Squeeeee!

This project has been a long long time coming and has been on my mind ever since we moved in. I love our house but it requires some work not just in fixing and patching things up, but also energetically.

Messed up feng shui zones means messed up energy for the whole house and it's inhabitants and that's not good.

Our Bathroom

When I saw the bathroom the first thing that came to mind was 'Bathtub. We need a tub." and I love those tiles.

We've since shelved the tub idea as that would require a renovation and the tiles I still love, however living here has opened our eyes on various problems in this bathroom.

1. There is no exhaust fan.
2. No electrical points on the wall (there is one tucked away in the mirror.)
3. There's way too many lights.

I get the impression Blue Mountains homes might get a bit mouldy especially in the bathrooms. Our first rental permanently had the bathroom and toilet windows fixed open. This house has security grills at the top of the glass allowing air inside this room 24/7. I would have preferred exhaust fans to be honest.

2 & 3 go hand in hand in the shitty basket. There's a total of 3 down lights in the bathroom with the only outlet inside the mirrored cupboard. If you're one of those people who go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, forget getting back to sleep after you turn the light on. And can you put a night light in there? Nope, cos the outlet is in the cupboard.. Yup.

Feng Shui wise

.. here's the situation.

The bathroom is half in the Fame, Reputation and Social Life (Fire Element) and half in Wealth, Prosperity and Self Worth (Wood Element).

The problem here is the bathroom is all about water which means I need to do a feng shui fix to balance this room and it's overall effect to the house.

And if you think about it if "Your Fame and Rep is in the toilet." Shit obviously needs to get sorted. Pun intended btw.

First is to add FIRE elements like candles, adding a dash or red, orange and yellows. Second is to add WOOD elements like plants, wooden decor, greens and Browns.

This is to support and balance the elemental needs of the rooms as per their position on the feng shui bagua.

Kokedamas

"Kokedama (苔玉, in English, literally "moss ball") is a ball of soil, covered with moss, on which an ornamental plant grows." Wikipedia

Source

As soon as I found out about kokedamas I knew I wanted one and had the perfect place for them - the bathroom. It solves a lot of my problems in one hit.

1. They provide elements I need for my Fire and Wood feng shui problems.
2. It should absorb some of the excess moisture in the bathroom preventing mould.

I have been doing the research for this for a while and would often see orchids not only in kokedamas but also in bathrooms in general. I figured this must be for good reason and if not, orchids being so beautiful is enough of a reason for me.

Over Easter we went to Bunnings mainly so I could get this project and orchids out of my system and we pretty much bought everything else BUT the orchids.

To be fair our local Bunnings is quite small and has a limited range on everything. A lot of the things I needed for the kokedamas they didn't have like the sphagnum moss and the sheet moss. Instead I used coconut husk fibers. I also used the wrong soil - all I had was the veggie garden soil and I needed a finer soil, one that would bind together and form into a ball.

But, I did it anyway with the terrarium plants I bought instead.

I was still after an orchid and this time better soil and peat moss. Hubby has been on a quest to conquer the battle with the tomatoes and needed fencing, so off we went to our local Bunnings.. Again..

This time however, I'm happy to say we walked out with what we wanted to get plus extras. I got an air plant and he finally bought another bonsai tree.

Making Kokedamas

Disclaimer: I don't really know what I'm doing and I'm using different materials than what everyone else is using. Follow my instructions with caution.

First things first. I dismantled the ones I made last weekend. The shape was all wrong, the soil was also wrong. I just wasnt feeling it.

I cut the twine to where I knotted it so I could reuse the string again. I also carefully peeled the coconut fibre off trying to maintain it's bowl shape.

I loosened up the soil revealing roots. I then placed it in a tub giving it a good misting with water helping it cope with the heat while I prepared to give this another shot.

Materials

What I used	What they used
Potting Mix	Bonsai Soil
Peat Moss	Peat Moss
Coconut Fibre	Sphagnum or Sheet Moss

In addition x1 large garbage bag with the end cut off. It makes for a handy work mat and helps shape the ball.

1. Mix potting mix (x2) and peat moss (x1) together.
2. Then add water until you can form a ball and it holds it's shape.
3. Once the consistency is right, scoop soil mix onto the garbage bag
4. Gather the corners, twist the top and compact and form the ball.
5. Un-twist the top, poke a hole in the center to make room for the plant.
6. Use garbage bag to compress the soil in over the plant and re-form the ball.
7. Prepare the fibre by misting it with water and spreading it out.
8. Carefully scoop up the ball and place it on top of the prepared fibre..
9. Pull the fibre around the ball, adding more, making sure there is no soil visible.
10. Take your twine/string and tie a knot around the ball.
11. Wrap the twine/string any which way until you are satisfied.

If it helps. Here are two of my fave Kokedama tutorials.

I watched both videos before I got started. Gave me the little boost I needed to tackle the job. They're not long videos and it's all very straight forward, I highly suggest you guys watch a tutorial before doing this.

It is as easy as it looks, but it's one of those practice makes perfect things. There's techniques and ways to get it done, I found it's more trial and error and finding the way that works for you.

I ended up trying various ways to make my ball from the bag idea to free forming it in my hand. I like find having the bag to help form my ball helps with the overall shape.

Here they all are.

The one at the front and center is the orchid. It is also the last ball of the day, you can tell by the 4th ball I was getting in the rhythm.

Back to the bathroom

Now that the kokedamas are done there's only a couple more steps to go before this whole project is finished like putting the hooks up, cutting the branch to size and sanding said branch and lacquering it.

Hubby promised it will get done sooner rather than later this week. But really, I couldn't wait another day so here's everyone camping out on their temporary spots.

The Nerve Plant	Tillandsia (Air Plant)

Dwarf Hare's Foot Fern	Tolumnia (Orchid)

Lucky Bamboo	Miniature African Violets

Do you like them?

I really love them.

They make the room so special, I walk in there just to soak up the new vibes. Going to the bathroom is a whole new experience right now. I think a few more air plants in the shower area and I could get a nice outdoorsy feel when having a shower.

It is missing candles (for the Fire element) and crystals but I will add those when we get the next phase of the project done, hopefully soon... sometime this week! Keep and eye out for part 2!

Happy Monday Steemit!

🎍 Arly