Tag Archives: Renee Lindstrom

Enhancing Front Door

2015-06-21 10.40.36

Renee Lindstrom & Guest ‘Dyan Grant Francis’

  • Observations Written by Renee Lindstrom,
  • Personal Perspectives by Renee Lindstrom &  Dyan Grant Francis individually
*Make sure you read comments under postings as Dyan and Renee have a conversation

Observations

This lot is located behind an existing house with a long driveway along the side of the front property.  The front door is not visible as you come down the driveway. Your eyes are met with a garage door and cement pad that extends beyond the entrance  into the garage.  There is a bay window to the living room.


Personal Perspectives by Renee Lindstrom

This is a property that I helped transform to increase appeal, balance, health and wellness.   I chose this front door example as it is  common design of our western homes that emphasis garage doors.  In this home the front door is not visible and one is left to assume its location with hints from the front bay window!  The timing of this home consult was during a seasonal transition of spring and summer .  A consultation starts with listening to what the occupants are longing for in their lifestyle and personal experience. In this circumstance the longing was for grounding, clarity, healing and connection.

The entrance to this home was not evident so one is left to hunt for it. Seeing a bay window one is drawn in that direction.  Coming around the garage one was visually met with a dark and recessed doorway.  In this case winter was still evident with old dried plants and an array of items one would recognize as chores not completed.  Due to the need for immediacy in this particular case we used items on hand for instant transformation in the moment.  The intention of the changes we made to the front entrance were for drawing attention to it and creating a warm welcoming and settled experience.

The steps to achieving this:

  1. Clearing front entrance – all unnecessary items from cement pad, front yard and in recessed front entrance removed
  2. Creating a visual break on the cement pad – using blocks of wood of different heights found around edges of yard to create a visual break and adding a welcome ornament found in darkened doorway – Read more on the importance of a walkway
  3. Adding homey feeling and color – bringing beautiful wooden lawn chairs to entrance, adding cushions and a colorful flowering plant to create an inviting entrance
  4. Adding a decor – adding an outdoor wall sun to add interest to the front entrance

Remember this was an immediate case where we used whatever was available to create a new experience.  We found these items chaotically around the landscape and began placing them to make ordered sense.  Thus changing the sensual experience from confusion, distraction and rushed to  settled, inviting and warm.

This entrance is overpowered by the garage entrance.  The garage is a dominate yang and the front door entrance is yin.  Ideally the front door would have a greater presence than the garage door!  The elements of wood and fire are represented in the changes to enhance these occupants experience.

House number 

The house number of this property is 526 which in Numerology equals a 4.   Read more on the meaning of house numbers.

Renee Lindstrom


Personal Perspectives by Dyan Grant Francis

Renee did a good job creatively addressing the home owners concerns about the energies in their home.  Enhancing the front door is always a good idea especially to give it more presence and feel more welcoming.

The front door is referred to as ‘The Mouth of Chi’ and is an important threshold in the home for creating clarity and the movement into and out of the home.  As a threshold, it is important to keep it clear of clutter and ensure an easy passageway between the two areas of life: inside and outside.  Ensure that the door opens and closes easily and that the hallway is free of blocking furniture.  It is important to call the chi towards the door, particularly if it is recessed, hidden or dark.  A checklist of the five elements can be used in choosing the most auspicious addition or alteration.  A silk plant, a brass letterbox or an elemental change in door colour among many options that could be used to enhance an entrance.

This is a garage-dominated house making it difficult for people and pets to settle down and often results in activities of ‘coming and going’.  Perhaps the residents will feel like they spend too much time in the car driving kids to school or hockey practice.  It was a common style used in the suburbs when people had a long commute into the city for work or school, in an era when the car was often the most important element in the home/family.  Fortunately, this architectural style is no longer as prevalent.  Satellite communities have reduced the commute for many.

