Feng Shui for Homeowners Part 2: How to Use Feng Shui in Your Home

How do you actually use Feng Shui in your home?

In this episode of Real Estate Connections, host Mary Foerster welcomes back Interiors Therapy expert Suzanne Roynon for a deeper, more practical conversation on how to apply Feng Shui principles in everyday life.

Following a popular episode on decluttering and Feng Shui basics, Suzanne returns to share how homeowners can identify key areas of their home and make simple changes that improve health, relationships, and overall wellbeing.

This episode focuses on real-world application, helping you understand what to look for in your own space and what actions you can take immediately.

In This Episode You’ll Learn

• The four types of home energy and how they impact your life
• How to locate the health, wealth, and relationship areas in your home
• What clutter and neglected spaces may be signaling
• How to use simple Feng Shui techniques to improve energy flow
• The role of color and natural elements in creating balance
• What to consider when downsizing or transitioning to a smaller space
• Why keeping only meaningful items matters for emotional wellbeing

Guest: Suzanne Roynon

Suzanne Roynon is an internationally recognized Interiors Therapy expert and member of the International Feng Shui Guild. Based in the UK and working with clients worldwide, she helps people understand how their homes influence relationships, health, wealth, and overall wellbeing.

She is the author of the award-winning bestseller Welcome Home: How Stuff Makes or Breaks Your Relationship and has been featured by BBC, Grand Designs Live, Ideal Home Show, Architectural Digest, and The Sunday Times Style.

Website
http://www.interiorstherapy.com

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https://www.instagram.com/interiors_therapy

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/interiorstherapy/

This episode is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

You are going to enjoy a really wonderful learning session today with Suzanne Roignon from Hertfordshire in England. Suzanne joined us on a session on decluttering. Very important in the whole world of real estate to clear out property. No matter what the reason is, whether you're moving, whether you're renovating, whether you have to get a big cube in the backyard and fill it up with furniture. So the important thing is to actually have good energy in your home for your quality of life. And that's what Suzanne talks about today in terms of feng shui. So enjoy. I hope you love it. Comment, thank you. You know, write us a review, subscribe, the usual, the usual treatment of a podcast. Thank you all. Welcome to Real Estate Connections Podcast, where relationships open doors. I'm Mary Forrester, and housing is a universal need. We are often thinking about our existing housing, our future housing, that possibly of family members. This is where you're going to hear the issues and the people who are working the issues every day. Please hit subscribe and like if you find this podcast helpful to you. Thank you. Welcome to Real Estate Connections Podcast. This is our second interview with Suzanne Roignon, and she is with us all the way from Hertfordshire, England. And you'll know it soon as soon as she starts speaking. Suzanne is an internationally recognized expert on interior therapies. And you're saying, what is that? Well, we're going to find out a little bit more. We've we found out more with the first episode. And I urge you to go back and look at the episode on decluttering. It got lots of attention, Suzanne, lots of fun and lots of comments. And so it was really wonderful. So Suzanne is the author of Welcome Home. And uh she's going to talk to us about the importance of energy in a home, particularly with reference to an ancient Chinese practice called Feng Shui.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

So welcome, Susan. How are you doing today? I am very well, Mary. It's a pleasure to be back again. Thank you. And it's so good to know that people enjoyed the previous episode we did.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

They did. They really, really did. And um everybody was so anxious to hear, oh, how do I declutter? And, you know, we all want to get out of the winter doldrums right now. And spring is pretending to come.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

You know, as as I said the last time, if you want some motivation, you know, I do these inspiration calls, which last half an hour. It costs about the equivalent of 12 bucks, I think, depending on where your exchange rate is right now. And you get my undivided attention. And I will tell you what's slowing things down for you, what you can do immediately to improve improve the throw of energy in your home. Wonderful. Yeah, it's it's a lovely thing to do, and it's just really connects. And there's no commitment. It's just something that I enjoy doing because I know it makes a difference.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Oh, I bet it does. I bet it does. And and I have an interest in feng shui, and I can't remember why or when, but we moved into a town called Vienna, Virginia, and I think your daughter was not far from there when she was in Virginia.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

