“Mom, I can’t live here. Take me home!” Kelly, an entering college freshman, had just walked into her residence hall room for the first time.

Her mother said, “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. But let’s see if we can do something with this room.” The mother spent the next six hours attempting to make the tiny cinderblock space a little more livable. At last, when both of them were exhausted, the daughter agreed to give it a try.

I met Kelly a week later, when I came to her college to give students a feng shui presentation, followed by an excursion to IKEA. On the bus I found myself sitting next to a reserved student, who had not attended my presentation. She looked very unhappy. For a long time we sat in silence. Then I asked her to tell me about her room. “Its tiny with a small window, like a prison cell,” Kelly said. “I feel confined. The cinderblock walls are an ugly grey, and I have a hard, dark linoleum floor. The ceiling light is dim. It feels oppressive in there. I can’t concentrate on my work. It makes me frantic.”

I offered to go to her room and have a look. First, I looked at the placement of her furniture in relation to the main door to her room. The bed was in a good position, in the back of the room cater-corner to the door. The head of her bed was supported by a solid wall. Her desk, however, was facing the back wall. When she worked there, her back was facing he door. We turned her desk around, so her back was supported by a solid wall and she had a view of the room from her desk.

To improve the atmosphere, I suggested she hang large spring green and blue tapestry or fabric on the walls to give her a feeling of hope and vitality. To brighten her space, she could place an up light in one corner, a colorful table lamp next to her bed, and a full spectrum light on her desk, so her eyes would not tire when studying. To expand her space, she ordered the IKEA poster of a path leading to the ocean, and expansive image that would “push beyond” her wall.

Two weeks later, she sent me an email. “I changed my room, and it feels friendlier and more like a home. I can focus better on my work, and I am speaking up in class. Students like to hang in my room, so I’m making friends. Thanks for your help. It has made a big difference.”

Using the principles of feng shui (pronounced “fung shway”), the ancient Chinese art of placement, the student improved her environment, which improved her life. That’s the aim of this practice: a space that not only looks good but also feels good—and therefore creates a sense of everything being just right.