Stage your kitchen with Feng Shui - Start 2009 Right! Welcome prosperity and good health with sound Feng Shui practices. With the New Year approaching, now is the perfect time to invite positive change into your life.

There are many schools of Feng Shui with many different schools of thought as to how to achieve goals. Recommendations will vary from school to school and practitioner to practitioner. Often the focus is on compass direction,  which may necessitate moving the kitchen to another part of the house, or rearranging the major elements (stove, sink, refrigerator, etc.) Since most of us cannot afford to move our kitchen or remodel it, here are some tips to get your kitchen in top Feng Shui shape with little or no cash outlay, just an investment of your time. Despite the fact that different schools have differing "cures", following are some basic changes you can make that apply to all kitchens. We can affect many positive changes in our lives just by applying intention - putting the energy into making a change and welcoming that change into our lives.

In Feng Shui, the condition of the kitchen can influence your level of prosperity and good health. The goals are increasing cleanliness,functionality and organization and getting rid of clutter to make room for whatever your new prosperity will bring. Follow these steps to increase your prosperity, good health and general well being:

• Clean out your refrigerator and your pantry. Get rid of  any out-of-date food or 'science projects' (all of which hold negative energy, by the way). This includes any outdated vitamins or medications you keep in your kitchen. Wipe down the shelves, clean up any old spills and crumbs. If you use shelf paper in your pantry, and it is torn damaged or worn, replace it. 
• Restock your refrigerator and pantry. A fuller refrigerator and pantry equates to prosperity and generosity. It also allows us to be prepared for whatever may come up, be it unexpected guests or a change in employment status. Don't overfill the refrigerator and pantry. We don't want them cluttered, just sufficiently full to meet our nourishment needs plus a little extra.  Put a small open box of baking soda in the refrigerator to absorb odors. Opening the refrigerator should be a pleasant experience.
• Restock your refrigerator and pantry with healthy food. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. One of the fastest paths to good health is eating healthy food. If your intention is to improve your health, then walk the walk. 
• Display fresh fruit on your counter. Abundant fruit is a symbol of prosperity and generosity (yours and the Universe's) in Feng Shui. Besides, you are more likely to eat it if it is readily available, which will improve your health and well-being.
  
• Remove everything from your cabinets. Assess everything and determine if it is really useful. With the exception of some seasonal items, if you haven't used it in the past 6 months, you should get rid of it (donate, give away to a friend, recycle or throw it away). If it is chipped, broken or otherwise damaged, either fix it or get rid of it.  That broken toaster that has been sitting in the cabinet since 2004 may be burning off some of your prosperity - send it on down the road.  If the item can be fixed (and you are likely to have it fixed) by all means, do so. If it can be repaired, but you are not inclined to do so, label it with the problem (so the recipient know what they are getting) and then donate it. If it can't be fixed or recycled, then throw it away. The goal is to get rid of clutter and make space for new and better items that will come into your life in the coming year. 
• Put the items you are keeping back in the cabinet in an orderly fashion, and in a manner that allows the item to be useful and of service to you.  No matter what anyone tells you, if the organizational system is not organic to your way of doing things, you won't be able to maintain it and it will devolve into chaos quickly. 
• Don't store large or heavy items overhead or you may feel pushed down or weighed down. Store them in a low cabinet if they need to remain in the kitchen. Besides the Feng Shui implications, it is often difficult and sometimes dangerous to remove and replace bulky or heavy items in a high cabinet.
  
• Carefully pack seasonal items (Thanksgiving turkey platter, Christmas themed plates, for example) in plastic bins and store them in the basement, a closet or the garage. They don't need to be taking up space all year in some of the most energetically valuable real estate in your house - your kitchen.
• Clean off the kitchen counters of all but the most used items that can't be stored anyplace else. Kitchen clutter (holding on to too much stuff) often manifests itself as excess weight (holding on to too many calories).
• Don't display knives on your counter or on the wall.  The "cutting Chi" they posess may cut your prosperity and create anxiety.  The best place for knives is in a drawer, stored with the blade facing down. 
• Take care of any maintenance problems. Fix the leaking faucet (money down the drain, literally and figuratively). Replace burned out lightbulbs or broken light fixtures and switches (a dark kitchen is not only dangerous, but also depressing).  Replace broken cabinet pulls (if you can't get to your food easily you will starve physically and emotionally). Broken appliances = broken energy. While the task may be small, the rewards and sense of accomplishment you will reap from the repairs will be large.
  
• Throw away your old sponges, dish rags, mop heads and broom. Start the New Year fresh. Dirt is seen as negative energy in Feng Shui. Don't drag this year's negativity into the New Year. 
• Clean your kitchen until it sparkles - every square inch of it.  Pay special attention to the stove and the stove hood. The stove, where your food is prepared, is of paramount importance to your prosperity and well-being in Feng Shui. Make sure all the burners are in good working order and use them all equally. You will be maximizing your ability to call in prosperity from multiple sources by doing so. An make sure your stove hood or extractor is working properly to remove smoke, excess humidity and odors. If you haven't done so recently, wash the extractor filters. Get rid of old greasy dirt and cut down on the chance of a fire from grease build up. 

The New Year is just around the corner. Welcome the New Year with a clean, functional, uncluttered kitchen. In Feng Shui, the condition of the kitchen can influence your level of prosperity and good health.  Follow the above steps and welcome prosperity and greater well-being in 2009.

Read the next post in this series Stage Your Bedroom With Feng Shui - Ways to Promote Better Sleep Positive Changes in the Bedroom

May Prosperity, Happiness and Good Fortune be your constant companions in 2009
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
*Stage Your Kitchen With Feng Shui - Start 2009 Right!* ©2009 Michelle Minch and Moving Mountains Design.

Michelle Minch is a graduate of the Western School of Feng Shui. For more information about home staging and feng shui please visit our Los Angeles home staging web site or contact Michelle at  (626)441-8975. Moving Mountains Design has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Sunset Magazine and numerous other national and international publications. Moving Mountains Design is an award winning full service interior design and home staging company in Los Angeles. We stage homes in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Arcadia, San Marino, Glendale, Burbank, Toluca Lake, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino and Tarzana.