Without seeing your home, it’s tough to answer feng shui questions. It’s like talking to a doctor via email and expecting a clear diagnosis. If anyone DOES give specific advice via email without seeing your space, or if you get advice via a book, etc. then beware of taking the advice to heart in any stressful or limiting sort of way.

1. While you may be right, quite often there are fixes to the issues you’ve mentioned above that are far less extensive (and expensive) than breaking down walls. So keep an open mind that other alternatives might exist…

2. Many of the things that people THINK are “bad” for them from a feng shui perspective isn’t quite so bad. Sometimes it’s not bad at all! Reading a feng shui book, even my own, can only give guidelines and generalizations. We all know that no one diet works for every person, no one home style fits every personality, no one outfit works for all folks, and no one region fits everyone’s lifestyle. We MUST keep this in mind.

3. The first thing to take into account with feng shui is: How’s your life working?

If your life is going great, and your home or bedroom, etc. doesn’t fit into some common feng shui guidelines, then perhaps you’re doing just fine. Although if you’re not sleeping well, struggling through life, or challenged with relationships, and you can’t quite seem to find solutions that fit, you may need to hire professional help to get more specific and creative suggestions to your home’s design.

4. If you can’t change something, LOVE IT! That goes for ourselves and every other person and situation in our lives. Fighting “what is” creates undue stress and frustration, so embrace the home you have, yet keep reaching out joyfully for more insights and info if you’re moved to do so. Remember, the end result of good Feng Shui is to FEEL wonderful — so if anything you read has to thinking stressful thoughts about your home, release them, put a smile on your face, and move forward.

I see far, far, FAR too many people learning about feng shui and feeling less-than-fabulous about their homes afterwards. They feel badly that their home isn’t “right” or feel like everything is “wrong” in the space. Your home, as it is, found YOU – and is utterly perfect. And so are you. You have a relationship with one another, you and your home – and the sooner you embrace, accept and heal that connection, the more you two will begin to dance together.

Do the best you can with what you have. ALWAYS. Love your home – no matter what, no matter what, no matter what.