But instead of deciding he couldn't afford her services, Morgan kept working with designer Cheryl Janis? to overhaul his home office using principles of feng shui and design psychology. (The latter is an emerging field in which a practitioner works off a client's emotional response to his or her home.)
"I had the choice of looking for another job or doing what I was doing on my own," recalls Morgan, 37. "And I chose to work on my own."
Morgan credits the office makeover with giving him the confidence he needed to co-found Word Lions,? a company that creates written marketing and training content for clients ranging from small nonprofits to large consulting firms.
"Rather than thinking I would just pick up small jobs, I started going after bigger jobs. I started to feel like a legitimate company rather than a freelancer," Morgan says.
Is it possible to increase business prowess and earning potential just by changing the design of a home or business?
Janis says she believes it is. The 43-year-old interior designer, who divides her time between Cloverdale and Portland, has studied and used feng shui for more than 15 years.
She says she believes that beautiful, safe and nurturing spaces will be reflected in work and personal lives. The results of feng shui, she says, are often dramatic: increased creativity and productivity, better self-esteem and better finances.
"For Philip, this was a big alignment between his innermost desires -- to be free of working for someone else -- and his working environment," says Janis. "The space we created gave him the vision to launch his business."
Among other things, she advised Morgan to move his desk from a spot facing a wall to a "power position" that looked toward the door. Also changed was the wall color, from a rather feminine green to a more masculine, earthy green.
"Green is the color of learning and growth, which are both important intentions to have in starting a new business," Janis says. "Men often prefer a darker color on the wall that is more masculine, like grays and green, that (enables them) to focus."
A former furniture designer, Janis says she became interested in feng shui after learning about it at a conference in 1997.
"I went home and applied some of the principles I had learned and felt an immediate improvement in my life. I was hooked. After that, I read everything on the subject and sought formal training. Because of my background in furniture design it was easy and intuitive to fuse design and feng shui."
At the time she was living in San Diego, where, she says, she ran IE Home Furniture,? a furniture and design accessories manufacturer she'd founded; her designs were sold in boutiques and high-end stores such as Neiman Marcus.
She closed her business in 2001, after 9/11, and began studying how color and energy work, continuing to advanced studies in feng shui and graduating from the Western School of Feng Shui. ?
During that time she'd moved to Los Angeles, living there for two years and working with residential feng shui design clients. In 2004, her grandmother died. Deciding she wanted a lifestyle change, she sold her home, moved to Portland, and started her design business.
Tips for improving your home's feng shui and bringing about specific results.
To create success for a home-based business: Look to the left rear of your home, which in feng shui is considered the "power area" of the home for business and finance. (The right rear is the "power area" for love). The left rear of the home is related to how one attracts money, opportunity and prosperity, so placing an office within that area makes sense if you are trying to grow a home-based business or do productive office work at home. Desk placement within that area is also key. r You would never walk into a CEO's office and find the desk oriented so his or her back is to the door, Janis says. "People with their backs to a door are in a vulnerable position. But if you are sitting in a power position talking to a client, then you are much more likely to close the deal." So place your back to one of the three non-entry walls, and put the desk in front of you. (But avoid facing the door directly, which can be the source of negative energy.)
To increase productivity: Cut the clutter. "Clutter represents blocks in our lives. So when we keep stuff around -- old papers, bills and receipts -- they become like heavy weights ... and block energy," Janis says. She suggests getting rid of anything that does not represent who you are at this moment. That might include gifts you don't use, old magazines, artwork and legal documents, including divorce papers. (Your lawyer can hold on to them for you.) "All these things that you are afraid to get rid of actually represent energetic cords to the past and hold you back." In the digital age there's no need to hold on to most bills or receipts, she says; if you feel you must, keep documents no more than four or five years, Janis says.
To increase creativity: Dedicate an area of your home to your creative interest. "Create an area for those things you are passionate about but haven't done anything about because you are too busy -- even if it's a tiny area, a corner of a table or a box," Janis says. Also, if you are interested in hatching a creative project, look to the right middle area of your home, which is the sector of giving birth, figuratively and literally. You might consider decorating that area with art or objects that symbolize birth and rebirth. A red accent piece is said to activate creativity.
To increase personal power and gain recognition: Surround yourself with symbols that resonate and support you. Some people place a picture or statue of a powerful or fierce animal on their desk to symbolize the inner power they want to conjure, such as a dragon, wolf, lion or eagle. Janis advises clients to hang up diplomas, certificates and awards. "Hanging our diplomas is really an outer expression of our achievements that sends a strong message to the world."
To create abundance: Look to the center front part of the house. Consider placing a water feature in this area, perhaps just to the right of your front door, to signify a "flow of abundance" into your life, Janis advises. "Adding a water feature is probably the single most important thing you can do to enhance flow and abundance in your life," Janis says. "You place this by the front door because in feng shui this is where the element of water lives and the entrance to the home is the mouth of energy." A water feature on your desk serves a similar purpose.
To improve health: In feng shui, the house is akin to the human body, and the center of the house is the health area. Because health and that part of the house are related to the earth element in various Chinese philosophies, Janis suggests hanging images and accents that represent the earth: desert and sun, the colors yellow or brown, materials like terra cotta.
To find a romantic partner: Almost uniformly, the singles that Janis works with have single objects throughout their house, she says. To send out the signal that you are ready to meet your mate, start buying two of everything: matching candles, end tables, lamps. "Two of anything represents partnership." Hanging beautiful photos of romantic scenes or couples also sends a message to ourselves and others than we are ready to become part of a couple, as does painting walls with colors such as deep eggplants, peaches or pinks.
To reduce stress: Relax the interior design with soft window treatments, earthy and healing colors (green/blue) and cozy areas that incorporate natural elements such as plants and water features. Janis recently worked with a stressed-out client who was having trouble sleeping. Initially, the woman's windows were uncovered, the walls were white, and her home was all hard edges. Janis advised adding window treatments and painting the walls shades of brown and green to create a sense of earthy calm. Also added were upholstered furniture and rugs, soothing images of water and nature, plants with rounded leaves, and water features. "Afterwards, she felt much more grounded and was able to achieve more balance in her life and feel calmer while sleeping better," Janis says.
?-- Elisabeth Dunham
CONTACT
Cheryl R. Janis / Design Consultant
503-449-6622
cjanis@cheryljanisdesigns.com
cheryljanisdesigns.com?
Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2012/08/tips_for_improving_your_homes.html
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