Check out this featured home in Elle Decor. The draperies in the master bedroom were done by Queen of Shades (well done, Jainee!) and the overall interior design by Sarah Walker. I like the feng shui of the space, too.
Home Remodeling Ideas—Midcentury Modern Home.
Photo courtesy www.elledecor.com
If you’re new to the Feng Shui By Fishgirl blog you may find there’s so much information here you just don’t have time to pore through it all. So, I’ve compiled links to some of the most popular blog posts I’ve written this year to make it easier for you to get a taste of feng shui. Start with my Top 10 Tips and if you like what you’ve read, keep on exploring the links below. What’s your favorite Feng Shui By Fishgirl post?
Seems like wallpaper is making a comeback. Check out “Off the Wall Paper” for some very cool vintage wallpaper sources. You may be inspired to redo your master bedroom using some of that vintage paper or make simple changes the way Marni did when she won my “Simple Solutions: Master Bedroom Makeover” last spring. You might be worried about mismatched nightstands in that bedroom but they aren’t always negative feng shui.
Some people are looking to get more interest in their master bedrooms but can’t get over their broken hearts. “Recipe for Healing a Broken Heart” is a great place to begin on this site if you can’t seem to move on. Try the solutions offered and see if feng shui doesn’t help you heal as well as attract a new improved mate! You can also take part in Personal Feng Shui Treasure Mapping to send the right signals out to the universe about what your heart desires.
This heat wave coast to coast has many of us yearning for winter. Next best thing is some winter inspired art work and cool all white interiors. And speaking of artwork, how about organizing your art studio to the principles of feng shui?
One of my most popular posts is about the supernatural phenomenon of breaking glass. This post guaranteed to send chills down your spine (great for a hot summer day!).
They almost got the feng shui right…but that super heavy log beam crossing your head / chest will make for an uncomfortable night’s sleep (that is, IF you can fall asleep here). Solution? You could put a firecracker cure on the beam but I would simply paint the log beam white. White in feng shui terms = metal, and metal cuts wood. Do a search of my blog for “beams” to find all my posts about them and more photos…
What I do love about this room, however, is the great use of fabric behind the bed to create a headboard effect that is tall enough to balance out the high ceiling and the tall windows. This is simple to recreate in your own home.
Here’s the Press Release that the Blue Hill Coop Cafe sent out on my “Imagine Peace Tibetan Prayer Flags” installation for the month of July 2010. It all started when I received a tweet from @yokoono that said “Hi Katy. Imagine Peace. Love, Yoko”…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
PEACEFUL ART AT CAFE BY KATY ALLGEYER
Katy Allgeyer’s colorful mixed media locale paintings and peace flags
are on display at the Blue Hill Co-op Café during the month of July.
“Imagine Peace” Tibetan Prayer Flag Installation:
Allgeyer states that, “This work incorporates my Tibetan Buddhist
philosophy, my feng shui practice, and my art. I have two nephews
serving in the military (one is on his third tour of Iraq right now),
and they are very much on my mind this July 4th. Buddhist temples are
adorned with strings of prayer flags that are left hanging until they
disintegrate, illustrating the transient nature of thought.”
According to the Stonington artist, this installation was created out
of paper and twine to represent the fragile nature of peace. The
images used on the flags are hearts from a previous installation
(“WALL of LOVE: The Art of Feng Shui”) that was exhibited in Los
Angeles and was part of the Kunstkreuz 2003 “Love & Peace” Art
Festival in Berlin, Germany; peace flags and detail peace symbols
taken from her 2010 Independence Tray painting; and the repeated word
“imagine” given to her as a direct tweet via Twitter via Yoko Ono,
John Lennon’s widow. “Let’s give peace a chance,” suggests Allgeyer.
Paintings:
The artist frequently works in mixed media techniques incorporating
road maps, topo maps, and nautical charts into her painted canvases.
The paintings on display at the Co-op Cafe are of favorite locations
in the Blue Hill area, including the farmer’s market and the old
Wescott Forge (which is now Table). All work is for sale.
Please contact the artist directly to purchase art or see more of her work:
katyallgeyer@mac.com or 207-367-6369 or www.katyallgeyer.com
Katy welcomes studio visits at 21 Weed Field Road in Stonington. Open
daily, but flexible hours so call ahead.
Katy Allgeyer’s artwork is on exhibit at the Café until the end of
July. For more information about Art in the Cafe, contact coordinator
Mary Barnes at 359-5053. The Co-op is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
daily.
I’ll have to go back to take a better photo before the show comes down…but meanwhile, I am hoping the prayer flag installation will inspire others to Imagine Peace. And, raise the ch’i for good feng shui around the world. Starting one person—-and one cafe—-at a time.
A good friend of mine subscribed me to O Magazine for my birthday this year. The July 2010 issue has a wonderful article by Martha Beck about how we limit ourselves when we think in terms of “either / or” and asks the question “why can’t the answer be “both”? It can. Read the entire article for more.
BTW I am in the midst of figuring out a computer situation and once I’m fully back online I will blog some more (with pics!), promise! 
Here in Maine–”the way life should be”, according to the state slogan–there is a tendency towards wabi-sabi even if unconsciously. Wabi-sabi is the Japanese art that contradicts feng shui. Instead of decluttering and fixing what is broken, wabi-sabi instructs finding the beauty in leaving things as they are found (even if that means a state of decay or peeling paint for example). Because we are on an island, everyone tends toward saving stuff for future use. We repurpose a lot of things that others might throw out. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. And besides, it takes a lot of time to get anything done as the wait list for contractors is very long (and the markup on labor very high).Plus it’s basically just our summer house.
Art work covers most of the ugly wallpaper.