A potential issue is the location of the front door, garage door and living room window with the creation of a missing corner in the shape of a building.  The preferred shape when using this perspective to analyze a house, is either square or rectangular.  To apply the Ba-gua map, this corner will need to be completed.  Often builders attempt to do this with a concrete pad but the addition of a tree, a large concrete planter or meaningful statue at the missing corner would help to bring a feeling of wholeness.  I’m not sure if this is the case in this particular house, but missing corners could often be seen in many  mid-20th century build

Dyan Grant Francis


Do you have an interesting local #yyj landscape feature you would like us to interpret?
If you have a landscape that you would like us to look at we will choose one to study and share back our comments on our Inside Awareness. Please send us your interesting #yyj photos by Wednesday each week to be included in the next weeks draw!  Look forward to our weekly editorial starting June 15th!   Email pictures to renee@insideawareness.com
Make sure to send photo’s that can be made public and we have permission to post them.

_______________________________________________________

If you are longing for a personal consultation please inquire privately:
renee@insideawareness.com.  Renee Lindstrom offers:

Indoor & Outdoor Landscape Life & Wellness Consulting & Coaching which enhances relationships, emotions and flexible movement awareness!

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Yin & Yang House Designs

2015-06-21 10.40.36

Landscape Conversations

Renee Lindstrom & Guest ‘Dyan Grant Francis’

  • Observations Written by Renee Lindstrom,
  • Personal Perspectives by Renee Lindstrom &  Dyan Grant Francis individually
*Make sure you read comments under postings as Dyan and Renee have a conversation

Trying to choose between these two sets of pictures wasn’t easy as both homes are so unusual and different?  The similarity they do share is standing out in their neighborhood!

BeFunky Collage Language of Nature - Earth on Fire

Figure 1

Observations of House In Figure 1

A ranch style home has been re-decorated to transform the original culture of the original style.  This includes a new roof, pillar, wall decals, wood doors on the façade of the house and concrete wall fence. It is placed to the rear of the property with lawn and garden along the front of house.

BeFunky Collage Language of Nature - Metal-RockFigure 2

Observations of House in Figure 2

One side of this homes blends in with the existing rock behind it.  The roof line of the house matches the contours of the rock.  However it was built on the entire usable land left on this lot.  The back of the house butts up against the outcropping of rock and the front door faces the driveway’s to the neighbors.   The front and side is all concrete. A row of trees line the outside of a stone fence that add some nature.  The neighbor’s home is immediately outside the front of this house and appears to be one-quarter of the size.   The drive has taken over some of  this neighbors front yard and and crosses the pathway to their own front door.   The front entrance has a shaped overhang that is the only soft feature of the front façade.  The garage door competes with the front door.  This house overpowers the lot and neighbors homes.  It faces a busy through fare with a busy sky of electrical lines.  There is a disproportionate size between the house and the windows on these two sides of the home.

Elements of Nature

Figure 1
  •   Land – Yang
  •   House  Shape is Earth Element,  Roof Shape is Fire Element
  •   House Colors:  Fire
  •   Roof Materials  – Adobe which is an Earth element, color is Fire element
  •   Trim:  White – Metal element
  •   Fence:  Materials – Metal element, color is fire                                  
Figure 2
  •   Land & Large Rock – Yang
  •   House Shape  is Earth and Metal  elements
  •   Door Overhang – Water Element
  •   Taupe Color:  Earth Elements
  •   Black Roof:   Metal Element
  •   Trim:   White – Metal Element
  •   Fence:  Wood and Metal Elements
Read more on the 5 Elements cycles and characteristics

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Renee’s perspective of House in Figure #1

The home in Figure #1 reflects a home whose qualities have transitioned from a balanced earth’s yin and yang  to that of fire’s dominate yang which is overpowering the earth element.  This represents socialization and assertiveness.  These qualities  may be on the higher end of the scale towards aggressiveness. Features in this home compete and could lead to higher than normal competitiveness with occupants, neighbors and community.  The structure of a rancher design is an earth element.  This color this home is painted is on the fire scale of the elements.  The roof material is earth and the color again is the element of fire.  Fire dominates.  In nature fire creates earth therefore this home is very active and a high energy home!  In the high heat of the summer sun together with the dried summer grass surrounding this property this house is on fire. This would be reflective of passion and anger.

