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Be sure to check out this great article from eHow Home, where they give us tips and suggestions on how to design your home with the feng shui look. Be sure to sign up for our Reilly Painting sweepstakes, where you could win a free consultation from interior designer and feng shui expert Martha Royan:
If you're looking for a little slice of serenity, there's no need to check yourself into a Buddhist monastery or scamper away to India a la "Eat Pray Love."
The daily stresses of life might be enough to trigger a flight response in the form of a one-way ticket to the Himalayas, but according to some professionals, there's a simpler --- and more affordable --- way of hushing a buzzing brain: Create your own personal Zen retreat at home.
Clodagh, an interior designer based in New York City, says true Zen is all about comfort. A Zen retreat can be a meditation room, a living room, a bedroom or a garden. Choosing appropriate Zen-style elements relies heavily on the individual and what puts each individual at ease.
"Zen isn't about living in a monastery," Clodagh explained. "It's about celebrating every moment of your life."
For Clodagh, the first step in building a tranquil environment that even a monk would envy involves fighting stagnation.
"I think one of the most stressful things you could do is have too much stuff around your place. It doesn't leave your mind space to expand," Clodagh said, citing kitchens, bathrooms and closets as the major clutter culprits. "To create a Zen living space, or a calming living space, space where you can grow and think and become, the first thing you need to do is get rid of a lot of stuff. People think that if it's behind a door that it isn't going to affect you, but I believe it does."