How To Feng Shui Your Garage

Feng shui is the practice of inviting positivity and brightness into the home by strategic placement of furniture and belongings. Often, those who practice feng shui operate with a sense of minimalism. At the same time, Everyday Health reports that applying these principles can reestablish your home as a space that supports your ongoing goals and needs by making distinct changes to the environment.

Commonly, a garage is a place of storage and can often feel cluttered and messy. Cision PR Newswire reports that one in four Americans live with an unruly garage, and many more maintain a space that could be managed better. Thankfully, feng shui, which provides the baseline for a feeling of space, can be applied to the garage in a number of important ways. A garage that is organized, rather than mismanaged, makes better use of the available space, allowing it to become an extension of the home. Alternatively, a garage makes an excellent working space for crafts, hobbies, and even business purposes. Using feng shui to update the layout and design of your garage is a great way to take back control and maximize the potential of this often-overlooked space.

The Spruce recommends initially inspecting the physical path that you walk through your garage on a regular basis. According to feng shui, the areas that see the most foot traffic are the places that influence the energy of your environment the most profoundly. Small inconveniences can add up in meaningful ways. For example, things like stepping around obstacles or forcing doors open or closed can build micro stressors into your daily routine, chipping away at your comfort and happiness one little bit at a time.

The garage is a perfect example of this feature of the feng shui mindset. Since they tend to function as lesser-used spaces, garages often accumulate unnecessary clutter and seldom-used items. In fact, some homeowners have even lost the ability to use their garage as a parking amenity. Healthline reports that crowded spaces can have an adverse effect on one's happiness. While this often plays a major role in the lives of apartment dwellers, notes Healthline, the garage fits this same pattern in virtually identical form. Taking a few moments to think about the objects and clutter that prevent free movement through the garage is the first step toward creating a more positive space that incorporates the principles of feng shui.

Another core tenant of the feng shui approach takes decluttering to new levels, notes The Spruce. Open spaces make for happier spaces within the home, and an open and light garage can make a monumental difference over the alternative. Finding an organized home for the clutter in your garage can help immensely. If something doesn't seem to have a place that makes sense, you might want to consider throwing it away. Feng shui suggests that spaces in the home (like life itself), become filled and then emptied on a regular basis. This creates constant opportunities to embrace a fresh start by clearing away things that no longer play a role in your lifestyle, which in turn allows you to welcome new belongings and the experiences that come with them.

On the other hand, clutter is often the enemy of progress as it metaphorically harkens back to uncertainty, chaotic thinking, and closed-off energy. The physicality of clutter bleeds over into your headspace, prompting your spiritual self to take on these same negativities that inhibit change, progress, and daily enjoyment, explains Everyday Health. Therefore, to truly embrace the principles of feng shui, clear the clutter from your garage, allowing for a fresh start that works both in spirit and the physical space of the room.