She was in Arlington, for example.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Arlington, that's right, Arlington. And uh, for some reason, we got to implement some principles of feng shui in that house, and it made so much sense. So rather than me keep talking, let's hear uh let's hear about how you introduce people to feng shui and the importance of feng shui in our homes, our businesses, really.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

So, what we've talked about is is giving you some very, very simple feng shui advice. And, you know, lots of people start off talking about feng shui by by saying where it came from and why. And actually, what people want to know is what is feng shui going to do to me for me? You know, how can it make my life better? So let's save 10 minutes of guff and just go straight into the fact that every home is unique, every home will have different energy, and sometimes that energy is very supportive of the people living there, but other times it really, really isn't. And we work in feng shui. Um, I study and um sort out my clients with flying stars, which is uh one of the feng shui traditional methods. So there are four kinds of house type in feng shui. There's a house that's good for people and good for money. So if you're watching this now, what I want you to do is just listen in to these descriptions and see if you can fine-tune what kind of house you're living in from these descriptions. So, a house that's good for people and good for money, this is going to be a very lucky house. You're going to do well financially, your relationships, your health, your well-being are all going to be on a pretty even keel. This is the lucky house to live in. Things just go right. And you can't, you don't know why that happens, but you know, there are a lot of people around who are very envious of the fact that everything seems to go well for you. So that's the first house type. And another house type is good for people, but it's bad for money. Now, in this house, you'll be healthy, you'll probably have a very happy family, you'll it'll be the sort of life and soul of the place, but there will never ever be enough money at the end of the month. And it doesn't matter if you win the lottery or you have this really high-paying job that gives you a huge bonus, you'll find that your expenditure goes up to take into account that bonus almost to the penny, almost to the dime of what you receive will go out in repairs to the car, a new washing machine, something goes wrong, you know, something like that. So that's a bad for money house. Then there's a house that's bad for people, but it's good for money. Now, this is where you'll get behind net worth divorces uh because relationship struggle, health struggles. Uh, this is where the kids act up, the the partnership is rocky. It's a very challenging house to live in. Um, it's one thing after another goes wrong for the people. It might be silly things like um, you know, you go for a run and trip over a curb or you fall off your bike. But just those niggles, or it can be much, much more serious, much more significant. So that's the bad for people energy. But the fact that it's good for money means that there's always enough money to pay for the therapist or the divorce lawyer or the hospital treatment, whatever you need. The last house type, which is the most challenging to live with, and I have very personal experience of this, is a house that is bad for both people and money. So you've got all the bad stuff going on with health and relationships, for example, but then there's never enough money to deal with it when it does happen. So the great thing about Feng Shui is it balances out the negativity and it boosts the positive stuff. So, although the apartment that I live in right now is bad for people and money, I do very nicely here. Thank you very much, because I've balanced it out. But my neighbors don't have the same experience. So my neighbors in homes that have not been renovated are really quite struggling now. So it's it's just that's the overview of those house types. Now, we've all heard in you know, people people who've heard of Fortui have heard, oh, there's a relationship area, and there's the wealth area, and there's the health area. And those are the three places that most people want to know about. And especially when you get to 60, I'm gonna be 60 in a couple of weeks. Absolutely. No, thank you. The whole midlife thing, you start to really, really focus on your health, don't you? Things don't go quite as planned necessarily. So, what we want to be doing is thinking about right, where's the health area? That is the center of your home. So if you look from the front to the back of your home and side to side, the very center of your home is what we call the health area. And this takes care of your physical, emotional, and mental health. So if you've got a lot of rubbish there, it's where you keep the trash or you've got storage cupboards full of broken things, that's going to be having an impact on your health. You're going to be feeling it. So if you're struggling, if anybody in your home is struggling with their health, their well-being, um, emotionally, and let's face it, it's quite a stressful time for us all right now. Yes. Then go and have a look in the center of your home and see what's going on there. And if there's anything that you can declutter, if you've got trash there, empty those trash bins each day. You know, sometimes there's nowhere else to keep the trash. It might be the only place to keep the laundry in a smaller house. Just don't let it build up so you've got a pile of dirty laundry there. Wash it, you know, and empty the bins. Get rid of the dystritus, the clutter, the mess. If you've got plants there that are sick, sort them out. You know, take off the dead leaves or get rid of the whole plant. Don't have dried flowers there. Look for cobwebs. These are all signs that your health is going to be impacted in the centre of your home. Now, the next area that people want to know about is their wealth area. So the wealth area sits in the southeast of the home. How are we going to find that? We've all got a smartphone, haven't we? We do.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

