Is it like Feng Shui? Or, is it a type of home organization? Is there any interior design or styling included with this service? I get so many questions and confused looks when I try to give a short synopsis on what is a Space Clearing! This post will break it down in detail for you. Space Clearing, or what I call a Spatial Calibration, is basically a process where we shift the energy, also called chi, in your home. This shift of energy is specifically aligned to what you (as the Client) is trying to achieve in life - whether it is removing obstacles and things that don't serve you, or calling in whatever manifestations you want to create. OK, so maybe that description still leaves a lot to be confused on. Let's start with energy. In Physics we learn that energy can be changed and moved but not destroyed or created. We also know that our five senses only perceive, or detect, that which has a vibration. Every physical object and space has a vibration to it, and this vibration is an energetic footprint. Not only does every object within our homes carry a certain energy, but our emotions, experiences, and associations can alter that energy. And this can happen unconsciously. For example, if you walk into a TV room that has no clear walkway and everything is cluttered so that you either trip or tip-toe around things every time you try to sit down, the energy flow gets stuck too and your frustrations going through the room will also become stuck emotions in the space. Another example is if you have pictures of your ex-spouse still hanging up in your hallway, whatever emotions you have tied to those photos and that relationship will be re-triggered unconsciously every time you walk down this space. These examples show that the energy in these spaces is likely not supporting the energy vibration that you want to carry. Every time you move down that hallway full of pictures of your ex, unconsciously you are being surrounded by the vibration of failure, regret, anger, bygone days, or whatever pain or lack in your life it recalls for you. Everytime you walk into or out of your TV room, you are enveloped in stagnant, stuck, and frustrated vibrations. We want that shit out! And that's where a space clearing comes in. When I do a Spatial Calibration with you, we find these energy draining culprits and simultaneously add high-vibrational energy to your space. The energy we replace will be the exact vibration of what you're trying to create and be in your life, and hence your space will then support you in your manifestations. I believe Space Clearings are truly magical, but they don't directly create your life, they just support you in creating the life you desire. You can think of it as making your life a bit easier. If you were trying to find more peace in life but you have kids screaming around you all day, every day, it wouldn't be impossible to find peace (we know peace comes from within) but it sure would be a welcome break to sigh easily if the screaming chaos went down a few notches, and on top of that the kids even started giving you foot rubs and food/drink on command. That change of space could literally allow you to feel and know what "peace" is for you, giving you the momentum to carry that energy forward even if the chaos starts up again. A space clearing kind of does the same thing. My Spatial Calibration is also unique in that I have a background in Feng Shui, music, Interior Design, and a number of other esoteric studies and healing modalities. So I naturally incorporate these things into my clearings. It is not a formal Interior Design nor Feng Shui experience, but if it makes sense to help you create the space you love and are proud of, I bring in design tips and/or other feng shui recommendations. And post clearing, if we decide to continue working together and you need more help in these areas, I do offer these as hourly services. If you still are not clear on what a Spatial Calibration, or Space Clearing is, please reach out and I would love to discuss further! Photos by Stacy Keck, stacykeckphoto.com
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I have progress to show on the kids room! Creating a bedroom space for my children is always near the very top of my priority list when I move into a new home. Kids aren’t asking us parents to pick up their lives and have massive change. And the disruption, even if it is ultimately a positive thing for them, can still be very difficult and stressful for them. So I always give their personal space character, comfort, safety, and joy as quickly as possible! Their room gets the royal treatment before any other room in the house. Quick cap on what happened to transform the old granny dungeon (check out the "before" photos below!) into the bright kids space it is now: new carpeting, wallpaper removed, re-plastered popcorn ceiling, painted walls, new sconce, window treatment replaced, and outlets/switches upgraded. New windows, trim paint, and new door and hardware are still to come in this room!! Now onto the styling and designing part. This room was a real challenge for me, if I am to be honest. My 6-year old son (Cy) and 20-month old daughter (Leona, or Leo for short) share this room. To design a shared room for a girl and boy, so many years apart in age, was not as easy as I anticipated. Add to the fact that the room needed to be multi-functional for Cy to do remote learning in, and hold two full-size dressers and beds in a reasonably sized room, but not huge room by any means, gave me layout agony for weeks. Let’s start with the beds. Originally, I dreamed of having two twin beds on either side of the window looking super quaint and cute and space between the kiddos as they slept so they felt a little privacy (and hopefully less play when they are supposed