Collective energy is a zeitgeist. It becomes increasingly apparent with every meme about vibes, every wellness article consumed, and is even permeating our email inboxes through some of our favorite brands. No longer is it good enough for an aesthetic to be simple and clean, it must also be intentional and mindful.
I’m not complaining about that, especially as the vibes work their way into our home lives – and our art collections. After all, how many times have I brought home artwork after identifying a wall that “needed something,” stuck haphazardly on a nail in the wall, and called it a day?
The answer for many people including myself is too many times. Our hasty decorating decisions have never been more apparent than now as we spend more of our time in our homes, faced with questionable gallery hangs and strange desk arrangements.
Marina Granger is a 15 year veteran of the art world, currently serving as The Artist Advisory, with the mission to guide artists through the art world and help them navigate its nuances.
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Marina over Zoom. Her approach to work life and life life are similar to my own: all business, but informed by intuitive guidance. We discussed Feng shui for your home office, where in your dwelling you should keep pictures of your family (hint: it’s NOT your bedroom), and how to create an inspiring spread in your prosperity direction in order to call in wealth, success, and anything else you might need when you’re chasing your dreams.
Feng shui and art are more than compatible. Feng shui informs where, how, and with what you should be decorating in order to optimize different aspects of your life. Of course, one of the reasons we turn to art, other than for aesthetic purposes, is because it speaks to something deeper within us.
“You can use artwork to activate your Feng shui!” Marina notes. “You can think of your entire home as a vision board for what you want.”
“When I work with artists I go into their studios and make sure they’re set up for success. A way that you can do this as an artist, an art collector or an art lover is that you know your kua number,” Marina encourages. “You have lucky directions! One for prosperity, wealth and money and career, a direction for love and relationships, a direction for health, and a direction for personal wisdom.”
As far as luck goes, directions as dictated by your kua number isn’t the only factor affecting the outcome. Color can also be used to call in different energies.
“When it comes to feng shui and color, color really does activate a lot of things.” Marina says. “The idea is that you have different rooms in your house that might benefit from different colors.” For instance, in the bedroom you wouldn’t want red, which is very active and aggressive. You’d probably want to stick with earth tones which are more grounding.
First things first, however: Marina encourages everyone to start off with white walls. White promotes energy flow, which is a good thing, and can encourage an open flow of money as well. That, coupled with properly utilizing your prosperity direction makes for a high-vibe time. “It’s important when you’re working from home to be facing your prosperity direction,” says Marina. “Put a vision board there.”
This is where the art comes in. There are do’s and don’ts when it comes to placing artwork in the different directions or zones of your home. For example, you wouldn’t want to place a painting of a mountain in your prosperity direction. Mountains, though striking, formidable, and stately also represent obstacles and blockages – not exactly the aspirational “reach for the stars” message that you may have been going for.
What does Marina have in her prosperity direction, you may ask: two prints by @colormelurid featuring an obstacle-free open road plus a figure wearing a beret with a being watching over her, a crystal globe indicating her desire for international clients, a statue of the goddess Lakshmi and her prized Chanel handbag.
But what about art throughout the rest of the home? For starters, you should never place a photograph of someone who doesn’t live in the home near the front door (something I’m guilty of). Look up what your kua number is and arrange paintings or pictures of family and friends in your Family direction, in a room where people tend to gather.
And as for the kitchen and bathroom: typically, these high-traffic, utilitarian rooms are better off without decorative elements. The energy in them is already chaotic enough, so adding thoughtful visuals might prove more disruptive than helpful.
Get the rest of the scoop on Feng Shui and color psychology in the home by watching our video.