We do.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

So on every smartphone, there is a compass app. It will look a little bit like that. Oh, yes. All right. Yes. So again, stand in the center of your home, take out your compass app, and look to see where the southeast is pointing on your compass. Mine's over there. Luckily. So once you know which direction your southeast is, I want you to go and take a look there. What have you got? Is this the place that you keep broken stuff? Old piles of magazines that you're never going to get around to reading. Or is it the place where you keep details of your investments? Uh if you is it where you might have your safe, or are that are there elements of your life that represent wealth to you? Because it's not just about wealth, it's about blessings, it's about the things we have to be grateful for. It's about abundance. Prosperity and abundance. Yeah, prosperity. Prosperity, yes. Abundance comes in all kinds of ways. So, you know, for me, abundance might be having enough money that I can jump on a flight to the States and see my daughter whenever I like. Um, for somebody else, it might be having a garden full of fresh flowers that means that throughout the year they can fill their home with beautiful fresh flowers. You know, abundance means different things to different people. Um, but if we we just highlight that southeast area for wealth and we go and we think about right, what is here? Is this representing wealth to me? Or have I got um scuffs on the paintwork, maybe some torn wallpaper? Is uh has the cat chewed up the rug in that corner? All of which is saying, you know, it's a bit tatty, it's a bit unloved. What can we do? Because that's if if we're showing that our home that we don't care, then the it's it's you're not going to get the same results, essentially. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 12:44

It makes a lot of sense, and it makes me think about all the nail salons I've gone into where there's been a little altar, you know, with uh with uh incense or maybe some fresh flowers or some food and maybe a Buddha or something like that, you know, some religious symbol, um, and lit every day. So if this if the southeast area has a representation of prosperity as well, that would do. Yes. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

I mean, you could I keep a money pot in my southeast. What is a money pot? So it's it's uh literally it's a pot of money, it's a beautiful pot, and it's filled with loose change. I sit that on a round mirror, and there's so much loose change in it that it's overflowed onto the mirror, and the mirror is symbolically doubling what's in that pot, you see. So I always say to people, start small, start with a sort of votive candle size thing, and when you've got enough change to overflow that, then go to the next pot up and the next pot up. I've not left it. There are three pots over there right now.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

And I hope that it's representative of your existing what's happening in your life today as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Well, it is, and that's a wonderful thing. So even in this apartment, which is legendarily bad for money, you know, the money is overflowing. Touch wood, that's very nice. Thank you very much. That is the joy of having a fong shui home. It's those little things that take it from, you know, bumping along the bottom and and hoping for the best to okay, all's good, you know, this is great. Wonderful. Now, another area of the home that many, many people are interested in now. So these are sometimes younger people, sometimes our age, it's about relationships, the relationship area in your southwest. Now, this relationship area isn't just about the significant other in your life, if you have one, it's about your relationship with yourself. And if you are open and interested in developing a relationship with somebody new, perhaps you've been widowed or divorced, a relationship has ended, whatever. If you are open to developing a new relationship, there are things we can do. If you are in a relationship, there are things that we can do to boost and enhance that relationship should it need it. And there are all kinds of ways that we can do this.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

So Suzanne and I were just talking about the relationship area in the house of being the southwest of the home. And um, we had to reach out to the husband unit who's upstairs, who's our sound engineer, as we lost sound. So there was a perfect, perfect segue, Suzanne, to talk about relationships because he's he's my significant yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Yeah, because what he did was he came in and he absolutely rescued the situation, wasn't he? Saved the day. Beautiful. Right. So let's just go back to thinking about what you might put in the Southwest if you want to just reinforce every part of your relationship. And it doesn't matter whether it's beautifully happy or it's a bit sticky and you want to keep it. So the only photos you would ever keep in your Southwest are pictures of you with your significant other. This is not the place for family photos, nothing of the mother-in-law, not the kids, not the grandchildren. The Southwest is about you and your significant other and no one else. Now, if you have ended a relationship, what you definitely want to do is remove those photos of you with your significant other. If it's ended under, you know, difficult situations, a divorce or a separation, whatever. What about widowing? What about death? Exactly. If you have been widowed and like my mum, you've you're very comfortable being, you know, you're not looking for anything new, then absolutely keep those photos of your beloved there in the southwest, because it doesn't matter that they're no longer with us here on earth, they're still there in our hearts and they're still the significant other, even if they've they've passed on, you know?

