I just celebrated my one-week anniversary of blogging and thought it was high time you got to know me a little better.

This is me and my family (a couple of years ago.)

This is my house in San Francisco.

And this room inside my house started me on the path to studying feng shui and ultimately, this design blog; my living room.

Right after my son, Theo, was born my living room started to really bug me. At the time, we had put our sofa against the wall directly facing the front door. Every time I sat on that sofa to feed Theo, I felt uncomfortable; vulnerable, unprotected from that door which could open at any moment. I had never experienced anything like that before. You could say that was my first introduction to feng shui.

Lo pan, a feng shui compass

Feeling safe, healthy, happy, productive in work and in relationships is what feng shui is all about. Creating a living and working environment where people can grow and fulfill their potential. Just like plants. There are many places where plants can grow and thrive and even more places where they wither and die. Sensitivity to our environment, recognizing what is working and what isn’t are the first steps toward creating a space that enriches our lives. It isn’t all about red doors and mirrors. On a deeper level, feng shui is about numbers, location, and dates. It’s understanding the face and the back of structures. There’s a lot to feng shui and for some people, the study is a life-time pursuit. For me, I work intuitively with it. I feel what’s right about a room or an arrangement on a gut level.

As a hobby, and fund raiser for different organizations, I offer my room arrangement services to individuals who are struggling to make a room work. They’ve tried almost every arrangement and still, nothing is right. Sometimes, the problem isn’t the furniture. Sometimes the problem is with the art on the wall or too much clutter on the dresser. Or sometimes, there’s too much furniture in the room and something needs to move somewhere else. Opening up space in a room opens up space in the mind and in the heart.

My home office.

When we moved into our house the sellers left a huge, metal desk in the den, in front of a bay window. After a year of living in the house, I had a need or desire to stand next to those windows but my way was blocked by that heavy desk. The more often I wanted to get close to the window the more my dislike for the desk grew. I found someone who would take the desk and when it was finally taken out of the house, I could hear the whole room sing. I know that sounds crazy but its true. There was a joy and lightness to the space and I knew I had to learn more about feng shui. So I did and I’m happy to share my knowledge with you. Afterall, I am your

Design Detective,

Karen