How to Apply Feng Shui to a Room

Co-authored by Susan Levitt

Last Updated: December 11, 2022 References Approved

Feng shui is all about the chi, and energy, of a space. By purposefully positioning furniture, decorations, and objects, you can create the best possible energy for you room. In general, the front entryway, the bedroom and the kitchen are the most important spaces to apply feng shui to. This is because your bedroom is where you rest and recoup, the kitchen is where you nourish, and the entryway is where energy flows into your house.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Incorporating Basic Principles

1
Use the Bagua map. This map is divided into 9 squares, each one representing an important aspect of balanced life. You can use this map in each room of your home to help you know what to place where. Specific spots in the room and specific objects have best possible energies, and the map helps you determine those spots. There is simple version of the map with just the names of the sections, and a more complicated version which gives examples of what all is represented by that section.^{[1]
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- Align the bottom portion of the map with the door/entryway to the room. Arrange the things that apply to each section on the map in the proper place in your room. In the lower left, place books which represent wisdom. In the middle right, which is “child” and represents creativity, place a musical instrument you play or a place where you can paint.
2
Examine each section of the map closely. It will take time and careful consideration, but if you want to apply feng shui properly, you need to give the process the proper time. Understanding the map and learning what each section represents is the only way you can apply it properly. Some versions of the Bagua map will have slightly different titles than these listed, but the basic idea of each section is intact.
- Lower left: Knowledge and growth, which can apply to learning and studying, investing in spiritual wisdom and faith, and personal growth.
- Lower-middle: Career and work success, which focuses on success in current jobs, getting promotions, moving to new careers, and achieving goals.
- Lower-right: Travel and helpful people, which applies to safety in travels, relocating to new places, seeking people who will help and mentor you in life.
- Middle-left: Family relationships and health, which means investing in the strength of your family, expanding your social life, and being committed to personal health.
- Center: Self or well being, which seeks to achieve harmony with yourself and environment, promote health and overcome illness, increase endurance and vitality.
- Middle-right: Child or creativity, which represents unlocking creativity, bettering communication and building the future.
- Upper-left: Wealth and power, which seeks prosperity, generating cash flow, and promoting abundance.
- Upper-center: Reputation and fame, which seeks public attention, becoming well known, and creating a strong reputation.
- Upper-right: Love and marriage, which includes improving relationships, attracting love, and increasing self-esteem.
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3
Apply the whole map. This map is a guide for what parts of the room are best for certain objects. It’s very important that you do your best to include something for every section because feng shui is all about creating balance. So if you load one section of the room, maybe the wealth section with ledgers and your piggy bank, but you neglect another section, you will upset the balance of the room.
- Maybe you don’t have a specific object, or enough space, to place something in every section. Something you can do instead is write down on a piece of paper something you care about which represents that or something you desire that represents that section. This can be a stand-in for the actual object.
- It’s also important to note that sometimes due to room or house layouts, parts of the map may be missing or partial. You can symbolically apply the feng shui to the wall where the missing section would be. Just make your intent for the missing section clear when you place something there.
4
Fix things that are broken. If you have broken objects around the house, especially things that you use frequently, they are likely to cause you frustration, which leads to negative energy in your home. To counteract this, it’s highly advised that you fix things as soon as they break to promote calm and good energy.^{[2]
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Use the five elements to bring balance. The five elements of life are fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Good feng shui in any room or home means having a mix of these elements. Most rooms will have a few of these already, depending on the structure of the room and furniture present. Look around your room and see what elements are already present and consider ways to add the remaining. Candles are the easiest way to add fire to any room.^{[3]
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- Faucets already bring running water, but in rooms without faucets, consider buying a small fountain which can constantly be running water.
- Plants are a great way to add earth to a room.
- If you can’t easily incorporate something physically made of the element, hanging a picture that represents the element is a good alternative.
6
Use your front door. The door to the home is where the energy flows in, so make sure you use the front door as much as you can. If you typically enter through a door besides the main one, consider purposefully using the front door a few times a week to keep good energy flowing in. It’s hard to maintain good energy throughout the house if the door is always closed.
7
Hire a feng shui consultant. If you are having trouble understanding the principles of feng shui, or your particular home is not cooperating with your endeavors, consider hiring a professional who can give you advice on how to apply feng shui to your specific living space. Image:Apply Feng Shui to a Room Step 7.jpg|center]]

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Balancing Your Bedroom

1
Remove clutter. Feng shui values simplicity, so reducing the overall amount of stuff in your room is a must to enhance the energy and balance of the room. Energy is able to flow more freely in open space without clutter, so to maximize energy flow in your bedroom you need to reduce the amount of stuff you have there.^{[4]
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- Carefully go through the room and consider what is there that doesn’t need to be. Do you keep piles of work papers? These will create negative energy. Do you have exercise equipment or multiple storage containers? These reduce the amount of open space in the room.
- The best balance will be achieved in a bedroom by having more open space and less unneeded stuff crowding the room.
EXPERT TIP

Susan Levitt
Feng Shui Consultant
Susan Levitt is a professional tarot card reader, astrologer, and feng shui consultant based in San Francisco, California since 1986. Susan is the author of five books that are published in several languages including Introduction To Tarot and Taoist Astrology. She posts tarot reading updates on Facebook, on Twitter @tarot_tweet, and her lunar blog. Her work has been featured on CNN and she was voted “Best Astrologer” by SF Weekly in San Francisco.

