Children's rooms are very special and there's no getting around the
fact that their color and design deeply influence a child. Where we
have to be careful is to not let adult preferences and the marketing
environment overwhelm good sense. It is important to develop a true
sensitivity as to what a young child needs to feel safe and secure.
How do you know if a child's room is successful? The best indicator
is how well they are sleeping!
If
the child is waking up in the middle of the night, is having bad dreams
or is in fear of monsters under the bed or in the closet, that room
is not working as well as it could. When you design for very young children,
it's important to remember that they spend much of their time in the
highly creative theta state where shapes are the primary language.
When
designers warns about the problem of sharp angles and the comfort of
curves, here's why. A child's primal body reads straight lines, stripes
and sharp objects, like Venetian blinds, as fangs and claws. Meanwhile,
a curve or circle is sensed as similar to the shape of the Mother's
breast. Where would you rather sleep, surrounded by fangs or cushy curves?
Here's a little Feng Shui hint for you.
Just
because you're grown up doesn't mean that your body reads those shapes
any differently from when you were a child. We consulted in a child's
bedroom in which the walls, bed covers and pillows were thin white stripes
on a blue background. The windows had blue mini blinds. The Mother,
who was a professional graphic designer, loved it. The child would not
sleep in that room. Every night the parents shared their pillows with
a little interloper.
This
might explain why he was, so far, an only child. When decorating the
walls, avoid high contrasts, stripes and angles. Lean towards soft curves
and brushed finishes. If you are including a decorative border, make
sure the pattern is organically shaped. Why do children love ducklings
and bunnies? They're all curves and fuzz! Those shapes are completely
unthreatening. Another indicator of whether the room is working is when
children can play there quietly and settle down to sleep easily. Noisy
play is for the playground. The bedroom is their creative haven.
As
Bill Cosby says about children fighting and arguing "Father's are not
concerned with fair, Father's simply want quiet." He has a point there!
An important component for creating this harmony and setting reasonable
energy levels is the color you paint the room. Color is a very emotionally
charged subject. Let's start by saying that gender specific colors are
not necessarily the way to go in today's world.
If
a little girl's ambition is to be 'Xena the Warrior Princess', pink
and lavender may not be the best choice for her room. However, if your
little one is a 'Princess in Training', you can feel free to indulge
her love of lace. That little boy who is all ‘spit and vinegar’ on the
ball field is still his Mother's tender little child when he lays his
head down on his pillow. Don't confuse the colors of the playroom and
the bedroom. A couple of words of caution! Have variety in the colors.
The human aura responds to the vibrations around it. A monochromatic
room inhibits emotional flexibility and creative growth.
Here's a classic case. A client's daughter grew up in a completely lavender
room. Every bit of cloth, every object, every pillow was lavender, a
color known for promoting chastity. By choice, she went to all girl
schools right through college and eventually became a nurse, all with
barely a date. Even though she had moved out of the house and into her
own apartment, the pattern was still active. A child's relationship
to their room is very profound. Upon our advice, her father ripped the
lavender wallpaper down. Two weeks later their daughter met a nice young
man and very quickly that encounter turned into a good relationship.
While
blues and lavenders are not preferred for an adult's room, their cooling
and calming energy is fine for an overactive child. Skin tones are appropriate
for the walls of bedrooms at any age. Light pinks are very calming.
Avoid bright walls in all bedrooms. Today's over-lit neighborhoods create
a nighttime environment that is not truly dark. A bright white or yellow
room may reflect too much light to permit deep sleep. Yellow is good
for a study room since it promotes mental clarity, but in a bedroom
it may cause respiratory problems.
Remember
that red and other bright colors are energizing, so avoid using them
in a child's bedroom. You don't want tempers to flare during study time,
or energy levels to rise at sleep time. Green is a stable and balancing
color that makes it a good choice for all ages. Avoid cold colors, since
no one wants to be cold in their bedroom. Soft plant patterns are always
suitable. They calm the body and make us feel nurtured. Consider how
the color will look during both the day and night.
Children
aren't popped out of cookie molds; each has their individual needs.