Renee’s perspective of House in Figure #2

The yin of the home in Figure #2 balances the yang of the rock outcrop yet overpowers the land, neighbors and community.  The home had potential for balancing the land but it overpowers the land footprint.  It’s too large for the lot.  This therefore leads to the qualities of imbalance and control.   The concrete entrance competes with the roadway and the main house entrance is beside the garage entrance.  There is no defined features that allow the front entrance to stand out which adds confusion.  It has an industrial appearance.  The break in the round roof dome and the front door overhang have a waterfall quality.  Metal comes from earth and creates water, therefore the home’s design in these three elements align.  This extends to the smaller than usual size windows.  Windows reflect water.   The nurturing element of wood could enhance and settle the land, as begun with the row of trees along the perimeter.  If space at the entrance were available to add nature it could shift the energy of the front door to becoe ore nurturing and calm the confusion.  The designer may have been focused upon the rock outcrop to have the house blend in.

Even though this house stands out due of the uncommon design, it is a reflection of needing privacy and rather than outgoing as in Figure 1 this home experience would be inner reflecting.  The roof line of this home reflects the curved path ,albeit broken, and the base (house structure) strength.

Renee Lindstrom

Dyan’s Perspective of House in Figure 1

With it’s low concept, this house shows the flat, square characteristics of the earth element.  The colours of this home are the earth colours:  burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and Indian red that are very reminiscent of a desert palate, the quintessential earth environment.  White outlines the windows and doors in square shapes bringing in the metal element in colour but remaining earth in shape.  While metal drains earth, this white is proportionately in balance with the expanse of earth.  When looking at the Five elements, it is best to realize that we are speaking of the relative nature of objects.

In traditional teachings, the colour of earth is yellow…the yellow of the Yangtze river filled with silt from the surrounding land.  The reds of earth can be confused with the reds of fire but the red of fire is ‘fire engine red’ – a brilliant pure expression of chi while the red of earth is ‘earthy’ and subdued in a sense.  The colours of the desert are the best examples of earth.

When looking for the Five elements, first is shape, second is colour, third is materials and surroundings or landscape.  This first home shows the stability of earth with a calm and settled feeling that is helped by the balance of the fence with its metal(white) and water(black) elements.

Fire is introduced through the chi of the Sun while Wood is minimally introduced in the fence posts/pillars providing a good balance of all the elements.

Dyan’s Perspective in Figure 2

The second home is a less clear example of the 5 elements.  The roof is the first shape we encounter when looking at this house. Its shape is water…like a curling wave.  However its material is grey and perhaps metal.  The shape of the structure is high and rectangular suggesting wood  while the colour is metal.  White, gold, silver and pastels are all metal colours.   Wood and metal relate through the cycle of opposition however a significant water shape will bring them into the nourishing (harmonious) cycle.

With its small windows and the heavy awning oppressing the front door, this home would likely not encourage socialization or meeting new friends.  The large rock face along one side of the home blocks the flow of chi from that direction.  Applying the ba-gua map, this suggests that the careers of the occupants may encounter difficulties although it would be best to check how the home is sited according to the cardinal directions.  Regardless, the large rock face appears to block a significant portion of the chi flowing to this home.

With minimal landscaping surrounding the home, little connection to the enlivening energies of Nature is present.  Perhaps a good home for a Geologist or miner.

Dyan Grant Francis

_______________________________________________________

Do you have an interesting local #yyj landscape feature you would like us to interpret?
If you have a landscape that you would like us to look at we will choose one to study and share back our comments on our Inside Awareness. Please send us your interesting #yyj photos by Wednesday each week to be included in the next weeks draw!  Look forward to our weekly editorial starting June 15th!   Email pictures to renee@insideawareness.com
Make sure to send photo’s that can be made public and we have permission to post them.

_______________________________________________________

If you are longing for a personal consultation please inquire privately:
renee@insideawareness.com.  Renee Lindstrom offers:

Indoor & Outdoor Landscape Life & Wellness Consulting & Coaching which enhances relationships, emotions and flexible movement awareness!


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Living Well the Natural Way – Guest Writer – 2008

 

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Living Well the Natural Way – wisdom from naturalhealthcare.com

The Month of Romance and Love: #13 of 14 Tips for finding better love

by Renee Lindstrom, GCFP @ Inside Awareness
Day 13: Positive personalities are most attractive

There are concrete studies that show people with positive personalities are seen as more attractive and more physically appealing than those who are rude, negative and unfair. Is your glass half-full or half-empty?