Susan Levitt
Feng Shui Consultant

Our Expert Agrees: The first step of doing feng shui in a room is removing the clutter. Don't put anything out that you don't absolutely need. In feng shui, there is an element of being clean and conscious and showing respect for the environment.
2
Position your bed with feet toward the door. The position of the bed is important to create the right energy that promotes peace and restful sleep. Locate your bed diagonally across the room from the door with the foot of the bed toward the door. In this case, diagonally is meant to express that the bed should not be directly in front of the door, rather at an angle from the door whenever possible. Make sure the headboard is against a wall to anchor the bed. You also want to have space to walk on both sides of the bed, so don’t push it up close against a wall.^{[5]
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- This positioning is one that promotes protection because you are able to easily see what comes through the door. You will be more at ease knowing that nothing can come through the door without you knowing.
- If it is possible, place a large rug under the bed to help ground the bed’s energy.
- It is also good to have one night stand on each side of the bed to help balance it.
3
Place a chest or bureau opposite the bed. Since the bed is such a large item, you need to help balance the room out by placing something of comparable size on the opposite wall of the room.^{[6]
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- This balancing piece of furniture does not need to be the same size. The effect will be achieved as long as it’s somewhat large. If you are going to have a dresser in the room, this is ideal for balancing out the bed.
4
Utilize bedroom windows. Windows are a way that energy can flow into your house through sunlight, but it can’t do this if the windows are always covered. Open curtains during the day, and consider leaving the windows open to allow for the maximum flow of energy.^{[7]
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- Use soft, ruffled curtains rather than plastic, wooden or metal blinds. If possible, use wood rings to hang curtains with.
- Close the curtains at night to keep out the dark which brings negative energy.
- Clean your windows fairly often to make sure that energy from outside can flow through easily. Dirty or smeared windows hinder the energy flow.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Safeguarding Your Kitchen

1
Fill negative space above cabinets. Check your kitchen cabinets to see if they go all the way to the ceiling or if there is space above them. Empty space above cabinets causes energy to get stuck there and stagnate. You need to counteract this waste of energy by filling the space with lively positive energy.^{[8]
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- Bring life with leafy, green potted plants. Don’t crowd the space, but place enough to ensure the space is well balanced.
- Install lighting to drive away dark energy.
- Place beloved objects on the cabinets that create positive energy.
2
Fix the leaky faucet. It’s a common problem to have a kitchen faucet that leaks, but you may not realize how this negatively affects your house’s feng shui. Water is the symbol for wealth, so a drippy faucet literally means that your wealth is slowly draining away. If you notice that your faucet is leaking, takes steps immediately to get it fixed.^{[9]
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- Check out this article for DIY faucet fixes.
- At the very least, if you can’t get the leak fixed, make sure the water drips into a pitcher or basin so it can still be used rather than going down the drain. You could use this to water the plants on top of the cabinets.
3
Clean out cabinets regularly. Because feng shui values open space and minimalism, it is important to sort through your cabinets (and pantries) on occasion to get rid of things that you are not using. Utensils, appliances, and food that are not being used are only collecting energy and wasting it. If you know you don’t use something very often, consider whether it is really necessary or not.
- Getting rid of old food frequently is important because your kitchen is the source of health in your home and old food does not promote good health.
4
Show love to your stove. If the kitchen represents health in your home, then the stove is the center of that health because it prepares your food. Keeping your stove clean keeps the energy of the food positive, but a dirty and grimy stove reduces the energy of the food which ultimately reduces your own energy.
- Use all of the stove's burners regularly to maintain the overall strength of the stove’s energy.
- Move your trash can away from the stove to keep the negative energy of the garbage away from the positive energy of the fresh food you prepare on the stove.
- When you face the stove, you may be facing away from the entrance to your kitchen. Because of this, it is possible for someone to come up behind you without you knowing it. This is bad energy because it makes you restless and you can’t focus your attention on the food. To counteract this, hang a mirror over the stove to give yourself a view behind you.

Community Q&A

Question

Where best position for a mirror?

Community Answer

It depends on the room. Hang it in a place where it reflects bright light or an image of nature from outside. Don't hang it where it confronts you upon entering the house, or the chi will be drained. The mirror should be at a height that you can see yourself with ease and if you want a mirror for glancing at before you leave, place it so that it cannot be seen upon entry. Avoid mirrors in the bedroom that face the bed, as they drain you during sleep.
Question

What is the use of coin tree feng shui?

Community Answer

Money trees symbolize wealth and prosperity in feng shui, so using one in your home or office will promote these aspects. The exact type of tree is not important, but it's important that it represents wealth for you.
Question

What is the best paint color in the house?

Community Answer

If you are going for a light texture to the house, then white is your color. If you don't know what to choose between gray, black, or white, then your color would be off white. If most of your stuff in the house is bright colors (e.g. yellow, light blue, white, pink), then the most suitable color for you is light gray.

Warnings

If you talk to people about applying feng shui in your home and they make fun of you for it, just let it go because holding onto it will only bring bad energy.

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