For instance, some children are extremely light sensitive and require
light inhibiting colors and window coverings to sleep well. If they're
born with strong Gemini, Libra or Aquarius in their western astrological
charts, or born in the hours of the Tiger (3 AM-5AM), Horse (11AM-1PM)
or Dog (7PM-9PM) they may be sensitive to light or other distractions.
The bed, of course, is very important.
A
child's aura is squiggly. If you want them to feel secure and sleep
well, make sure the bed has a headboard to ground that crown chakra.
A real wooden headboard is best. This is true for babies as well, and
will often stop the little ones from moving all over the crib at night.
A young child's bed can have one side along a wall, although it is not
ideal. However, starting at the age of twelve, they need to have both
sides of the bed open and accessible, so their aura can expand. When
they are lying in bed on their back, if their left side is against the
wall it inhibits their sense of self-worth.
If
the right side is against the wall it restricts their ability to reach
out to others. Neither is preferable in a sociable youngster. The same
is true for bunk beds. They can provide a cozy nest for a little one,
but once they come into their own animal year (a child born in the year
of the Rabbit is twelve years old in the next Rabbit year) they need
a bigger nest. One bit of advice about bunk beds! Attach a piece of
cloth to the underside of the upper bunk, to conceal the angular cross
slats from the child in the lower bunk. Bedrooms that are too large
and multi-purpose don't make good nests.
If
a child is lying in bed and they find themselves staring at their desk
with their homework waiting to be done, how restful can they feel? What
if they're looking at a TV? They're trying to sleep and the TV is whispering
to them "Pssst! Hey, I've got eighty-seven channels. I bet there's something
on right now you'd like to see." Or what does that line of dolls and
stuffed animals on the shelf look like late at night? All of their fluffiness
turns into a line of shadows and dark, beady eyes! When you set up their
room, lie down on their bed and turn off the lights. Imagine you're
a little child alone in the dark. It's okay, you can grab the Teddy
Bear. It will let you feel what they feel.
If
the room is too large, partition it with screens and make sure the views
from the bed are rounded and soft. Use screens or furniture to visually
separate play and study areas from the bed. Don't place shelves or furniture
any place where they tower over the bed, or point at the sleeping child.
Make sure their bed can command the door, or the walk way past the screen.
Generally, the far right hand corner is a good place for a child's bed.
It's away from the energy flow coming in the door, and it's in a part
of the personal Euro Bagua that relates to nurturing. Children should
learn at a young age to leave their shoes at the front door and in any
case, to never wear them into their sleeping room.
Shoes
pick up all kinds of nasty negativity from pollution and chaos. Their
sneakers can drag that into their bedroom and the next thing you know
there are monsters under the bed and in the closet. A healthy house
has a shoe rack by the main door with a scented potpourri to scrub that
yucky stuff away. Here are a few final thoughts. Keep children's beds
away from any electrical sockets, even if that means pushing the bed
a little bit away from the wall.
Keep
televisions and computer monitors away from their beds and remember
to check on the other side of the walls because those kinds of fields
go right through sheet rock. Yes, we mean that there should be no electronics
anyplace near a child's bed. Most people are healthier when the heads
of their beds point magnetic north, northeast or northwest. A Scandinavian
study showed that the single most effective sleep aid was keeping the
feet warm. Make your kids wear socks to bed, or better yet, pajamas
with the socks attached. Are socks part of the esoteric toolbox? Maybe!
In Astrology the feet relate to Pisces, the fishes, and it's the ruler
of imagination and dreams. Maybe fuzzy socks soften the pathway to warm
and cozy dreams.
Drs.
Ralph and Lahni DeAmicis were directors of one of America's largest
and most modern professional Feng Shui practitioner programs, based
in Philadelphia. Their books Feng Shui and the Tango, Happiness
Lessons and Prosperity Lessons, from the Feng Shui Fuzion
Series are transforming the practical applications of environmental
design in America. For a complete directory of their articles and a
catalog of their books and other products, visit www.SpaceAndTime.com.
Copyright 2002 Ralph and Lahni DeAmicis
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