to sleep!). But I ran into two problems: 1. The width from wall to window is not equal on both sides and a twin would not fit in the “perfect” way I imagined on the lesser side and 2. This layout would make it very cramped to work with two dressers and a work station and all the other little stuff kids “need” to have in their room to feel safe and happy. So IKEA Kura bed came to my rescue. After signing up to receive notices when it is in stock, I rushed for order as soon as that in-stock email came in (seriously, this little bunk is popular). I love this bed because it is very low profile making me feel safer about the little tykes having a bunk in their room. I initially had two twins in the bunk (like normal and for how it was intended) but it just didn’t give me the safety I wanted for our little one so I traded in the full-size mattress for the bottom and laid it perpendicular. Now we all love it!! Leo can roll around safely with more room to spare while I feel a tad better about safety if Cy accidentally falls off the top bunk. I will add that the top bunk really came to life and Cy was ecstatic once I added the little reading light and acrylic book shelves. This way he can read before bed or in the early morning without ever climbing down. He loves his little private retreat up there. The next hurdle in this room was color scheme. Cy wanted turquoise and yellow. I had mostly blue and orange from his last bedroom, and I wanted to incorporate a more feminine touch for Leo. Kids bedroom color scheme is always a difficult one because in Feng Shui too much color - particularly active shades like pink, red, and even bright oranges - can be too stimulating for sleep time or keeping kids chilled out. Especially when you want to create an oasis for your children to relax in, more neutrals can be the recommended path. But WHAT KID DOESN’T WANT COLOR in their special bedroom!!?? My studious mind constantly told me to “calm it down” but ultimately color won. Color seems to always win in my house. I love color, kids love color. It makes us happy and I finally decided that as long as they slept well in their room and stayed healthy and happy kids, I was going to break some rules. And truth be told, I love breaking design and Feng Shui rules. I always say 'do what feels good'.
The other challenge was adding in something "old" with character to all the new contemporary and clean-lined furnishings that we already had, along with the new modern bed. I bought the teal vintage dresser for Leo on Craigslist and I LOVE it! It adds just enough vintage character to calm the angular lines elsewhere in the room. I would normally like more than one vintage piece, but I wanted to buy new stuff as little as possible since I had good-functioning kids furniture that we know will get lots of use and abuse in the coming few years. Do I have any regrets? One. I really wanted to put in a fun printed Roman shade for the window covering, but in my quick hustle to make fast choices (and fast window coverings across the house) I chose the easy peasy cellular shade option to match with other rooms and be energy efficient. But it doesn’t completely block out the light (which kids need for good sleep) and I think it is kind of boring. But that is something I can change up after I get some other projects off the list. And this is not so much a regret, but the rug is not perfect. It is just what I already had and the color scheme was a good mix for the room. It also gave an extra layer of protection from all the nasty random crusty stuff I find on the floor. How do kids have grimy hands ALL the time?? The bedding scheme is also a WIP. Currently it is a hodge-podge of bedding that we already had, but I think it works in this eclectic and colorful room for the time being! I'll get something more cohesive in time. Even though I am constantly shifting things around and have more to do in this space, the kids love it and we all enjoy ourselves when we hang out in this little fun oasis. :) ![]() There is lots of progress being made on the house, but I have been holding out on showing ya'll updates because it is not yet "perfect". Yet, it is rare I ever get it "perfect" so I'm going to try and show more progress updates. The space I'm showing today has been one of my problem children: the breakfast nook. When I first toured this house with my Mom she found it super odd that there were two dining areas within sight and in practically the same room as each other. The kitchen nook table was literally less than 10 feet from the dining table. The kind of close where we could sit at one table and the kids at the other and toss biscuits into their mouths. I agreed it was unneeded and decided it would be turned into something else or be an extension of our some-day kitchen renovation. Our kitchen is smallish and the extra room would be heavenly. But to expand the kitchen into that area has its own challenges including a large window that is too low and would have to be moved, the garage entrance door breaks up the space and unless we were to move plumbing way over there (EXPENSIVE) I know I would never walk the extra 10 feet across the room just to use counter space. Sooooo, at this point I am planning on NOT expanding kitchen into this space. It will be at least 6 more months before we start kitchen demo anyways, so I also wanted to make the space functional for now. Check out the below 'before' images! There are a couple progress shots after the floor was installed and new lighting put up. After scratching off the kitchen expansion idea, there was the thought of a sitting/mud room since it is right off our garage main family entry. But ultimately, I really don’t want to look at a coat rack and built-up disorder while eating dinner at my “real” dining table.
