How to Use Feng Shui to Improve Your Small Home Office

For centuries, the ancient Chinese traditional practice of feng shui has been used in homes and offices to create balanced layouts, improve the flow, and harmonize the people who live and work in them with their surroundings. Even if you don’t particularly believe that they will bring wealth or success into your life, you can count on the principles of feng shui to enhance the design of your home or workplace.

In a small home office, feng shui can help you feel less claustrophobic or closed in while you’re working. A few small shifts will help you feel a lot better and possibly make you more productive, too. Here’s how to make use of the principles of feng shui to make practical changes to your small home office:

Light it well

The importance of having a well-lit office simply can’t be understated. It’s positively draining to have to work in a dark office; having ample light can boost your energy levels and enhance your productivity.

It’s always good to let plenty of natural light in, so keep your windows open and adorn them with sheer curtains to soften the glare. You’ll also want supplementary lighting to illuminate shadowy spaces. An LED corner floor lamp such as the Fancy Edge from our catalog is an excellent space-saving solution that provides both ambient lighting and storage.

This 3-way dimmable LED corner floor lamp is equipped with omnidirectional light poles, can be placed in any corner, and casts a warm, stress-relieving glow. It’s also a display shelf that can hold up to 60 pounds of items on each tier. You can use it to hold your favorite books, decorative tchotchkes, or important files and documents. Truly, it’s an LED corner floor lamp that’s a worthy addition to a home office where space is scarce.

Position your desk properly

The “command position” is one of the foundational principles in feng shui that refers to a place in any room that empowers you. It involves having a clear view of the door and the rest of the room, without being directly in line with it.

Since the desk will most likely take up the most space in a small home office, it’s important to put it in the command position. Doing so will give you a better view if anyone comes in, keeping you from being startled while you’re working. Avoid pushing your desk up next to a window, as the glare will make it harder for you to see what’s in front of you. Furthermore, doing so actually blocks that valuable natural light. You’ll want to float your desk somewhere in the middle of the room, as far away from the door as possible, leaving plenty of space in front of it. In feng shui, this placement gives space for future opportunities to flow in. The back of your chair should face a solid wall to provide strong support.

If the command position in the room feels a bit too dark for your liking, you may want to invest in a functional desk that comes with a built-in lamp, such as our Future Charging Desk. This modern mid-century desk also features a state-of-the-art Qi wireless charging pad that can wirelessly charge any capable devices you own, as well as three ports conveniently located up front for USB-A, USB-C, and A/C power connections.

Clear the clutter out

A neat office space invites good feng shui, but that’s not all. Making sure that the place where you work is clean and clutter-free can do wonders for your mental and emotional well-being. It’s been scientifically proven that clutter can affect you negatively: it makes the body produce more cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. When this happens, your anxiety levels can spike and you may have trouble focusing and sleeping.

To keep your home office clutter-free, make sure that there’s a space for everything, and that you put all the items you use back in their proper place. Here, again, you may find our Fancy shelves handy. The Fancy 3-in-1 display shelf from our collection is everything you love about our Fancy Edge in an even smaller footprint: it’s 11.4” on all sides to the Edge’s 11.6”, which still won’t take up too much space.

Use scents to dictate the mood

Fragrances and scents are often used in feng shui to improve the balance in spaces, trigger specific mental and emotional responses, and create harmonious energy. Here are a few scents you may want to consider bringing into your home office:

• Citruses such as mandarin and tangerine can give you a much-needed energy boost, helping you stay alert and awake.
• Peppermint, eucalyptus, and other green herbal scents can help clear your mind and improve your focus.
• Rosemary is said to have a positive effect on the memory and can also help you feel more alert.

For more practical and beautiful furnishings for your home office, don’t forget to check out our main page.