Nancy McMurray is a UW-Madison freshman with a problem ... a pea-green bedroom floor.
OK, so it's not a huge problem, but for an outgoing Ogg resident who hopes to make her room a social hot spot, a stark white dorm room that could pass for a walk-in closet isn't too promising.
And most students have similar plights-from the lopsided flats on Mifflin to the private residence halls on Regent, making an unusual series of awkwardly shaped rooms into a cozy haven for partying, relaxing, sleeping (and studying?) isn't so easy.
But some may find help by applying the Chinese technique of feng shui (pronounced fung shway) to their Madison abodes.??
\Feng shui is an ancient system for working with the elements and energy of your environment. When a home is arranged according to feng shui principles, the people living there will feel more comfortable, nurtured and supported,"" explained Madison feng shui practitioner Joy Cotton.
Neshi Lokotz, owner of the Two Feathers School of Interior Alignment in Poynette, Wis., says feng shui is about balancing ch'i. Ch'i is the constant energy that enters through doorways and circulates clockwise throughout the room.??Clutter disrupts the ch'i balance, so both Lokotz and Cotton say organization is key for a healthy living space.??Lokotz explains that in dorms, if the roommate with the bed on the left has too many possessions or is messy, that person may slow the energy flow to his or her roommate.
Another aspect of feng shui includes using the bagua. According to this theory, a room or entire house can be divided into nine sections with each part supporting a different area of life.??Each gua has specific colors that enhance that aspect of life.??For example, Cotton says upon entering a room, the left corner on the same wall as the door (the ""bottom"" corner) is a knowledge space.??She suggests putting your desk, backpack and bookshelves in that area.?? To get a high level of knowledge energy flowing, Cotton says to add items that are black, green and blue. The top corner of the room is the love gua. It's the best spot for pictures of a significant other and items in pairs. An appropriate place for a bed is the love corner or the top left corner, which is the wealth area, according to Cotton.??She suggests decorating the love gua with red and pink tones.??Lokotz says each gua should balance the gua on the opposite end of the room. For instance, if one's ""helpful people and travel"" corner has a lot of pictures of vacation places, it's opposite, the wealth corner, should have many decorations too.
Aside from the bagua, there are other powerful facets of feng shui that can help improve a room.?? Cotton advises that one should be able to see the doorway from the bed and desk area so he or she won't get startled when someone enters.
""It's amazing how comfortable people feel when they have a view of the doorway,"" she said.
Cotton also emphasizes organization and personal space.??She says people that can't escape to their own room should find a small area that they can go to when they want to be alone and relax.
To achieve this, Cotton likes using furniture and decorations to divide a room.
""Anytime you can, especially with small spaces, section off an area and say 'OK, this where we're studying, this is where we're doing our creative work.' It's going to be easier to keep the space organized,"" she said.
And then there's color. Cotton and Lokotz say warm colors work best in bedrooms.
""Bedrooms should be not too bright. I tend to go with more subtle tones like you'd find in the skin tones of all the races in the world,"" Cotton explained.
Lokotz says blue tones are also soothing.
But Lokotz knows that most college renters don't have the luxury of painting their walls, so she suggests decorating walls with an appealing fabric.??To hang it, Lokotz recommends soaking the material in liquid starch, then spreading it on the walls using an x-acto knife to align the material. In the end, she says, the material should stick to the walls and look like wallpaper.??The best part is, it peels right off and requires only a wall washing when finished.
Lokotz says there's also some subtle ways to use feng shui.
""It's not only about where you put your furniture, it's about what else you put in the room,"" she said.
For example, Lokotz says televisions and alarm clocks emit low-frequency energies that can disrupt normal sleep patterns.??She suggests covering the TV with fabric before bed and keeping the alarm clock on the other side of the room.
But possibly the most important, not to mention obvious, aspect of setting up a living space is to decorate with art, pictures and colors that are appealing and comforting. So even when the nasty roaches make their inevitable first appearance, UW-Madison students can welcome them with a smile... or at least some positive energy.