The final idea came to me when I woke up at the crack of dawn (early wake = baby + anxiety) and watched the sunrise through this same window. It was gorgeous and as I sipped my coffee I really wanted to just lounge and relax in front of this view forever. So I decided it would become a proper kitchen banquette, with built-in comfy seating where we could eat informally, kids could do homework, and I could sit with my feet up as the sun strolls in (hopefully not often, as I like to be in bed at this time). Then, funny enough, when we moved our table to this area temporarily while. we reno'd the dining room floors, we found we much preferred the cozier ambience for family meals. Basically, I decided it would be what it always has been - a kitchen nook. Sometimes the original plan is the best plan. Unfortunately, Liam has way too many projects right now that are higher priority than custom seating. So the lounge banquette seating will be on hold, indefinitely. After we moved our dining table back to the real dining room I promptly went on a voracious search for an affordable, white, stable, and cute dining table that would fit the space. Found it with this vintage Formica top leaf table on LetGo. Sold! And since I got new Anthropologie chairs for the dining room I moved our old gray fabric Target chairs to the Nook. Those will be replaced when we do the built-in seating. We put up this adorable new green chandelier (from Overstock) and finished installing the vinyl flooring that is consistent throughout the main living areas. We got new windows installed and 3DayBlinds window coverings (roller shades in gold/cream color that are rolled up in pics under the trim). I would have loved to install a cute and fun roman shade fabric, but I wanted all the window treatments to be consistent in the living spaces while being inconspicuous. And more importantly was the fact that I was desperate for window coverings when we moved in and this point did not me leave time or energy to do any risk-taking window covering options. The star of this room, I think anyways, is the wallpaper. I got this ADORABLE peel-and-stick Art Deco Swans print from Spoonflower, designed by Kate Rhees. (BTW - I got the same print, in a larger scale and in black and white, for the guest room accent wall. That will be showcased in another post!) The nook had wainscoting with trim (see before photos) and for some reason I wasn't ready to get rid of it and plaster the walls along with the rest of the house before we moved in. Sometimes I get real attached to original designs of an older home. But after living with it, I realized it was just outdated and a bit sticky-gross. So I covered the wood in this wallpaper design and painted the trim white. I think it adds character and focus to the space and brings in color from the rest of the house. That's our progress on the breakfast nook. I can't wait to give a full tour once we finish the kitchen! We have finally started some renovations on our home. Up until this point we were traveling, partaking in Holiday festivities (COVID safe of course) and doing all the normal move in activities like cleaning, unpacking, figuring out which drawer utensils go in, etc....
This week was momentous for us, not just because of the sweet farewell to mint green carpet in our home, but it also entailed the very first day of daycare for our 17 month old. Lots of emotions. But watching Liam haul up hundreds of pounds of. carpet and lay beautiful vinyl definitely brought some emotional peace to my life. And yes, LIAM is doing this work. Not me. But I offer sweet words of encouragement whenever I can. Onto the point of this post. I want to bring back on a mass scale the ancient ways of building ceremony. Under ancient pyramids and structures all over the world we find buried beneath remnants of offerings and ceremony. Our ancestors built onto the land with great respect and reverence. I truly believe this added the holy into holy sites, which entail higher energy frequencies and ley line crossings at major spiritual sites. We were not breaking earth to do our renovations, but we did want to honor the spirit of our home as well as lay an intentional energetic foundation for our family within this home. So I did a short ritual and we drew with marker and spray paint affirmations and blessings all over the concrete floor before the vinyl planks were laid down. It felt good, it made us smile, and i think it did connect us a little bit deeper to our home space. And I also think those blessings we imparted to the home will rise up and fill within the space of the walls the air we breathe and the energy we partake in every day. Any renovation, or small change in your home, can be done proceeding a ritual of some sort where you give thanks to what came before and blessings for what is to come. Just as you give a blessing to the home and your future, ask your home spirit for its blessing as you make the changes or renovations. Light a candle, smoke clear with sage, and beat a drum. Or, just say a small prayer. It can be as simple or as extensive as you desire. But any change can bring magic with it when you imbue the change with intention. I would love to hear what ways you do blessings or ritual before home renovations! We are in the midst of cleaning, unpacking, designing, and trying to find grace and peace within the chaos of moving into our new home. I think being able to connect with your best self and find the gratitude in your life, while you are going through the most difficult times, is not only one of the hardest things to do but the most rewarding and healthy things one can do.