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Excellent.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

So if you are interested in beginning a new relationship, now this is something quite interesting to play with, I think. Um, what you would do is you would find a picture or an image that represents the kind of relationship that you want for yourself. Now, if you've been divorced, like I I was divorced, um I probably wouldn't want to reignite something along those same lines. You know, my my thinking is that didn't work out for me. Let's let's do something better. And so I'm thinking, well, what do I want in a relationship? And then I might, for example, you know, I like going for lovely long walks in the forest. So having a picture of two people going for a walk in the forest, and it can just be figurative. It don't you don't need faces or that you know, there's this, you know, tall chap with dark hair and glasses or whatever. Um, just a figurative picture of a couple of whatever description your ideal couple is walking towards you in a forest. That's what would work for me. Other people, it might be a beach, might be hang gliding or train spotting. You know, there are people who love to train spot still. So, you know, find something that represents the relationship that you want. But remember that first and foremost, that Southwest is about the relationship with yourself. So again, let's be looking at all of the things that are there. Have we got single items? We talked about single items last time round, didn't we? And the impact of having one of something around the place, because that reinforces your solitude, your single status, if you like. So if you want to bring somebody new into your life, let's have things in two. But that's also about balance. We want a balanced life. So don't buy things in ones, buy things in twos. If you're buying uh a new mug, for example, buy two that match. If you're buying a lamp, buy two, two cushions, two throws, and bring that energy of balance into your life, and that's really quite a powerful thing in Feng Shui. Even if you don't want to be in a new relationship, if you're living alone, perfectly content, but still have that balance.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

But makes sense because you want relationships, right? And they may not be uh romantic relationships or or intense relationships, but but we are human. You know, we want to be connected with others.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Connection. So, so so important. And, you know, well, um, you can you can book a session with me and we can go through all of the other areas. If we get time, Mary, I will run through each of those, each of the other areas of the house and what they what they stand for. So that if there's a particular thing that you are concerned about, whether it might be uh a career move or a family issue, I can point you in the right direction. But one of the things that I've become very, very aware of over the years is that in a feng shui home, when bad stuff happens, and it you know, it happens to all of us, there will always be hiccups in life. But as an example, I have a client who has been with me for um, I think this must be her sixth house she's living in now. Um, and her life has just got better and better. It's it's been lying an upward graph all the way. She's moved into this lovely, lovely property last year. And a week last Sunday, she had a stroke totally out of the blue. Now, this person is so fit, she um she walks uh 10 kilometers a day, she eats a very, very healthy diet, she's very, very slim. So none of those obvious markers for a stroke. But out of the blue, when she woke up on Sunday morning, she had a blood clot on her brain, and it wasn't a TIA, it wasn't a mini stroke. This is the full on stonking great big blood clot um in the brain. Well, fortunately, she got on the call, she got to the ambulance, they got her into hospital in time, and they gave Her the drugs that she needed. Now she came home two days after her stroke. And although she's tired, obviously you're a little bit tired and she needs to rebuild gradually. The shock of having the stroke has had much more of an impact than the stroke itself. Limitations, physical limitations? No, nothing at all. Nothing at all. Um, she's not allowed to drive, which is very frustrating for her. But she's, you know, she lives on the second floor, she's running up and down those stairs. She's absolutely she's she's working pretty much full days again. Less than a week after a stroke, her home is absolutely supporting her to through her recovery into her work. And she said that when she came home from hospital, just walking through the door of that space and knowing that it was wrapping its arms around her and giving her the nurturing and nourishment that she needed to heal was massive for her. And she's absolutely convinced that the reason she's doing so well is that her home is feng shui. I'm gonna agree with her on that because what I have seen is people who've used that, they've had feng shui in their homes, and then for whatever reason they've forgotten, or um, somebody said, Oh, don't bother with it. And before you know it, their life is just gradually falling apart in different ways. Um, can you tell us about you know the the principle?

