The 3 R-vantages of Rearranging Your Furniture: Re-identification, Repurposing, and Redirection

“A house is much more than a mere shelter. It should lift us emotionally and spiritually.” -John Saldino

As a child, were you also taught that attaching feelings and memories to inanimate objects is bad? Scratch that. I recently discovered that it is a part of the human in us to affix feelings and memories to anything we are surrounded with, like furniture. You would be surprised how the seemingly simple things in your living space actually trigger emotions from your past— a couch can remind you of a heartbreaking conversation, the arrangement of your room can remind you of a fight, and the color scheming of your kitchen might remind you of a childhood trauma.

On a recent visit to my therapist, I opened up about a traumatic experience that I went through in our dining room, and how I still get upset whenever I see the table and chairs even if a few years have already passed. That was when I was given advice that brought a whole new perspective and respect toward interior design.

Aware that I am a decorator, my therapist suggested that I do a little rearranging in our dining room by changing the positioning of the chairs. The goal of the exercise is to identify and create a safe space that will cater to my emotional and spiritual growth. When I followed her instructions, I found myself doing the same thing for our other furniture because the process helped me deal with the wounds from my past healthily. It taught me an essential lesson that must be kept in mind when healing: renovation, to make something new from the foundations of my past.

This experience opened my eyes to the advantages of reconfiguring my home in accordance with my emotional needs, especially in terms of dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, and even psycho-trauma abuse. Here are two more mental benefits and satisfaction of interior redecoration that might help you:

Redecorating helps you re-identify your comfort and safety.

“An impact on the environment, whether an imprint or a removal, lifts mood, provides concrete satisfaction, and instills a sense of effectiveness,” writes Carrie Barron M.D., a renowned psychiatrist from Dell Medical School in Austin, Texas. She further explains that everything in your living space has a direct impact on your emotional, mental, and physical well-being. This is the very reason why it is crucial for you to have a home dedicated to living, wherein every room is a temple for the body and the soul.

Speaking from experience, if your space has been a witness to numerous traumatic experiences, the comfort, and security it brings inevitably diminishes. It comes to the point that spending any second or minute in that place can be damaging to your mental health. Redecorating gives you a great opportunity to re-identify and restore the comfort and safety of your home.

Remember that in the process of decoration, YOU are in charge. This means that you get to arrange everything, from big to small items, in accordance with your wants and needs. Having full control over the task also brings mental benefits. As explained by Dr. Nicole Villegas, an occupational and trauma therapist, said, “You are in decision-making power, and practicing this can signal your nervous system to feel safer and more relaxed.”

Rearranging your furniture allows you to redirect and repurpose your energy.

Numerous psychologists and decorators liken interior design to the Chinese practice of feng shui. “What feng shui decorating means is that you create an environment that has the best energy to support the specific activity, or activities intended for that space,” states Rodika Tchi, a leading feng shui expert. Here, it is believed that the flow of energy inside your home is dependent on how furniture and items are arranged.

Negative energy attaches itself to the furniture inside your home, and this can cause mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion. In situations like this, even the littlest things can trigger trauma and can reopen wounds. It directs all your energy solely on survival, which is not necessarily wrong, but can be harmful to your well-being.

Through interior rearrangements, you can repurpose your energy in various ways. It can be redirected towards aesthetics and creativity, towards healthy healing, and towards doing a task that will mentally and emotionally satisfy you. “ After I spent three-plus hours rearranging my furniture, I experienced profound satisfaction because I completed such a strenuous task all by myself and immediately benefited from my hard work,” shares Andie Kanaras, a culture writer and interior design enthusiast. Redecorating can help you exhaust negative energy out of your living space and attract positive energy inside your home.