For me, it feels the stress and lack of control with moving started weeks ago with seemingly no end in sight. The purchase of a new home, packing, and then unexpectedly living out of a hotel for a week before moving into a fixer upper, left room for a lot of tension and also a lot of opportunity for growth. There were some tough moments (including a morning in urgent care to take a shard of glass out of my toe!), but by golly I am patting myself on the back for learning and finding some beauty throughout this process. Here are some ways I am getting through it. 1. Take time-outs from “work” and spend with loved ones. In our second day of unpacking, our family stopped and spent time outside picking oranges and making fresh orange juice together. I decided this will be a regular ritual we will make happen as often as possible. 2. Keep and make rituals. This is a great segue from #1 above, but make sure you keep some of the rituals you had in your life before the chaos began, and if you can't do that, get creative to find a new one. I have started up my meditation again, and it LIFE CHANGING! Our family also settled in to have our nightly dinner around the table as soon as we had a table to sit at. 3. Nourish yourself with food and drink. I’m talking about H2O and healthy food here! Albeit a yummy sugary treat can feel really good after a long, hard day. And I have been giving myself plenty of reasons to indulge in some dark chocolate. ::) Doing a million things at once takes a toll on your body. Don’t stop feeding and watering your vessel even when it seems not very important compared to other things to do in life. 4. Connect to your space. How does your home space nourish you? Revel in that nourishment and support. Breathe deeply and give thanks for the roof over your head, the comfort of your space, and anything else within your home that makes you feel special and supported. I just did a burning ritual in my home and gave the ashes to our garden as a blessing and offering. I felt immense connection to my home and garden with this practice. I also take a moment to smile and breathe after I get one small space unpacked and cleaned in this new home....each completed space feels magical. I'm definitely not handling every moment of tension through this time with perfection, and I don't think we're supposed to; but I am taking plenty of moments to love it, grow from it, and breathe through it. How do you find grace through your stressful life changes? After living in a dreamy “treehouse” (not a real treehouse, just felt like one) for almost three years, we bit the bullet and decided to sell and go after our dream home. Our dream home was a Spanish hacienda with bougainvillea everywhere, terra cotta tiles throughout, wood beamed ceilings and so much charm you would get lost thinking you were in a Spanish fairytale. And of course on an acre of lush landscaped private property with a massive natural pond. Alas, after listing our house the day COVID forced California to Shelter in Place, our dreamy bubble was bursted. Even when we found something close to this fantasy, the cost was out of our budget. So the Universe had other plans for us and our house sat for over four months without a bite. And then we took a break to focus on other things, I did a Spacial Clearing while chanting affirmations about my perfect home being prepared for me, and when we relisted the second time, we got two competing offers within days. This forced us to reconsider what our “dream” house really consisted of. I did some deep meditation and met our new home’s “house spirit” who told me the house number, in numerology, was a 5. After the shock of getting a 5 when a 1, 5, 7, and 9 were the ONLY numbers I told myself I did NOT want, I then moved to the state of acceptance and renewed hope. After accepting an offer on our treehouse, that following weekend we found our home, and yes she was a 5. No, she did not have a pool and she was a crap load of work, but we felt right with her. And very surprisingly, no other offers were on the table, considering the crazy sellers market we were in (muuahhahaa, or it just says a lot about our craziness for buying this home). We began to have new visions of a reimagined dream home. The home was built in 1964 and most of what is inside is original. There was an addition and a kitchen renovation I assume in the late 80’s or early 90’s. Aside from that, much of the 60’s charm was intact. We are giddy with excitement for this project, but that might have to do with distance making the heart grow fonder because we are currently in a hotel for a week, unexpectedly, as the ceiling and walls get retextured and painted. That’s a story I will give another time. I look forward to documenting our progress and adventures as we build our lucky 5 to be the dreamy oasis she deserves to be. Scent has a powerful impact in our lives. You have probably heard of pheromones, the personal scents individuals give off that science shows us can determine who we are attracted to and will mate with. Even babies know where to get the booby milk by scent. What I find fascinating is that our olfactory senses are managed in the same place as memory, emotion, and thoughts. Genetic memory associations to scent can literally pass down to future generations. Not only has scent been used for healing and invoking ritual for thousands of years across all ancient civilizations, but our ancestral memories can be kicked into gear by a scent as old as time, like Frankincense, Patchouli, or Rose.
There is plenty of science on scent that you can google. So I will cut to the chase. Scent is a powerhouse to use for healing or manifesting any physical, emotional, or mental shift. Particularly in the home you can use scent through oil diffusers, candles, incense, or by anointing yourself (and things!) with perfumes and essential oils. I am not going to get into the metaphysical properties of different scents and oils (there are tons of books out there!) but I do want to share some less conventional ways that I like to use scent in my work and life.
