Category Archives: Architecture

MID CENTURY HOUSE 4 SALE

My winter home in North Carolina is for sale. It’s been triply blessed by a feng shui master (me!) and is listed with Andy Leung of Keller Williams.

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Note the curving sidewalk entry which is essential for good feng shui. The lot is a large rectangle with guardian trees front and back. The natural light and space in this house is phenomenal. The facade is deliberately deceptive so as not to advertise your abundant lifestyle. See the listing for more details.  If you want a happy home conducive to creativity, abundance, and love, this is it.

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Filed under Architecture, Creativity & Future Projects, Feng Shui, Feng Shui Home, Uncategorized

OCT 1st DUEDATE TO WIN AN INN

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You still have time to enter to win the Blue Hill Inn. Entry fee is $150 and 200 word essay must be yours and yours alone. Check out details on this opportunity to be the new owner of this historic B & B: http://winthebluehillinn.com

I have personally seen this inn and can attest to the feng shui being lovely and positive. Downeast Maine without the kitsch– upscale, charming, and a great place to stay. Why not test your luck?

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Filed under Architecture, Career, Dreaming, Fun, Giveaway, Interior Design, luck, Wealth & Finances

Beam Away

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This A-frame beam may be pleasant to look at but my feng shui hunch is it’s not a great placement for a bed. Traditionally, feng shui practice tells us that the beam is pushing a heavy weight and that energy can be felt if you are sensitive to it. You may experience it as headaches, restlessness, bad dreams, and uncomfortable sleeping positions.Solutions to counteracting beam energy:

*Relocate the bed so it’s not under the beam.

*Try a canopy bed with a white fabric between you and the beam.

*Paint the beam white. White symbolizes metal, metal cuts wood and negative energy will be diffused.

*Place a traditional Chinese feng shui firecracker under the beam. Perhaps you can make it look like an art sculpture to disguise its appearance. Much easier to paint the beam!Screen Shot 2014-12-18 at 10.10.08 AM

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Filed under Architecture, Command Position, Feng Shui Home, Interior Design

gather round the fire

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This 1950’s fireplace had the look of a frumpy overweight couch potato. With low ceilings the two toned effect of the white upper portion and grayish stone lower half made the room look even more compressed than it is. Solution: Paint it all one color (I chose a bright white).

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Not For Navigation art work by © Katy Allgeyer 2014

Not only does the room seem to have taller ceilings, the white bounces more light into an otherwise dark corner of this home. Prior to painting, the actual fireplace interior would disappear. Now you know it’s there and the slate hearth provides a welcome bench to sit by the fire. The only caveat is make sure you want to paint your brick or stone because once it’s done, there’s no turning back without a lot of trouble.

In feng shui terms, these elements are represented here: fire (d’uh!), earth (the slate and brick), metal (the white color paint), wood (the logs), and the painted scene of water and air complete the spectrum for good feng shui balance.

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Filed under Architecture, Creativity & Future Projects, Design, Feng Shui Home, Fun, Getting Organized, Uncategorized

stinky pink to power pink: bathroom makeover

I have one of those 1950’s houses with the original sugar almond pastel bathrooms. Mine are a blue one and a pink one. When we bought the house, my boyfriend and I never did anything to it. Saving the pink bathroom was always the plan. But the sink stand and the multicolored paint job with wallpaper border around the ceiling? Ugh. Here are a few pictures (I was so excited to get started I forgot to take “Before” pics until I had already begun!).

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In order to get a clean fresh look without spending much money I decided to go to Home Depot with my Cheap & Ch’i- ful checklist:

*Embrace the Pink: The wall color is Behr Pink Ginger. By keeping the walls and the ceiling monotone with the tile, it feels like a more spacious bathroom.

*The sink stand was refreshed by attaching stainless steel peel off tiles to the sides and partial detail on the front. Martha Stewart Living Specialty Metallic Paint in “Thundercloud” was used to match the Aspect Peel & Stick Matted Tiles in Square/Stainless pattern.

*The window had plenty of ug-factor, too. Not seen here are the home made “old lady curtains” and the chrome towel bar that kept falling down. I removed those and found a paper folded “Redi-Shade” for under $5 at Home Depot. (Yes,it will probably unfold with the bathroom humidity—that remains to be seen!—but for now it gives me the look I want until I can replace it with a really nice shade or blind. Plus, I can always take baths in my pink bathtub to avoid steaming up the room!). I painted the trim in the same metallic paint.

*I searched my own art collection for pieces that would fit into the Art Deco-ish space. These may evolve into other art work but for now I think it looks okay.

All for less than $200. Here are the pics:image_4

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STILL TO DO:
I have painted the inside of the door Pink Ginger, too. The current trim is white but I plan to paint it metallic silver to match the window. The toilet seat is white. I searched around the internet and found Bemis has over 95 retro shades at their website. There are 4 possible matches to my commode so I ordered samples ($1 each) and will order the $85 seat that goes best. I need to replace the caulk around my pink bathtub and scrub up the chrome sliding doors, too. I may rethink my towels but for now these’ll do.

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I realize this ‘renovation’ is the equivalent of buying a new lipstick instead of getting a facelift. But have I improved the feng shui? Yes! By transforming something ugly into something vibrant and fresh I have created lots of happy energy. And for now, I can live with that.

PS: Sorry the photographs are not the greatest. My beloved partner/photographer passed away in September. Find out what happened at the Going to Goa Blog.

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Filed under Architecture, Creativity & Future Projects, Design, Feng Shui, Feng Shui Home, Fun, Getting Organized, Interior Design

MISS ME???

If you are wondering why this diligent daily blogger has been missing for several weeks click over to http://goingtogoa.wordpress.com to find out what happened

 

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Filed under Architecture, ART, Family & Health, Feng Shui, Love & Relationship, Reading

HAVING A CONCRETE OPINION

Personal style is, well, personal. That’s why we all have opinions and different strokes are for different folks. In my humble opinion, this space falls into the category of “trying to hard”. Why bother to put wooden paths into your tinted concrete flooring, for example? It doesn’t make sense and it clashes with the rough wood support columns. Ditto on the random tiles in the concrete floor and the chandelier. When you’re going for eclectic you really do have to know what you’re doing. What do you think? Does this bomb or is it the bomb?  Photo courtesy of ApartmentTherapy.

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SUITE BED DESIGN

Hmmm….the jury is out on whether or not this compact OnOff bed Suite designed by Giulio Manzoni for Campeggi Italy is positive feng shui or not. However, it is pretty darn creative and I like that a lot! In general, for optimum feng shui you want air circulating freely under your bed with no obstructions stored under it. But these pieces are soft upholstered sectionals. I think for a temporary situation such as a guest room it would be acceptable feng shui.

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DANCIN’ ART

Jonathon Borofsky “Dancers” in Denver

The Denver Performing Arts Center has this sculpture of two stick figures dancing in front of it. They remind me of Steven Spielberg aliens. What do you think? Like or dislike? Of course, whenever you have public art you almost always have controversy. One man’s trash is another man ‘s treasure.

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FENG SHUI FOR THE DOGS…

There’s a really comprehensive post about fancy dog houses over at dogster.com. Click the link and you’ll see more photos of supermodel Rachel Hunter’s dog houses (shown here) as well as Paris Hilton’s supposedly $325K doggie digs. Having pets is wonderful for your feng shui. Making them live apart from you in an outside house–no matter how nice–is not so great for either of you. If you want to benefit from the loving relationship that a dog can give you, treat them as you would any member of the family.

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Filed under Architecture, Celebrities, Design, Feng Shui, Fun, Pets, Plants & Outdoors