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Monday, 16 June 2008 09:00 |
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Is Your Bathroom Going Down the Drain? By: Janet L. Hall
As you and I know, most bathrooms have limited space and
storage. Many of them are crammed with too much stuff: a lotion
or potion you used once, the shampoo and conditioner samples
collected while on travel, medicines or other items used once or
never finished using, towels that have seen their day, and
reading material and even mail that just piles up and piles up,
all the while collecting dust and germs.
Your bathroom is a room in which you and others use on a daily
basis. The most private area in your home, yet a busy room in
which activities, such as baths, showers, brushing hair and
teeth, shaving, and using the toilet are usually performed by
yourself FOR yourself. Yet for some it’s a place of refuge,
hiding from the world, the family, reading or just sitting on
the "throne," thinking, planning, or daydreaming. Your bathroom
can be a place of solitude where you can float away in a sea of
bubbles; meditating, planning, creating, listening to music,
while candlelight is reflected in the mirror dancing around the
room.
We store and keep all kinds of things in our bathrooms: from
linens to tub toys, lotions to medicines, and even books and
magazines. Oils, candles, matches, and lets not forget the
toilet paper. Unless you’ve remodeled or designed your own
bathroom-the standard bathroom in a standard home usually only
comes equipped with a small medicine cabinet and maybe under the
sink storage and many don’t even provide this essential storage
space.
Being disorganized or not having enough storage in your bathroom
can literally drain you of energy and patience in the morning,
evening, or anytime you enter into this private space.
Below I"ve listed 10 tips on how you can gain more storage (for
more storage tips please see end of article).
First let"s take a look at what you might be able to TOSS or Let
Go:
>>Make-up, hair products, lotions and medicines lose their
“power” over time. So toss out those you haven’t used or seen in
years. Some can contract bacteria and could be dangerous.
>>Let go of seldom used nail polish and eye shadows.
>>Check expiration dates. If expired dispose of safely and
properly. Flush unused medicine down the toilet (make sure it
went DOWN in case you have little ones wandering around) and
break up containers that were prescription, especially if they
had a refill on label.
>>Look for products that have dried up or evaporated.
>>If you travel pre pack any duplicates in your suitcase.
>>Rusty razors, scissors or anything else that has become
rusty-OUT.
10 Tools to Help You Gain More Storage:
1. Wall mounted cabinets 2. Carts on wheels 3. Hooks on back of
door 4. Shower caddies 5. Dispensers 6. Coat rack – great for
hanging towels and robes on 7. Cut and install straight magnet
inside medicine cabinet to hold tweezers scissors or other metal
items 8. Small dishpans or crates 9. Mesh bags 10. Wall mount
hair dryer, curling iron
Benefits of an Organized Bathroom:
>>Your money will stop going down the drain when you know what
you have on hand because you won’t go out and buy duplicates.
>>You’ll be less stressed, especially in the morning because
you’ll know where everything is.
>>Clean up will be a snap with everything contained.
For more Bathroom Organizing Tips, Strategies, and Safety click:
http://www.overhall.com/bathroom.htm
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Thursday, 17 April 2008 05:00 |
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The bathroom has a bad reputation in feng shui, and in some ways
this is deserved, as you will discover. But it"s not all
negative. Comfort, cleanliness, and convenience are key
ingredients to good feng shui, and our modern bathrooms provide
them all.
One of the challenges posed by the modern bathroom is that
there"s no good place for it in the ba gua* [the feng shui map
of a space], which long predates indoor plumbing. We can look at
the ba gua and see at a glance that the Family area would be a
good place for the living room, that a home office is
well-placed in the Knowledge, Wealth, or Career sectors, and
that the Marriage corner of the house is a great place for the
master bedroom. But where does the bathroom go?
The bathroom is a little out of place anywhere, although some
locations are more troublesome than others. The thing to keep in
mind is that bathroom plumbing has a draining effect wherever it
is located.
Some very difficult bathroom locations are next to or above the
front door and on the second floor directly above the kitchen.
These locations are particularly difficult because:
- A bathroom in the front hall, close to the door, can drain chi
away before it has a chance to circulate through the rest of the
house.
- A second-floor bathroom above the front door floods the main
entry to your home with negative energy.
- The water energy in a bathroom above the kitchen will
extinguish the hearth"s fire energy, and flood the entire
kitchen with negative energy. This is potentially damaging to
both health and prosperity.
The worst location for a bathroom is in the center of your home,
where it will destabilize the energy of the entire home. If you
suspect that the bathrooms in your house are affecting important
spaces, there"s no need to panic. Use these simple feng shui
remedies to help keep your health, wealth, and happiness from
flowing down the drain:
- Problem: bathroom in an important feng shui area (wealth,
fame, marriage, etc.) Solutions: a full-length mirror on the
outside of the bathroom door helps deflects chi so it won"t be
drained away; keep sink and shower drains closed when not in
use; keep the toilet seat/lid down when not in use.
- Problem: bathroom in the center of the home Solutions: paint
the walls red, and place a stone, large crystal, or other
earth-type object (such as a heavy ceramic bowl, vase, or
statuette) in each corner to help stabilize the energy; a mirror
on the outside of the door is highly recommended for this
bathroom location.
- Problem: bathroom over the front door or over the kitchen
Solutions: hang a faceted crystal in the center of the room;
place a three-inch round mirror on the ceiling directly above
the toilet to visually reverse the downward flow of water (use
double-sided tape to hold the mirror in place); place earth-type
objects in the corners of the room to stabilize the energy; add
an image such as a bird or tree to the downstairs area below the
bathroom to help lift the energy there.
Bathrooms are places for purification and cleansing, so a clean,
sanitary bathroom strengthens and supports this important
energy. A dirty bathroom, on the other hand, emphasizes the
negative qualities of this room. If your bathroom occupies any
of the more challenging locations described above, it is
essential to keep it sparkling clean, tidy, and well-lit.
After implementing the necessary precautions described above,
you can further improve the chi of the bathroom by making it as
pleasant a space as possible. This is where you begin and end
the active part of each day, so the more attractive and inviting
you can make it the better.
Most of us live hectic, stressful lives, and are in serious need
of soothing places where we can relax and unwind. A clean, tidy,
nicely appointed bathroom invites you to soak your worries away
in a hot bath with lavender-scented bath salts. Make this
pampering experience even nicer with candlelight, soft music,
and a pile of fresh fluffy towels with which to dry off.
All-white bathroom decor can seem cold and clinical; add warmth
with pastel-colored towels and accessories, colorful scented
candles, and attractive artwork.
Excerpted from “The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Feng Shui” by
Stephanie Roberts (Alpha Books, 2004)
© 2004 Stephanie Roberts
*To learn more about the feng shui ba gua and how to use it
effectively in your space, click
here.
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