Love Day 13Today’s Tip:  Explore your own inner messaging patterns.  Do you beat yourself and others up? Imagine how attractive this is to others and commit to change through creative self-development!   Begin your practice now!

“Supply is infinite, but there must be receptivity.  We can have all the supplies we will give.  But that is where the barrier is–the unwillingness to give.  That is where the lack or limitation is.”
Joel Goldsmith


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Copyright 2025 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP,
Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 2007, Value-Based Communication Relationship & Life Coach since 2004, Art of Placement  since 2000, Founder of Greater Victoria Peace & Intercultural Celebrations since 2010 & Greater Victoria Labyrinths since 2012, #yyj Peace Week Calendar Founder – 2014 & 2015

The Month of Romance and Love: #12 of 14 Tips for finding better love

by Renee Lindstrom, GCFP @ Inside Awareness

#12 ‘Easy Fun &  Adventure’

Trying too hard by interviewing your date for your next serious relationship? Are you being interviewed for the next great lay? STOP! This can be the time to share experiences and find out what you have in common. Ease the pressure by keeping it fun and turning meetings into great adventures.

Love Day 12Tip of the Day:  Hang out first. No pressure. Just enjoy each other’s company. Everyone could use new friendships. This can be a time that is the honeymoon of friendships.

“True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.”

Erich Segal


 

 
 

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Copyright 2025 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP,
Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 2007, Value-Based Communication Relationship & Life Coach since 2004, Art of Placement  since 2000, Founder of Greater Victoria Peace & Intercultural Celebrations since 2010 & Greater Victoria Labyrinths since 2012, #yyj Peace Week Calendar Founder – 2014 & 2015

The Month of Romance and Love: #11 of 14 Tips for finding better love

by Renee Lindstrom, GCFP @ Inside Awareness

#11 – The Connection

Your intuition will tell you immediately if you are in company with someone compatible if you are listening to it!  It’s all in the open gestures, comfortable friendliness levels, pitch of voice and eye contact.  One way of noticing compatibility is the language connection.  It’s not about what you say, it’s how you say it that might give you answers to the longevity of this relationship.

Love Day 11Tip of the day:  Within 10 minutes you will know if it will be rewarding to put time and energy into pursuing a relationship.  Notice it their eyes remain in contact with yours.  This indicates they are into you.  Notice if the words they use are the same or similar to yours.  For example:  Do you both use, Great as an expression or a statement such as I am interested in…..  Pay attention to words they use that disturb you.  This will never change it will only become more annoying!

“We are most alive when we’re in love.”  John Updike



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Connect to find out about Love & Life Coaching

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Copyright 2025 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP,
Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 2007, Value-Based Communication Relationship & Life Coach since 2004, Art of Placement  since 2000, Founder of Greater Victoria Peace & Intercultural Celebrations since 2010 & Greater Victoria Labyrinths since 2012, #yyj Peace Week Calendar Founder – 2014 & 2015

The Month of Romance and Love: #10 of 14 Tips for finding better love

by Renee Lindstrom, GCFP @ Inside Awareness

#10 Real-Time Face-time

Filling your date nights and getting out yet? In real-time you can experience how your date influences you and if they are interesting. Online, not so much! Online you may be distracted from your loneliness yet it doesn’t do much for the flirty side of romance. Online profiles are misleading and untrustworthy and lead straight to the end game. If you lack time to get out to meet and greet until something clicks and are seriously looking get a matchmaker or go to specific singles events!

Love Day 10Today’s tip:    Use the 80/20 Rule

Spend 80 to 100 percent engaging in real-time face-time and 20 to 0 percent online.  If you are looking for love, romance and nuances that make relationships sparkle online simply isn’t reflective of this experience.  However, if you are lonely, lazy,  love anxiety and sometimes deceit, it may meet your needs!

“There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.”
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen


Connect to find out about Love & Life Coaching

Please like and subscribe

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Copyright 2025 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP,
Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 2007, Value-Based Communication Relationship & Life Coach since 2004, Art of Placement  since 2000, Founder of Greater Victoria Peace & Intercultural Celebrations since 2010 & Greater Victoria Labyrinths since 2012, #yyj Peace Week Calendar Founder – 2014 & 2015