SPEAKER_01 23:39

What is the principle? I mean, we obviously it's the it's the practice that has been studied in in China. Um, and so we're you're implementing this practice for people. You're helping people implement it, not really worrying about the why, but you're convinced that the it works because you've had you've had 20 years of experience in this area. A lot more than that. Is colour is color an imp uh um um an impact or uh uh yeah, color can have an impact.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

So I'll always, always recommend that you avoid strong colours. Like this purple, yeah. That looks great on you, but you wouldn't want it on the wall. Um so let me tell you why. Each with feng shui, we work with the elements. We work with fire, water, earth, metal, and oh, it's just gone out of my head. Wood. Wood is sitting here in front of me. Wood. Wood. And each of those elements has colours which relate to it. Now, that that purple that you're wearing is a very water energy colour. Now, that's absolutely perfect. It makes you look very, very glamorous. But if you were to put it on a wall and you were living with it all of the time, you would find that you get peaks and troughs of emotion. So you I call it the tears and tantrums colour, the blues, blacks, um, dark greys, purples, those very, very strong colours in that watery range. And this is where you get you get kids who paint their bedrooms purple or black, and we have the whole, you know, emotional roller coaster that goes with kids who do that. Um, what you tend to find, and if I'm working with a family where somebody has gone off the rails a little bit, the first thing I'll do is say paint their bedroom a very light earthy colour because it gives them stability. So the colour I see behind you on the wall, a kind of almost a mocker, but not quite, is a very stabilizing colour. It's very calming, so you feel protected, secure. So that's an earth colour. So if we want to feel um just just protected in our home, we go for those earthy colours. Now, if we go with too much in the way of fire, so those are the reds, the oranges, this would be a fire colour. Um you can find that it first of all it gives you lots of wonderful energy, but if you've got too much of it, you're going to burn out. You know, those those phrases, burnout, exhaustion, all of these things come out from those fiery energies. And so whilst you might put a lovely fiery rug on the floor, you definitely don't want to be painting your walls that deep colour in a room that you're in regularly. Um we we also find that if we go too much towards the darker browns, for example, you can feel quite stuck in your ways.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Same with the greens. If you go with a dark green, the the colour of a very strong mature tree, you might find that you're very it's very difficult to bend. You're not you don't have the flexibility that in the modern world we really need. But if you go with the paler greens, the greens of of new growth on trees and in vines and and so on, then you've got that bit more flexibility. So those are the those colours, and then you've got the metallics. Now, for the 20 years that finished in 2024, so 2004 to 2024, every home needed a lot of metal energy. Why is that? Well, it's it's a it's one of the things that goes with these cycles and everything with feng shui. But let's think about what fashion did in terms of home design in those 20 years. Everything went grey or white.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

It sure did.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

It really, really, really did. It was grim, really grim, because if you don't have loads of natural light coming into a house, then painting it grey is so depressing. It is, and what's more, too much of that metal energy can induce anxiety and depression. So what we saw an awful lot of in that that cycle, that 20-year cycle, was depression shot through the roof. And all of these influencers who were busy painting their homes grey and silver with golden accents, then the next thing you know, they're talking about their anxiety, their panic attacks, they're this, they're that the other. And as a feng shui specialist, I'm looking at them thinking, change the color of your home. You know, you've done this to yourself. Indeed. Indeed.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

I have a friend who is an interior designer, and I go with her to assist her. I go with her to the market twice a year in North Carolina, and she need she needs help getting around. I tell you, so many years, if she she kept complaining, gray, gray, gray, the color of the year is gray. And you're right, you are exactly right. Yeah. So when we're no longer gray.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Yeah. When we're doing the feng shui of a home, um, and and this is if we're going to do the whole feng shui. So, and as I said, each home is unique. So a feng shui report goes into the precise remedies you need in each of those nine areas of your home that relate to these key parts of your life. Then, if, for example, you need a metal remedy in one area, I'm going to be saying to you, yeah, let's put some metal-colored accents there. But let's not go overboard. If you need fire, I'll want you to put just enough fire, but not so much that you're exhausted. Um, or that tempest flare. You, you know, you get all of this this niggliness with one another. Um, if if you need water energy, water energy is actually done with moving water.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

