding the perfect bath and bathroom fittings to really enhance that space and perfect your bathroom Feng Shui with beautiful items.’ 

This area will be different for everyone.

That is not to say that it is not important to invest your budget in essentials like a working refrigerator or vacuum cleaner, however, Emily Grosvenor adds. But creating positive energy in a space relies on creating these beautiful enclaves around your home that energize and empower you – even if it might not be deemed an ‘essential’ in the traditional sense. 

‘It is about building values into the home,’ Emily continues. ‘We always think of it in terms of “oh, I want a pool”, for example, but it’s not really about the pool. It is about all of the things that the pool provides, right? For example socialization, exercise, or relaxation. 

‘The same goes for building partnerships in a home. You can say “we need a double bed”, but you can think about also adding a loveseat that only fits those two partners, or creating a moment on the porch where the two of you can sit and enjoy time together at the end of the day. The furniture we pick speaks volumes about the values we have and want to promote in our space. That is where we get our energy from.’  

Of course, with a house move, there is a lot to get sorted, from cleaning the new home before moving in, sorting out bills and so on. And the goal isn't to have a beautiful home from the get-go with a perfect Feng Shui living room and beautiful kitchens.

‘I think there is a danger in trying to have it all at once,’ she begins. ‘For instance, I have been helping my brother-in-law move to an apple orchard his family has purchased. I go up there from my cushy home with my sofas and whatnot, and they don't have anything at the moment and they are making those important choices. They have two little babies and chose to make their first big purchase a large rug because they need to crawl around.

‘It was really beautiful, we were all crawling around on this rug with the children for the weekend and admiring the view from the window. It is about being content and being open to the idea that things change and your space needs to reflect that. That is where you will find yourself most energized. 

‘Some people may have prioritized much more boring and mundane items that they are expected to purchase first like a washing machine, or replacing an old but functional stove. But in reality, those essentials change for everyone – and they are powerful.’ 

Preorder: Find Yourself at Home | $21.95 at Amazon
Releasing June 20, 2023, Find Yourself at Home is an exposé into Feng Shui and interior consultant Emily Grosvenor’s five-step method to shape your space. Drawing on ancient wisdom and modern science, the book is a philosophical and practical guide to making spatial shifts to cultivate a more meaningful life through your home. 

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‘It is all about figuring it out along the way. There is joy and a lot of beauty in that,’ concludes Emily.