I tried 3 principles of Vastu Shastra, the 'yoga of design', and it quickly calmed and balanced my cluttered home – it made stress and anxiety disappear, too

I have tried so many organizing tricks in my home – from color-coding to minimalist decluttering – but nothing has really stuck. Mess reaccumulates, and stress piles up.

So, in a last-ditch attempt, I looked for strategies that might work to calm my chaotic routines, and discovered Vastu Shastra, a.k.a. the 'Yoga of Design'.

By applying just a few of its principles to home organizing, I noticed a transformation: my home felt calmer, my mind clearer, and the stress and anxiety I’d been carrying started to lift. Here's how.

How Vastu Shastra can bring peace to organization

Vastu Shastra is, first and foremost, a science of architecture, based on ancient texts describing the ideal design, layout, and arrangement of buildings so that they integrate with nature, rather than work against it. Helping to foster harmony, rather than disconnection.

It was the perfect unconventional organizing method I needed to bring harmony to my routine.

Although the main focus of Vastu Shastra is on designing a home, Suzette Conrad, home building expert with BOLT Builders, assured me that two of its main principles can be equally applied to how you organize and live in your space, too.

1. Balance energy by decluttering

Suzette began, 'A large part of Vastu Shastra is balancing energy. Clutter blocks the natural movement of energy, creating heaviness and stress. It can also be a tripping hazard or an eyesore.

'You don't need to be a minimalist,' she assured me, 'but pathways and the center of your home should stay open and free of heavy objects like furniture or clutter.'

The advice made me realize that I had made some pretty big open-plan living mistakes, especially since my new, larger sofa arrived. The result was that pathways, while still navigable, were smaller, meaning I was less inclined to put things away once I was done with them for the sake of convenience.

This is not to mention that items piled on floors and sideboards made the already small spaces feel even smaller, more cluttered, and more overwhelming.

Who would have thought that layout would have such a big impact on decluttering methods?

So, I decided to rearrange. My armchair and blanket basket (from Target) switched positions to allow for a freer walkway between the sofa and the storage console (similar to this cabinet from Wayfair).

I also had a good tidy up, using the ski-slope organizing method and my trusty folding laundry hamper, from Wayfair, to put away the smaller items that had collected on surfaces as a result of laziness.

The room instantly felt bigger and more balanced, and I felt less overwhelmed at the prospect of carrying things back to their rightful homes.

2. Split systems into energy zones

Much like Feng Shui energy mapping, Vastu Shastra dictates that certain directions harness different energies. What makes Vastu Shastra different, however, is its connection to nature and, more specifically, the movement of the sun.

Suzette explains, 'Vastu Shastra is designed to harness this natural movement. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and you can organize your home to follow this natural flow by placing your most active spaces or items where the sun rises, and your more restful activities where it sets.'

One of the few blessings of living in a small, storage-less home is that I have freed myself from the idea that items have to be stored by category, and instead store them where I use them most.

So, tuning into this Vastu Shastra principle, I retuned my easy organizing systems and set them up according to what time of day I typically accessed them.

For example, I never dig into my craft supplies in the morning, so I shifted their storage to the west side of my living room, where I unwind in the evening. It means I am more likely to reach for them, and I am more likely to put them away.

More practically, I never deep-clean a house first thing in the morning, so rather than keep my tools in my east-facing bathroom cabinet, which is often cast in shadow by the time I get around to my chores, I stashed them in my west-facing kitchen.

This way, when I come to get my essential cleaning supplies, I get a good dose of sunshine to help reenergize and motivate me to clean at the same time.

As Suzette says, 'This helps create a natural balance between activity and rest, reducing stress and improving daily flow.'

3. Keep the North-East corner clear

According to Suzette, in Vastu Shastra, spaces are divided into the cardinal directions, and each one has a specific purpose and spiritual meaning. The North-East corner is considered to be one of the more auspicious corners of your home, owing both to spiritual beliefs and the rising of the sun.

As a result, Suzette suggests keeping this corner as clear of clutter as possible. As my front door sits in this corner of my home, I decided to implement some rules for a clutter-free entryway to help create clarity as soon as I step through the door.

There were obvious steps, such as reorganizing my shoe storage to make space for all of my pairs.

However, I found that something as small as adding an extra coat hook, from Target, to stop coats from landing on the backs of chairs, and moving my mail anonymizer stamp, from Walmart, from the entryway shelf to my kitchen counter made the biggest difference.

It stopped me from leaving mail in heaps by the door by encouraging me to take them through to the recycling space immediately.

It was amazing how much calmer the space felt when I got home.

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Meet the expert

Suzette Conrad

Suzette entered the construction industry in 2020 and has since worked on advising homeowners on custom home building. This has included working with architects and writing several articles on the practices of Vastu Shastra and their benefits for harmonious home building.

Suzette concludes, 'Because Vastu Shastra is often a religious or spiritual practice, it is going to mean different things to different people. But there is a beauty in that.

'You can choose what works for you in your home, and when used mindfully, it can create a home that is in balance with nature and the energies you bring into the home.'

If you need something a little more structured, however, you might like the cousin-co-worker organizing method instead to help create order in chaos.