A couple notes on using scent. Even if a particular scent is supposed to have miraculous powers for what you are trying to create, if you have a strong opposing reaction to it, then don't feel you need to work with it. As mentioned above in article, maybe your great-great-grandparent got a bee sting while picking lavender, and the powers just won't work for you. Also please note that the magic of scent is typically more relevant to natural scents, the type of scents that come directly from nature. It is the flower, plant, bark, sap, resin, etc... that carries the powerful medicine that gets imbued in scent. Therefore, chemical creations made to impersonate natural scents won't hold as much of the power. If it is not your desk, then it is the table upon the entrance of your home, or the kitchen counter where the family leaves book bags and purses, or maybe your vanity table. It is that table top space that hoards "stuff". It is seemingly important stuff because it is nothing you can throw away. And no matter how often you clean and organize, it seems to find its way back to the mess it always wants to be. This is the Desk Mess for me.
Everything on my desk is either beautiful, functional, and/or I love it. Yet, lately it has become a mess almost every day. I am here to say with complete humility that what I teach others happens to be that which I need most myself. When I look at my Desk Mess and think about cleaning up I immediately make excuses why NOTHING can move. I need the books piled in the corner because I am actively reading three of them and reference the rest repeatedly throughout the week. I need all 10 crystals in front of me because...well, they're crystals and I can never have too many crystals. I need those papers out because I will forget to do anything with them if I put them away. Yada, yada, yada. Yet, when I coach myself by asking the same questions I ask clients, I acknowledge that lack of focus has been my biggest personal downfall lately and I can't seem to pull myself together to sit and complete any one thing. And then I look at my desk and realize why. There are a million things screaming for my attention and they are all (seemingly) too important to put to the side momentarily so I can get one thing done. The time has arrived where I need to decide what really is the most important thing (or two) to focus on right now. First Step in any transformation process is acknowledgement. I hereby acknowledge to the world wide web of strangers that I hoard pretty looking shit on my desk that does not serve my truest intention and desired manifestations. So what do I do now? I will first prioritize what I need to focus on while working at my desk. Then I will clear all that pretty stuff out if it does not serve me focusing on that top priority list. For your own Mess, the actions to take might look different, but it likely entails getting rid of the things that you thought you needed. Ultimately, I encourage you to really ask yourself how each and every thing on your tabletop serves in the creation of your truest wishes. Whatever your "Desk Mess" is for you, the Mess does not have to be a constant and unfixable cycle. Yes, sometimes messes and habits will revert and cycle but that is only because you are still cycling through your personal lessons, not because the Mess is inevitable. Let me know what works for you to keep a clean and intentional work space! There are multiple steps, and many methods, to manifestation; but the special key item that is critical to manifesting ANYTHING - whether intentionally or sub-consciously - is this. Gratitude.
Gratitude is appreciating that which you already have. And by bringing your awareness to the present and to the beauty in your life, you are focusing on abundance and that focus is what will attract more of that goodness. I want to talk about this secret ingredient in the context of your home or whatever spatial environment you are working in. Let's start with an exercise. Breathe deep, ground to the earth in your minds eye, and then look around you. Really see, smell, and listen to all the detail. Notice the colors, the smells, the mess and the order. As you notice, are you judging with a critical attitude all that which you want to change or dislike? Are you loving what you see, and maybe it is the first time you have really looked at the beauty in a while? Breathe in the space and now move your focus inwardly to recognize how you feel in the space. Do you feel good? Do you feel anxiety? Try not to judge the feeling, just recognize. Once you have really gorged yourself on all the feelings and energy of the space, breathe deep again and come back to yourself. Now, what the hell do you do with this? If you had negative or challenging thoughts and emotions about the space, then I urge you to first and foremost search deeply and authentically for as many things in the space that you are grateful for. Be grateful for the size of your room, or the opportunity to create it in your own vision, or be grateful for the amazing view, etc.. You will never have the space you want it to be until you first find that which you love about it. Write those things down that you are thankful for and then practice on saying those gratitudes as the very first thing you do every single time you come into that space. If you had a lot of love and appreciation for the space, then continue to feed that energy stream and give thanks and hold space for those feelings every time you are within this space. Only after you find gratitude and repeatedly practice this gratitude that you should start to plan and design your space. If you don't find gratitude before you design a space, there will be difficulty having that gratitude either during or after you design it as well. |