Carpet Care And Feng Shui
Most of us are concerned about protecting those things that add beauty and walk through
value to our homes -- and this means, perhaps most of all, protecting carpet from stains. After all, carpet stains are not only unsightly, but harmful to the long term strength of the carpet fibers. Dirt, dust, and gritty stain material all act as a sort of scour on the surface of your carpet. This means that last night's sticky wine stain, as it sets in to the carpet, becomes not only an attractant for bugs, but a patchwork of sharp, stuck-together carpet fibers that press into, and make microscopic cuts in, the bottom of the carpet.
But when we think about protecting carpet from stains, there is one way of preventing carpet stains that we do not automatically think about -- even though it's been one of the most successful home decorating trends of the past twenty years. Feng Shui, the nearly three thousand year-old Chinese concept of balancing the energies in a particular living space, is deeply involved in a cultural context little understood by many. But home decorating experts have found that, for whatever reason, some of the implications of Feng Shui can lead to a better looking home even for people who little understand the philosophical tradition from which it grows.
Those English speaking readers who wish to understand Feng Shui deeply can consult the many classic works of Taoist philosophy that are available in English translation. (They would be well advised to start with Lao Tzu's beautifully simple Tao te Ching.) However, the basics of Feng Shui as a home decorating philosophy -- rather than as, simply, a philosophy -- and its implications for protecting carpet from stains can be understood in as little time as it takes to knock over the coffee cup you're sipping from as you read this, creating yet another unsightly carpet stain.
First of all, de-clutter your home. This is the first piece of advice many books on Feng Shui will offer - and it's good news for your carpet, as well. The fewer non essential items you keep in your home, the better you can see your carpet. This may seem a fairly basic point, but the fact is that some stains set in secret, without the homeowner noticing. That suicidal bottle of nail polish, that kamikaze water glass: each of these can fall without being noticed by anyone and do its stain making work in secret. The more occluded your home space is with unnecessary bits of furniture, the harder it is to notice carpet destroying elements at work.
It's also good for the soul to de-clutter, to realize how little is actually needed in each room, and to let your living space have the empty fullness of a Hemingway sentence or a brilliant, simple meal. De-cluttering also helps homeowners to think hard about their own priorities and values, and to make a home that reflects their own needs. Perhaps you need to give yourself permission to get rid of that ugly armoire from Grandma which is displayed out of a misplaced sense of duty. Or maybe it's that shelf full of books you will never re-read again, but which look smart in the guestroom.
De-cluttering does not just mean getting rid of furniture and large items you don't need, though. It also means keeping the tops of things -- bookshelves, dressers, unused tables -- free of all but the most essential items. (This is thought important in Feng Shui because it is essential to use natural light as much as possible, and not to block it.) This means no more desk tops crowded with unused, unnecessary items, and fewer of those coffee cups knocked to the ground.
Further, the Feng Shui principle of keeping natural light sources unblocked is a great way to ensure that your carpet, again, remains as visible as possible, thus protecting carpet from stains caused by those subtler spills and discolorations. Carpet stains don't have a chance to set in a light-filled, simple environment.
Finally, part of Feng Shui is the idea of deciding which kind of energy is associated with each part of the home. This aspect of Feng Shui is harder for non-Taoists to swallow, but one of its immediate corollaries is the idea of keeping each room dedicated to its particular purpose and not allowing, for example, the room (or part of the room) dedicated to money matters to also be your sleeping space. This means, immediately, that special eating spaces are defined and delimited, so that food stays in certain parts of the house at all times. And protecting carpet from stains is a lot easier if the "no eating allowed" zones are carefully separated from everywhere else. No food in carpeted areas means fewer carpet stains!
by: Kara Knapp
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