After years of staging homes going on the market I decided it was time to work on my own house. For those of you who have remodeled while living in your house, you know the stress level is high.

You soon realize, it takes longer than planned. It is a lot messier than you could ever imagine. It costs more than you were planning. At some point, you lose your mind and your patience. You want your house back. For two months my house was a constant state of chaos with rooms spilling onto each other. It was also my busiest spring market-staging season.

There is that task you know you should do but don’t and time passes and it’s forgotten. For me it was smudging my house. With limited time to put everything back, I felt stuck even though a few areas of the house were complete and looked great.

Clarity

My stumbling block was my office that I wanted to redesign with a new desk. I searched online for weeks but nothing felt right until it dawned on me, my desk doesn’t belong in the new spot. It felt like it was shoved in a corner. Just by moving my desk back to the original location, I felt great relief and clarity. It felt expansive.

Intuitively proper placement revealed itself on rehanging my artwork except for one large piece. I struggled with hanging it but it worked with new elements in my dining room and I could change it later. Later came sooner. Within one hour, it came crashing down with shattered glass flying all over. My hook was still attached to the wall but the wire snapped. I got the message! It wasn’t meant to be there.

Let’s clear the energy

It was time to smudge my house to clear negative energy from the changes, including my own from the stress of it all. The smoke from the sage bundle was quite intense but did not set off any smoke alarms, a question I am frequently asked.
Smudging makes a huge difference on how your home feels. Divorce, death and every day tension add to the layers of energy a home holds. Sometimes the energy of a home is so thick, it’s palpable. When working with clients, I know which house may need it because I can sense it.

How to smudge

Be clear about setting your intention. A few loose pieces of sage or a sage bundle, a bowl to catch embers and something to light it is all you need. Keep doors and windows closed. Start by the front door and work clockwise by going room to room, corner to corner, opening closets and letting the smoke do it’s work. End by opening the front door to allow the negative energy to leave.
Pay attention to wear the smoke is excessive. Closets tend to hold a lot of negative energy. We wash our clothes but we don’t wash our shoes, coats, handbags, etc. Energy can get stuck there.

Moving forward

My house looks great with a few more items to work on which will be covered in an upcoming column. So I ask you, how does your home make you feel?