How To Adapt Your Bedroom to an In-Home Office
Laura Cerrano
In the good old Feng Shui days, every room within the household was reserved for a particular purpose of eating, sleeping, working, etc. However, living in the era of covid, the typical functions of ordinary rooms have been forced to transform into multi-purpose rooms. Since covid made its presence in 2020, many of my Feng Shui consultations have been focused on creating harmonious homes to ease mental and emotional anxieties, find a balance between work/life relations, and help establish the best multi-purposeful room layouts for in-home office usage.
There are four common rooms my clients request help for when multi-purposing the space including the bedroom, living room, dining room, and sometimes the kitchen. I’ll break down each area in separate blog articles so you can explore and digest the various options in how to begin implementing these Feng Shui ideas into your own home. Again, these are general ideas to consider as each home, room, and family is unique.
FOR THIS POST, I’M FOCUSING ON THE BEDROOM.
The bedroom is meant to help restore your energy from the day. However, with covid amongst us, for some, the bedroom has been transformed into a home office space as well. If you happen to be in a similar situation, please do not fret. Below is an overview of a few quick Feng Shui bedroom office tips to test out. The keyword here is boundaries.
GREAT GO-TO FOUNDATIONAL BEDROOM HOME-OFFICE TIPS
Establish clear boundaries between your work and sleep zones. Depending on the size of the bedroom, the use of an area rug by the bed offers a simple physical boundary line between the sleep and work areas within the room.
You could display artwork that supports your subconscious mind while working, allowing you to feel grounded and focused. Since this artwork will most likely be seen from the bed, you’ll also want it to invoke soothing energy when sleeping.
On the desk or around the general designated workspace within the bedroom office, you could display your business card or something that highlights your name and position with the company you work for. It’s important to acknowledge yourself, even from the home office. In a more traditional office setting, this could also be done by hanging a certificate or professional document that expresses your expertise within your chosen field of work, as appropriate.
For those interested in utilizing crystals, the display of selenite in the designated office area within the bedroom is a great way to help establish energy boundaries. Selenite is said to dispel negative energy and enhance clarity, focus, and calmness in any space.
It’s understood in a typical bedroom with Feng Shui, you don’t want to include plants. However, if multi-purposing the bedroom with office functions, perhaps consider including at least one, or maybe two slow-growing plants by the work area. Possible plant options could include succulents, snake plants, pothos, Chinese evergreen, or jade plants. Naturally, take into consideration the amount of light being received into your bedroom by the designated office area and that can help further refine your plant selection.
Decide upon the type of work surface you’ll need: Traditional sit-down or standing desk? Mounted folding desk? Drop lid desk? Each of these options has pros and cons.
Traditional Sit-down or Standup Desk:
pros: seen as the most sturdy in Feng Shui - especially wood material desks. They can be easily moved and readjusted.
cons: they can take up a good amount of space and you want to be mindful of the desk edges so they are not pointing back toward the bed or bedroom doorway (this creates sha - cutting energy). An ideal desk shape is typically rectangular with curved edges.
Mounted Folding Desks:
pros: this is a space saver for sure! And this desk can fold up to help visually close down the work-energy if you keep a fairly minimalist workspace.
cons: has to be mounted to the wall, so once it’s set, it’s set. You can move it if need be, but placement may be limited and you’ll need to patch up any holes along the wall each time you move it.
Drop Lid Desks:
Pros: this type of desk can also move around. This type of desk design can literally close down, helping to conceal all your work materials.
Cons: Most likely this will be limited to facing a wall. If that is the case, look for a wall near a window so you have breathable space near the desk vs feeling shoved into a corner.
With any of these options, you always want to make sure the desk in question fits the size of the room and the area of the room you are looking to position it. Also be mindful of Drop Lid desk height, width, and depth. Very bulky furniture in a small space is not ideal. It could create a psychological feeling of oppression and be overwhelmed.
If sitting down at the desk, be sure you have a supportive office chair. A healthy erect spine with good posture is linked to better energy, flexibility, and focus. To help with this, raise your computer monitor stand so when looking at the computer screen you are not straining your neck in a downward direction.
Be sure to take mini breaks from working on the computer. Perhaps every 1.5 hours you could take a break by walking and stretching.
Establish a commanding position. This means the occupant sitting at the desk can clearly see the bedroom doorway, while not being in direct alignment with the doorway.
If possible, sit with a solid wall behind your desk. The solid wall acts as a ‘mountain’ behind your back, encouraging a supportive feeling.
For those who follow eight mansions Feng Shui, you could calculate your Kua number and discover what directions are most supportive to you when working. Ideally, you’ll want to face your ‘success’ direction for work, but if you can’t do that then at least try to be in and/or face in any of the four primary directions that best supports your overall energy. To discover your Kua number you can Google “how to calculate my Kua number” and you’ll find various resources on how to do this.
Naturally, keep an organized work and sleep space. Make it a habit at the end of the day to clean up your work area. This is especially important if you can’t physically conceal your workspace.
Try to designate a time when you ‘shut down’ from work mentally, emotionally, and physically. I literally put my phone on airplane mode so I’m not tempted to look at it throughout the night. It’s understood this bedtime ritual may not be ideal for all, yet see if you can find a positive habit that works for you.
Let natural light filter into your bedroom during the day. The daylights help to charge the room with yang energy and at night, naturally, close the curtains.
Colors in the bedroom office can vary depending on how you approach what you apply. A general Feng Shui approach could be by choosing soothing, pastel colors as a backdrop within the bedroom office, and then accenting the colors in accordance with the western Bagua map or compass directions.
Be sure you have good air circulation. When the weather allows, open up the windows and welcome in the fresh air. If that is not an option, consider including an air purifier within the bedroom, placing it closer to the office space.
Establish clear communication with those living with you about when you need to use the bedroom for work. This can also help communicate a period of quietness and calmness that is needed for better focus.
Use ambient sounds to help maintain focus. This can be done with folk, classical or instrumental musical sounds, sounds of nature, or even background sounds of being in a cafe while working.
Before going to bed, consider adopting the habit of turning off your wifi, shutting down the computer monitor within your bedroom. It may even be worth the extra step of literally unplugging those electronics when not in use. However, I know that may not be practical, so naturally do what makes sense for you. As for cell phones, its best to keep that out of the bedroom. If you can’t do any of that, then look into other options such as the use of magnetic Shungite to harmonize the EMFs. Yet the best policy is distance and literally shutting down the electrical charge to the actual appliances.
Laura Cerrano with husband Aldo Pisano hiking the mountains of California
Make time for work/life balance. Give yourself permission to make plans to meet up with family and friends (being mindful of covid safety protocols and your own comfort level of interaction). Take yourself on a staycation or vacation. Set aside at least a day or two throughout the week where work is not on the agenda. You need to allow yourself to reset and breathe.
Four-Part Series
How to Adapt Your Dining Room as an In-home Office Space
How To Adapt Your Bedroom as an In-Home Office Space
How To Adapt Your Living Room as an In-Home Office Space (to be written)
How to Adapt Your Kitchen as an In-Home Office Space (to be written)