So, but I might say to you on a water flaw, water feature.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Water feature. I just use a vase with a pump in it. It's so much easier. You know, I don't I don't like those water features that trickle because I'm a lady of a certain age, you know? Yes, yes, and there might be a physical response to that. Precisely, precisely. So, yeah, we use colour in feng shui. We use these these um natural elements, the the water, the the wood. Wood is literally living houseplants. That's as difficult as it gets. Um, earth energy, we use stones, crystals, whatever people happen to have around. Fire, we use colour. You know, you might just put a throw in this kind of colour or a picture on the wall, yes, something like that. Um, water, as I've said, we use we use moving water, but I tend to put it in a vase. And then with um the metal remedies, we do need to use actual metal. And the bigger the house, the more the metal. Um chandeliers. Chandeliers, right? Well, no, because they're actually attached. So we we I I actually use weight plates for it because it's easiest to just stash them away and hide them. And there's always somebody who's giving away some weight plates somewhere because they're not using the weight plates in it, isn't it? Yes, but we can put them behind furniture or behind doors or in a basket. Uh you know, to my mind, if you can walk into a house and not notice a single feng shui remedy unless you're looking for it, that's great because what you will feel is you'll walk in and think, this feels amazing.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 32:15

You won't know why. It'll just feel good.

SPEAKER_01 32:17

You just feel it. Yeah. I I think I think you're right. I really do. I'm a fairly practical person. So when I hear some of these things, I think, oh, really, really, but I think you're right. I we had a house that had a big window in the front. There weren't many windows in the front of the house, big window, and the sun came in, and it was too much fire, right? Yeah. It just came right in and went through the the house all the way to the back, and there was a big window in the back.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

So you've got energy racing straight through the house, straight through the house.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Yeah. And so I think the remedy was to hang a crystal part way along the way, and um, and we eventually planted a tree right in front of the window. Actually, the landscaper said, and and I had no idea if she had any feng shui training at all, but when the landscaper came, she said, We need a tree right here. My husband teased me all the time about that tree in the front of the house. Who has a tree in front of their picture window? I don't know, but we did, and and that worked, and it was a it was it really was lovely. It would have made a world of difference. Yeah. Yes. So one thing you and I talked about is um the whole, you know, there's a whole kind of um experience we're having um across the world is that the boomers are now somewhat having to move out of their homes, especially older boomers. And families are trying to move them into different accommodations, maybe assisted living, maybe memory care. And I know we, you know, um you go from a nine-room house or whatever to a room possibly, or a room and a half. Or two, yeah. Or two. What is really critical or important to think about on behalf of that person that you're shifting out of maybe a very pretty space to a very limited space?

SPEAKER_00 34:19

Well, I think the first thing to think about is what the person's lifestyle requires. So if you're a person like me, I need a view, I need to be able to see. So even if I can't get out and about anymore, I want the bigger picture. I want to be able to see a big sky, trees maybe, something like that. But for other people, for um some at some of the people I know, all they're interested in is getting up and watching TV. They don't care about a view. So start thinking that way first. You know, what think about what's important. What matters to them, and then move them only with things that they love. Don't try and decant the whole of that nine-room house into those two rooms and line up pieces of furniture along the walls, which and as many rugs as you can on the floor because those are all trip hazards, people are going to fall against them. Really think about what actually matters, what makes them feel good, what they care about. They're going into memory care and they have photo albums. Make sure to take those photo albums as long as they contain the good memories. Because what I found certainly with with relatives who've had dementia is they didn't remember who I was now, but I could sit beside them with a cup of tea and um a photo album, and they could tell me absolutely everybody in that photo album. And when they came to a picture of me, it will be, well, that's that's Suzanne. Yes, well, I'm Suzanne. Oh, you're Suzanne, you know. So those photo albums be can become like uh gold dust, really. And the thing is that where millennials won't have those, their photos are on the phone. That's right. Our boomers do. Our boomers still have those things. So take those precious photographs, take the comfortable chair, the the the bedding that they love, you know, if they've they've got a beautiful quilt that's been with them forever and they love it, take that quilt. But then don't be afraid to pass on maybe to other family members or to Goodwill or to somebody else who can use it, those other pieces of furniture which are now surplus.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Because they there is seriously no point in trying to cram a whole life into two small rooms, it just makes people miserable for what they've lost.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

