Careers Business Ownership Feng Shui Ideas for Your Home Business Print Getty Images Business Ownership Becoming an Owner Home Business Small Business Online Business Entrepreneurship Operations & Success Industries Table of Contents Expand Choose an Ideal Location Get Rid of the Clutter Place Your Desk in the Command Position Include All Five Elements Into Your Office Have Good Lighting Have Visually Appealing Elements Add Feng Shui to Your Computer Screen Post Your Business Name Prominently By Leslie Truex Leslie Truex Leslie Truex has over 20 years of experience as a writer and a home entrepreneur. She is the author of multiple books on running a home business. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 02/21/19 Feng shui is an ancient Chinese system of creating harmony and balance through how items are placed in your environment. In feng shui, structures, rooms, and objects provide negative or positive energy depending on what they are, where they’re placed, and in what direction they face. In terms of home business success, using feng shui to set up and organize your home office can help you increase creativity and productivity, while reducing stress. Feng shui is a fairly elaborate and detailed art form with its own lexicon and rules, but you can get the benefits of feng shui when you set up or makeover your home office using the eight following tips. Choose an Ideal Location Getty Images Having a light, airy, clean, inspiring space is at the base of feng shui. For this reason, an office in the basement isn’t ideal, as they often have poor lighting. Plus, its location as the lowest part in your home, represents a diminishing of your business’ importance. You should also choose a space that is away from your bedroom and other spots where you conduct your personal life. Living and working in the same space can create inner conflict; you feel like you need to work when you’re doing personal activities, or want to do personal activities when you’re working. Get Rid of the Clutter Getty Images Positive energy needs to flow through your space for creativity and productivity. Clutter blocks flow and produces negative energy, often in the form of stress and/or low mood. When decluttering, don’t just consider what’s on your desk, but also reduce clutter in your bookcases, on shelves, and even on your walls. Place Your Desk in the Command Position Getty Images Traditional feng shui uses a compass and an energy map called Bagua to determine the proper placement and orientation of your furniture. Short of that, you can place your desk in the command position, which is the spot furthest from the door to the room, without being in direct line with it and yet with a direct view of it. The desk should be placed diagonally to the door with the idea that from that spot you can see everything that is going on in the room. Have a solid wall behind you, which offers support. Consider putting a picture there that represents power. Include All Five Elements Into Your Office Getty Images This might seem hard. But in fact, including earth, wood, metal, fire and water can be fairly easy. Earth can be added with the use of plants in your home office, which provide a host of benefits including cleaning the air, improving mood, and enhancing productivity and creativity. Wood can be your desk, picture frame, pencil or any other wooden item. Metal can be decorative or your file cabinet. Fire can be candles or simply ample light into the room. Water may be the most involved to add, but having a small desk fountain or a fish tank can add the water element to your home office. Have Good Lighting Getty Images Ideally, you should have natural light in your office. The brightness increases good energy, and can represent the element of fire. If your office has poor, dim lighting, it can bring the energy of the space down. If you’re in a basement or room with no windows, or simply have poor nature light into a room, get lights that brighten the room without being harsh. Also, instead of relying on one overhead light, include ambient lighting, using a lamp on your desk and other sources of light in the room. Have Visually Appealing Elements Getty Images There can be a balance between having items that bring you joy and having too much of a good thing that leads to clutter. Your goal is to surround yourself with things that inspire you and boost your mood. Art work is a great and affordable option for this. Add Feng Shui to Your Computer Screen Getty Images Use a visually appealing desktop graphic and screensaver, perhaps that includes one or more of the elements. Make sure the colors on your screen and website don’t inadvertently conflict with each other. Feng shui has some specific ideas about color and color combinations, and how they can inspire or create negative energy. Post Your Business Name Prominently Getty Images Kathryn Weber, a certified master practitioner of feng shui, suggests framing your business name and hanging in a position where you have to look up at it. It represents elevating your business into a position of importance. Don’t underestimate the power of a positive workspace to inspire and motivate you to build a successful home business. The tips above can help you be productive, and therefore boost profits in your home business.