Success Stories/Testimonials
Success Stories
“A Feng Shui Transformation”
Situation:
The transformation revealed in these Before and After pictures goes well beyond that of a standard kitchen rehab. What you don’t see are many heart-felt conversations and, even more, my clients’ courage and determination to face underlying issues that kept their hopes and dreams at bay. Over a two-year period (entirely by phone) I’ve been honored to play a role in the remarkable transformation not only of their living space, but also the direction of their lives.
We say in feng shui that “consciousness creates environment and environment affects consciousness.” As my clients can attest, feng shui is a uniquely revealing process. They shared their challenges, hopes, and dreams with me. Not an easy thing to do. Using feng shui principles, I systematically analyzed each area of the home and offered recommendations. My clients’ willingness to listen, dig deep, and follow though slowly began to have positive consequences on how they chose to live.
Clutter was a major issue throughout the house, as evidenced in the Before photos. Since clutter is stuck energy, it acted to keep the family in a holding pattern and may have been a factor in some physical and emotional issues they faced. In fact, clutter was part of the fabric of their daily lives. At dinnertime, for example, they moved the clutter around to make room for the plates. Not only did the couple never make their bed, but they slept in a cluttered room on a bare mattress with blankets thrown over them.
Solutions:
One of the first positive steps they took was to address their front entrance, known as the Mouth of Chi. This is where valuable energy enters into the home and the lives of the people living there. The more chi, the better. To create a welcoming entrance, they fixed the broken bricks that led up to the door, hung a windchime to call in chi, painted the front door red and added a red doormat, replaced dying plants with healthy new ones, regraded the front lawn (which had repeatedly flooded), and clipped the uneven front hedge.
With increased confidence, the family was ready to tackle the clutter challenge. I encouraged them to hire a professional organizer who taught them, including their 7-year-old daughter, useful decluttering techniques. They also agreed to move the master bedroom to an area of the home most conducive to nurturing a successful relationship. They bought a new bed and painted the room a warm ivory. For the first time in a long while, the couple began sharing the room regularly. The old bedroom became a family room where they could work on projects together.
Results:
By the second year, instead of hearing a list of difficulties that had reached almost to the point of despair, I began to hear words of hope, possibility, and success—a significant weight loss, freedom from insomnia, an exciting new career change, being able to complete projects, sharing space more intimately, closer family connections, and a more attractive home to which they could invite friends.
Here’s what my clients have to say:
“What surprised us most was the transformation of our house to a home. For a long time, when friends and family visited, they would ask if we ever consider re-doing our kitchen. The question surprised us. We had just accepted the way our house had become, from the pervasive, overwhelming clutter to the run-down look of the kitchen.
That all changed when we started working with Melissa and feng shui. We began to see many obstacles that were holding us back. Our greatest challenges were a lack of clarity in our dreams and the follow-through to complete them. With Melissa’s guidance, we made one adjustment, then another. Revelations about the direction we needed to take became clearer. Everything began falling into place.”
If you’re feeling stuck or unclear about your dreams and direction in life, look to your home and surroundings for the answers.
“A Transformed Bedroom Brings a New Lease on Life”
Situation:
My client complained of feeling overwhelmed. When I visited
her bedroom, I began to understand why. To make her small bedroom
appear larger, she had covered her closet doors with
floor-to-ceiling mirrors. The mirrors spanned the area in front of
and to the side of her bed. Because the first thing she saw when she
woke up was her own reflection, she felt like she was instantly “on”
each morning. The effect was one of constant movement and exposure
that affected her ability to achieve peace of mind.
“I felt like I was on stage and very
exposed. I couldn’t get away from myself.”
She usually kept one closet door open because it housed
a large, old TV set, exposing a rather crammed closet, adding
further to the sense of busyness in the room.
At the entrance to the bedroom were two doors:
a screened door that opened out to the hallway and a solid
wooden door that led into the bedroom. The screened door opened up
directly into the path of her front door. We call these “fighting”
doors; for my client, they accentuated her inability to “find
peace.”
In addition, a fanlight hung in the center of the
bedroom. Though it wasn’t large, it was a heavy presence in the
small room. And there were two overhead cabinets above the door: one
outside the door and another just inside the room. Combined, these
heavy overhead cabinets and fanlight bore down on her, adding to her
sense of overwhelm.
Analysis:
All of these elements – the omnipresent mirrors, the
looming ceiling fan, the fighting doors, and the cabinets
overhanging the doorway – worked together to create a busy,
oppressive space that energetically overwhelmed and upset my client.
Solutions:
In feng shui, mirrors are used to activate a space, whereas
my client craved a quiet and restful room. My first recommendation
was to remove the mirrors from the closet to quiet down the room. I
also suggested that she remove the large ceiling fan and the two
cabinets over the bedroom door, which were literally pushing her
down. She was already in the process of clearing out her closets, so
I encouraged her to continue this essential process.
Over the year, my client made significant changes to the room based
on my recommendations. She replaced the mirrors on the closet with
wood veneer panels. She removed one of the overhead cabinets above
the bedroom door and replaced both doors leading into the bedroom
with a sliding pocket door. This significantly opened up the
entrance to her room.