All that being said, this is why we are living with a bathroom in our old farm house that people in the city might instantly want to upgrade and renovate. We finally got someone to repair the leaky roof but haven’t replaced the missing ceiling yet. We did get a new light fixture for over the mirror but the spackle is still visible. The ugly wallpaper is peeling but rather than do anything about it, I recently came up with another solution. I’ve hung a collection of old needlepoint cross stitch samplers and other art work we had so that it nearly covers every inch of the wall. And in the Maine tradition of using what’s on hand, I found we had a pint sized sample of Valspar one-coat paint in Beach Blue satin color. Just enough to paint the yucky wood cabinet under the sink, the doors of the built in cabinet (shown with the crazy crocodile ceramic pull we added years ago), and also enough to paint the surround of the door and the bottom ledges of the windows as well as a stripe around the shower stall.
No need to write in to me that the beach glass blue color is weird with the yellow and brown existing tiles. It IS weird. It’s wabi-sabi. And yet with the accents in the art work and the towel colors, the weirdness works for us. Maybe that’s because we’re both artists and see things slightly skewed anyway. And it is a funky farm house on an ocean bound island after all. You can’t get better feng shui than that in my opinion. Have you done unusual things with your space? Show me!
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Feng Shui By Fishgirl absolutely LOVES peonies. They are traditionally good feng shui symbols and you’ll see many ancient Chinese painters have used them if you look more closely next time you’re in a museum. Especially good used in the Love & Relationship sector of your space, peonies strengthen that area of the bagua because of their red, white, and pink tones. But recently a local flower expert here in Maine told me that peony plants can outlive many people, thriving for a hundred years or more. I have never heard that before and never had it explained to me by any feng shui masters. However, I am certain this is probably at the root (no pun intended) of the reason why peonies gained good luck status with feng shui masters of ancient China. The point is they represent longevity and if you place them in your Love area, you are encouraging a long happy relationship.
Peonies and cats. Artist Ru Yun
If you want to activate your Love & Relationship area, find some art work of peonies and hang it there. Or get some fresh peonies and put them in a vase within your Love sector. Let us know what happens!
Being friends with you ex sounds like a lofty and noble idea. If I sound skeptical it’s because I know from experience that it’s difficult to truly do. With so much shared history—much of it romantic, intimate, and sexual—if one partner breaks it off with the other can friendship really happen without lapsing into codependence? Old habits die hard.
Photo: agoodhusband.net
If you’re emailing your ex under the premise of friendship but you’re using his or her pet name from when your relationship was hot ‘n’ heavy, that means you have very shaky boundaries. If you’re signing it “xoxo” you’re flirting even if you sign all your emails to everyone you know “xoxo” because once you’ve actually had physical xo’s take place, the written x’s and o’s are fraught with undertones. Flirting = hurting unless you’re trying to reignite the relationship.
This is why feng shui tradition suggests that when a couple breaks up there should be a clean break. Unless you share children with someone, is there really a need to keep in touch? If you’re still tied in emotionally to your ex, your heart is already full. If your space still has reminders of your former relationship everywhere you look, the residual energy of the past is taking up space that a new love could be occupying. By making a clean break now, you give yourself the space you and your former partner need to heal completely. Further on down the road (do yourself a feng shui favor and let at least 9 years go by) you’ll be in a much better position to create a genuine friendship with your ex.
Are you lonely? Examine your home and your behavior. Are there ghosts of exes past lingering in your space keeping you from finding a new mate? Please feel free to share your own experiences with making a clean break in the comments below!
Centuries old buildings can sometimes have problematic feng shui. Along with the quaintness and charm can also come ghosts and residual negative energy build up from a long history. Rooms in vintage buildings might also feel cramped and crowded. Antique furniture poses its own problems. The Blue Hill Inn on Union Street in Blue Hill, Maine has only very positive vibrant energy. Much of that has to do with its innkeeper Sarah Pebworth. Sarah’s love of the place and attention to detail is evident everywhere one looks in both the interior and the gardens and grounds of the inn. With a passion for food and Maine, Sarah has a very entertaining Innkeeper’s Blog that draws you into the Maine scene whether you are lucky enough to visit or are halfway around the globe.
Whether or not you are staying at the inn you may make a reservation for breakfast at the inn. It is served each morning between 8 and 9:30 a.m. in our sun-filled dining room. Fresh fruit, assorted juices, and freshly baked sweet breads accompany a choice of cooked-to-order entrees or homemade granola. Blueberry pancakes, Belgian waffles with strawberries, brie and sweet roasted red pepper omelets, and amaretto french toast are favorites among guests. Local ingredients, including Maine maple syrup, are featured, as well as coffee from Maine roasted coffee beans. Food allergies and restrictions are easily accommodated. See what I mean about attention to detail?
I have had the pleasure of capturing the Blue Hill Inn in paint on canvas last autumn when the trees were ablaze with color. I embedded nautical charts of Blue Hill and Penobscot Bay into the scene. Do you think I captured the essence of the Blue Hill Inn’s spirit? What’s your favorite B & B inn? Do tell!
This pic comes from the same house as the last post about the 5 elements. I wanted to show you how sometimes beams are okay. Here the beams are straddling the bed on either side. Since they aren’t crossing you as you sleep, you aren’t really feeling the negative weight on you. (That’s a good thing, because these beams look really heavy!) Also, the unique curvature of the beams and the ceiling I think solve some of the feng shui problem. The curves certainly add yin appeal to all the square yang shapes used elsewhere in the room. Usually I disapprove of too high ceilings in the bedroom but here the headboard of the bed seems almost extended by the big red painting over it and then the clerestory windows above—all of it works and anchors the bed so it’s not swimming in a too big space.
