Preparing Your Home for a Special Delivery: Feng Shui, Baby!
By Angela Scott

With the baby due in less than two months, time for completing the nursery is winding down. Although every piece of décor has been meticulously placed, something isn't quite right. You circle the room, checking and double-checking for beloved baby shower gifts or possibly missing trinkets passed down from the in-laws. But everything is in its place. Eggshell walls match perfectly with the crib's soft yellow layette. The multicolored animal mobile hanging above the changing table and bright red toy chest are definite visual stimulators. Maybe the nursery is fine, but the rest of the house is in disarray, says Laura Forbes Carlin, co-author of The Peaceful Nursery: Preparing a Home for Your Baby with Feng Shui (Bantam Dell, 2005). "If the energy flow is off balance, then the environment feels all wrong. It's like you feel it instinctively," says Carlin, who, along with her sister and co-author, Alison Forbes, are owners of an interior design consulting company called The Art of Everyday Living. If These Walls Could Talk If your home reflects your life, what is it saying? Do you like the story? Take some time to write your responses to the following questions: # How do you feel about your home? # What area of your home most appeals to you, and why? # What area of your home least appeals to you, and why? # What are the qualities of your ideal home? # What are the qualities of your ideal nursery? # What areas of your life are working well for you? # What areas of your life, if any, are presenting challenges? # List in order of priority the areas in your life that you would like to enhance. Create a Life Design based on the list you just wrote. Begin by writing down each area of your life that you would like to enhance, such as health, relationships, career, family, pregnancy, creating the nursery, the first few months at home with your baby, etc. Compose a series of affirmations for each area and read your Life Design every night before you go to bed. The creative sisters' approach to interior design is based on the Western School of Feng Shui founded by Terah Kathryn Collins in 1996. According to Feng Shui, the Chinese art of object placement, every item carries an energy that resonates and flows throughout the environment. "If you have any type of negative association with any object, then you should get rid of that negative energy," says Carlin. Energy can be either positive or negative, depending on the thoughts formed about the object. For this reason, Carlin and Forbes suggest parents carefully select articles for their nurseries. "You're creating a visual affirmation," Carlin explains. "We believe that as you design your home, you have an opportunity to design your life and that of your newborn child. You're bringing to your home what you want to bring to your life." Therefore, creating a child's perfect nest also calls for re-evaluating the overall look and feel of the entire home. You Are Where You Live "Our home influences all aspects of our lives with respect to well-being: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually," Carlin says. A home's arrangement and furniture placement are the foundations that create the little moments of a family's daily lives, according to Forbes. She says it makes a significant difference when you take the time to pare down and simplify your life. The first step in paring down a home is often clearing away clutter. In The Peaceful Nursery: Preparing a Home for Your Baby with Feng Shui, Forbes and Carlin define clutter as anything that "keeps us tied to the past and delays the realization of our dreams." For many, starting the day in a cluttered environment can have a ripple effect. "If you get up in the morning and you can't find your kids' clothes because the house is a mess, the rest of your day is going to be chaotic," Carlin explains. "You're late leaving for work, the kids are late getting to school. Your life is not in order because you have too much clutter." Assess your present lifestyle to determine if an object is still meaningful. Be honest. Carlin suggests considering if the item in question now represents you and your goals or path in life. Categorizing Clutter If stumped on whether the "priceless piece" is clutter, consider the categories of clutter that Forbes and Carlin list in their design book: * Fear-Based Clutter - afraid something will happen if you get rid of the item. * Not-Accepting-Myself-Now Clutter - hanging on to pre-pregnancy clothes in hopes of slipping them on one day. * Collections - some collections tend to take over the entire living space while losing either its market or personal value. * Mental Clutter - unfinished tasks and "to-do lists" take up mental space and are psychologically draining. * Unwanted Gifts and Items We Inherit - sentimental items that are kept despite having no monetary value. * Too Expensive to Let Go Of - certain guilty purchases that remain unused. Throwing away clutter is also therapeutic. "There are many different ways to work on yourself, and the home is a powerful vehicle because it gives you something tangible to work with," Carlin explains. "By clearing away clutter, you are learning to deal with and find closure with objects and the people associated with those items now creating clutter in your home." Forbes agrees that cleaning is good for the soul. "Clearing away all of the needless clutter helps to create a new you," she says. "The old life is discarded and room is made for new people, new opportunities and the new life that you and your partner are creating for you two and your new baby." Although clearing away heaps of junk is taxing, the end result is a cleaner and more organized environment. Uninterrupted positive vibes flow throughout the home and your energy can now be spent putting finishing touches on that special room. Angela Scott is a special sections editor for United Parenting Publications. The former clutter magnet is now learning to let go of needless items. Excerpted by permission of Delta, a division of Random House Inc., from The Peaceful Nursery: Preparing a Home for Your Baby with Feng Shui, by Laura Forbes Carlin and Alison Forbes. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Authors and design consultants Alison Forbes (left) and Laura Forbes Carlin help families and individuals learn the art of Feng Shui.