She went on to replace her old, bulky TV with a compact, flat screen
model that now sits on her dresser, so she’s able to keep her closet
doors closed. She also replaced the ceiling fanlight with a smaller,
sparkling ceiling light.
Results:
A year and a half later I revisited the room. My first
reaction was that it looked much larger and more attractive. I
thought the pale green walls had recently been painted, but it
turned out to be the original color. Now the soothing green could
“breathe.” The room felt cozy and light.
My client likes the room much better and feels more peace of mind
because she’s no longer bombarded by her own reflection or feeling
the oppressive effects of heavy overhead fixtures. She has plans to
remove the other cabinet over the door.
My client’s life took an upward swing as well. Her business took off
and a deal that she had been working on for a year came to fruition.
The best part is that she says she doesn’t feel so overwhelmed
anymore.
“I wake up relaxed, feeling relieved of not being ‘out
there’ and ‘exposed’ all the time. Everything has been slowly and
happily falling into place and that feeling of being overwhelmed is
basically non-existent.”
“Feng Shui Breathed New Life into Our Home, Thanks to Melissa.”
Situation:
A couple contacted me because they knew they wanted to
change their surroundings, but were unclear as to what that
change would look like or how they would go about achieving it. The
wife had set goals for the year that included a stable professional
situation and financial stability; a happy marriage; and a life that
balanced health, spirituality, and creativity.
They also wanted a home that welcomed friends. A
month before our consultation, they had a party. However, they
noticed that all their friends congregated in the kitchen and living
room. No one even entered the adjoining dining room, which seemed
odd to them. The small kitchen was crammed with people.
The wife admitted that she had some fears about the
consultation--that she would become more confused than she
already was about Feng Shui and that it would be overwhelming and
involve too much work. However, that turned out not to be the case.
Solutions and Results:
“The consultation with Melissa was an eye-opener. She
encouraged us to express ourselves, and she respected our values.
She established trust with us, much like a doctor, and we found it
easy to open up to her and tell her about our lives.”
I recommended that they begin with the easiest solutions first:
Kitchen
The kitchen's surfaces were crowded with appliances, affecting the
couple's ability to have a comfortable meal. I suggested
they clear the clutter, hang artwork in specific areas, and
rearrange some chairs. They now have a warm, charming
kitchen where they can easily prepare dinner, have a quick snack, or
have coffee with a friend.
“We began feeling immediate changes, almost as if things were
falling into place.”
Entry
To enhance their careers, I suggested that the wife, who
enjoyed art, create a collage for their entry, which was located in
the “Career” area of the bagua (a map of their home that
relates to various aspects of life). To raise the energy in the
Career area, she had the collage framed in a lightbox. The framer
liked it so much that he asked for more pieces to exhibit in his
gallery. Now her work takes up an entire wall in the gallery and she
will be part of an upcoming show. She also received the top award in
her printmaking class.
In addition, soon after the consultation, their careers
stabilized--she received an enhanced position at her firm
and her husband landed a new job.
Dining Room
To create a warm dining room that is inviting to friends, I
recommended using rounded, rather than sharp, edges. So
they added a round Chinese paper lamp that echoed the one in their
adjacent living room. They replaced a short, heavy storage console
with an open bookshelf that lights up. They hung strands of natural
shells in the window, which faces a skylit inner shaft. In the shaft
they placed a healthy plant.
A month after the consultation, the couple invited friends to their
home, many of whom had attended the earlier party. Several commented
that the apartment had a completely different feel.
“Something changed” was the consensus. The couple noticed
it too: People flowed throughout their home, including the dining
room. As a result, several guests followed up with me for
consultations of their own.
Home Offices
The couple uses their space differently now. We
created a comfortable sitting area in the wife’s office, where the
husband enjoys reading. He also feels better in his own office now
that he has a view of the door from his desk.
Happily, the couple is about to welcome a new baby,
and the husband’s office will be transformed into the baby’s room.
Since the room is located in the “Relationships” area of their home,
I recommended they hang a collage that the wife made for their
wedding that symbolizes love.
Challenges
The couple did encounter some personal challenges after the
consultation: They had a flood through a window in the
“Wealth & Prosperity” area of their apartment, their car was wrecked
in an accident, and their luggage and train tickets were lost on a
trip.
“Based on what we learned from Melissa, we now understand that our
living spaces are alive and influence us all the time. In this case,
we realized that our home was speaking to us.”
When they called to tell me of these setbacks, I recommended
several solutions to enhance the energy in the flooded Wealth &
Prosperity area and in the Wealth & Prosperity areas of each room in
their home. They moved their large television away from the
window, which gave them access to the window for the first time.
They hung beautiful crystals in the windows and placed fresh flowers
in the damaged area. In addition, I gave them a walking meditation
to set new intentions for every area in their home. A month later,
they were reimbursed for their tickets and they recently bought a
new car.
A Year Later
Looking back, the couple accomplished so much—better
jobs; a baby on the way; obstacles surmounted; and a home that their
friends love to visit.
“In the end, Melissa taught us that our homes are alive with energy.
As life changes, our priorities change, so we need to make
adjustments to our environments to reflect these changes. We also
realize that the knowledge of Feng Shui is already within ourselves,
but so often we don’t let it happen.”
If you would like to become a Feng Shui Success
story, please
contact Melissa Cook at Inner Vision Feng Shui.
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