The other thing I've seen is children of older parents taking all those things into their houses. Oh, dang. Garages and basements, and because they think, oh, that's so important. That was so important. And now you have a house cluttered. We discussed cluttering last time, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

And you know, what mattered to your parents probably has no relevance to you whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 37:27

You know, my mum has so many royal Dalton ladies figures in in beautiful dresses. Fantastic. She thinks they're great. I wouldn't give one house room. Yes. I mean, you know, they cost my dad a lot of money to buy. Yes. But they don't matter to me. They don't now have a resale value. I mean, probably, you know, you could get one for ten dollars now.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

And so why would I give those things house room when they mean nothing whatsoever to me? And that's the important thing to remember. You are under no obligation to take in orphan stuff from your parents' home just because they owned it or they worked for it. It meant something to them, yes. That particularly ugly sideboard antique that you know, mum and dad slaved for months to buy from the Urkol catalogue. It's never ever going to work in your home. So it just let it go. Don't please don't ever feel the obligation to fill your attic or your basement or anywhere else with things that theoretically you've inherited because they also carry energy with them. Yes. And if your parents have had a tough time, the energy of that tough time comes on in with those pieces of furniture. Yes. And you might find that you start bickering or struggling in some way that mirrors what your parents went through all that time ago.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

You've given me a lot to think about, a whole lot to think about. And I'm heading down to another furniture market with my friends. So that'll be a really, really interesting experience now with kind of new lenses on.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

Yeah, just don't let her buy any mirrors. Or if she does buy mirrors, then knock the original mirror out and replace it with fresh glass.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

Hmm, really?

SPEAKER_00 39:30

You never know what a mirror has seen. I have a lovely, lovely client in Ohio, and I first worked with her eight years ago, something like that. And she had this mirror in her room. And just when we were doing this video walk around her place, she said, There's something really off about that mirror. Where did you get it? And she said, Oh, she bought it in a yard sale. I said, Well, do you do you know anything about the people there? And she said, Oh, yes, a lady had committed suicide. And it was just like, Okay, you've bought the mirror of somebody who clearly was having really challenging problems. Critical situation. Yes. Bought that into your home. So you can imagine it went straight. Didn't we we didn't even get halfway through the call? She she put the phone down, she put you know, took it outside to the to the street, and then she came back in. I have one in the garage right now.

SPEAKER_01 40:28

And as soon as you said that, I thought, hmm. Yes, yes, it was seen.

SPEAKER_00 40:35

Yeah, mirrors, you just never know what they've seen.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Suzanne, it has been again just fascinating. We've talked an hour, almost an hour, Suzanne, and these mean these podcasts go about 30 minutes, 35 minutes. We've covered so much. And and I feel really good about our conversation because in the in real estate, the lack of housing is forcing people to buy properties that are less than ideal for them. You know, that come with the various qualities that you were describing as you began talking, right?

SPEAKER_00 41:11

But they're all fixable, Mary. That's just one thing. They're all fixable when you actually make the effort to get the energy right.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

I believe you. I really I am I am now an enthusiast. I love it. I love it, Suzanne. So, Suzanne, come to the States soon and I'm gonna call you, I'm gonna follow up, I'm gonna consult with you for sure. And um, and I just thank you one more time for your just your generosity. And and please look at Suzanne on on the internet and friend her and and and follow her. And I thank you. I can understand why you're an internationally recognized expert. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Mary, you're abundantly welcome. And you know, anybody is welcome to book one of those calls and have me in their home for half an hour on video.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

Indeed. I'm going to make that happen. Thank you again, Suzanne. And I know we'll see you again at some point. Thanks. Thank you so much for joining us today. And I hope you found this conversation useful to you and your real estate goals. You'll find the contact information for our guests and any links they recommend you have in the show notes. And should we be able to help you identify some strong real estate professionals in your area? Drop us a note at info at real estate connections podcast dot com. Thanks again, and bye for now.