Why You Should Put Plants Above Your Kitchen Cabinets, According To Feng Shui

If you're looking for a way to get both your life and home organized and in order, look no further than feng shui. Feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice that has roots in Taoism and is all about balancing various elements to improve the flow of chi or energy. It's much more complex and involved in actuality, but there are basic tenets that are great to incorporate into your daily life.

Feng shui isn't just focused on how to organize or arrange certain items but also on how to fill individual spaces so that energy isn't trapped, stagnant, or misplaced. The Bagua map, for example, offers advice on how to arrange your home. Specifically, what theme each area of your home should represent, and what elements, colors, and items should be displayed — wealth and abundance, fame and reputation, love and relationships, etc. There are also feng shui practitioners who offer smaller-scale advice, like putting plants above your kitchen cabinets.

If you want to apply the tenets of feng shui to your home, keep in mind that one of the worst things is stagnant, trapped energy. The flow of chi is incredibly important and one of the basic principles of the ancient practice. This applies even to the smallest of spaces — energy should never just sit anywhere, even in areas that seem insignificant.

This includes above your kitchen cabinets. Whether the gap above your kitchen cabinets is small or large, there's still space that sits and gathers dust and, in turn, has stagnant, trapped energy. While you could add small decorations to fill up the space, it would still just sit and collect dust. Instead, Anjie Cho of Inhabitat recommends placing something lively above your cabinets. You could install lights, or, for those without electrician skills, add a few plants in the gap. Ideally, these would be real plants, but if you don't have the most skilled green thumb, fake ones are fine. If you do choose live plants, make sure they're low light plants.

The area above your cabinets is hardly the only place of importance in your kitchen when it comes to feng shui. You should ideally feng shui your kitchen in accordance with the Bagua map — wherever your kitchen falls on the map is what area of life it represents and how you should accordingly decorate and arrange it.

However, there are a few feng shui tenets to apply to your kitchen for increasing the flow of chi. For example, cover your drains when not in use. Water represents prosperity in feng shui, and an uncovered drain can symbolize that prosperity literally draining away. Clutter, like dirty dishes in your sink, is another way that energy can get trapped and stagnant. This also applies to counter clutter — put away all spices and tools when done, and don't let them clutter on the counter. Finally, make sure to always keep your kitchen swept — especially corners of your kitchen, and even more so if your kitchen is in the wealth corner of your home.