18 feng shui ideas to harmonize your bedroom

Feng shui bagua crash course

When trying to determine the optimal feng shui layout for your home, first you must determine your home’s bagua. The bagua is like an energy map for your home. Different schools of feng shui have different approaches to the bagua. To keep things simple, we’ll stick to using the bagua of the BTB (Black Hat Sect Tantric Buddhist) School of Feng Shui. BTB is one of the most commonly-used schools in North America. Check out our Feng shui basics guide for a deeper dive into different schools and bagua styles.

The easiest way to ascertain your home’s feng shui energy map is to start with a drawing of the floorplan. Create a 3×3 grid that covers your floorplan. Align the bottom of the grid with your front door. Most or all of your floorplan should fall within the 3×3 grid. Each square aligns with one of the bagua areas. The bagua areas tell you which parts of the home correspond to which part of your life. It also reveals which of the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) are aligned with each part of your home, which will help you harmonize each area’s décor.

With your energy map figured out, you can see which bagua area your bedroom lies in. Use that knowledge to guide your feng shui decisions.

Choosing feng shui bedroom colours

The colours you choose for your bedroom depend on which part of the bagua it’s located in. If you’d like to keep things simple, skin tone colours are always good feng shui. Fortunately, that allows a pretty wide range of colours from which to choose. If you’d like to take it to the next level, here are some colour ideas based on the different bagua areas.

North

Water governs the north bagua, which benefits from black and dark blue hues. Unfortunately, those are not particularly good bedroom colours. The good news is that the metal element strengthens water energy; you can use metal’s whites and greys in your bedroom as well. Just to make sure to avoid earthen green colours in your north-bagua bedroom, since the wood element weakens water.

Northeast

The northeast bagua is aligned with the earth element. If your bedroom is in this area, skin tones work particularly well, as do earthy browns and greens. You can also use the reds, oranges, and yellows of the fire element because it strengthens earth energy.

East

If your bedroom is in the east, or middle-left, bagua area, it is aligned with the element of wood. Green is the colour of choice here, although you can also include the dark blues and blacks of the water element.

Southeast

Southeast shares it’s elemental affinity with east, so earthy greens or watery dark blues are your best choice. Just make sure to avoid the colours of metal or fire elements. Red, orange, yellow, grey, or white colours can weaken the wood energy of your bedroom.

South

The south bagua area is governed by the element of fire. Colours on the spectrum from yellow, to orange, to red, and even magenta work well here. You can also fuel fire energy with the greens and earth tones of the wood element. Just make sure not to douse it with water-aligned colours!

Southwest

If your bedroom is in the southwest bagua area, the earth element is key. Like the northeast, gentle earthy browns and greens work great, as do the bright colours of fire. Avoid the bold greens of the wood element and the greys of the metal element.

West

The west bagua area is aligned with the metal element. Whites, greys, and metallic silver colours enhance the natural metal energy, as do the skin tones of the earth element. Make sure to avoid bold, fiery colours.

Northwest

Like the west, northwest is governed by metal. If your bedroom is in this area, you can use the same metallic colours while avoiding reds and yellows of fire.

Centre

The centre bagua is like the heart of your home. From here, energy circulates throughout the rest of the bagua. Keep the area as open as you can so the energy can flow freely. The centre is enhanced by earth colours and bright yellows. Most layouts don’t have the bedroom situated at the centre of the house, of course.

You can implement your feng shui colours in big ways or small; painting the walls is obviously a huge amount of colour, but small accents on furniture and bedspreads also contribute to the energy balance in the room.

Feng shui bedroom layout

Good feng shui is a lot more than just harmonizing colours; you also have to make sure your bedroom is arranged to allow the right flow of energy. There are a few things to consider, but first and foremost is the position of the bed; after all, the bed is the heart of the room. The direction of the bed is less important than making sure that the bed is situated properly amongst the room’s energy flow. Your bed should be in a commanding position.

Energy flows through a bedroom’s doors and windows. To ensure a peaceful sleep, make sure your bed resides outside the direct line of these energies. Most importantly, the bed should not be in line with the door. Diagonally across from the door is the best place. Below are two examples of simple bedroom layouts that follow this rule of good feng shui.

You should situate your bed with the headboard against the wall, leaving space on either side. If your bedroom shares a wall with a bathroom, make sure the bed is not placed against that shared wall. No matter what direction your bed points, make sure that your feet aren’t pointed directly at the bedroom door when you’re lying down; this is known as the coffin position. The name should be enough to tell you that it’s undesirable.

If your bedroom ceiling features exposed beams, make sure that you don’t place your bed underneath any of them. Heavy objects above the bed create an oppressive energy. It’s not just beams, either; hanging light fixtures (or any heavy hanging decoration) have the same effect. Keep the ceiling above your bed clear. If you can’t avoid the ceiling beams, buy a canopy bed to shield you from the undesirable energy while you sleep.

If you have nightstands, make sure there is one on each side of the bed to provide balance. The same goes for lamps. Larger furniture, like a dresser, should be placed along the wall at the foot of the bed to keep the room balanced. If you must place furniture on the wall to the bed’s side, make sure you place another piece on the opposite wall to maintain equilibrium.

Feng shui bedroom décor

There are still a few steps to completing your feng shui bedroom. Art and pictures can add a lot of personal style while still enhancing the room’s energy. The rules of colour determined by the bagua still apply when it comes to choosing art, so it’s a great opportunity to enhance your bedroom’s elemental energy with some complimentary colours. One feng shui rule is that water should be avoided in the bedroom; water cools the warmth and fire of a relationship. That means no images depicting water, and no actual water. Fish tanks in the bedroom do not mesh well with good feng shui, unfortunately.

Incorporate pairs of objects into your bedroom décor as well, including paintings that depict pairs. That will help bring romance into your life if you’re single, or bring positive energy to your relationship if you’re not. Pairs of birds, red peony flowers, or mystical knots are common feng shui cures for romance. Avoid art with a lonely or sad vibe, which will have the opposite effect. In the same vein, avoid art with aggressive or violent energy.

Though there are a few general rules for good feng shui when it comes to choosing art and other decorations, the most important thing is to choose stuff that you actually like . The bedroom is where you come to replenish your energy; it won’t be effective if you’re surrounded by things that don’t bring you any joy.

Feng shui and bedroom mirrors

One aspect of feng shui bedroom décor that you definitely want to be mindful of is the presence of mirrors. When it comes to the bedroom, leave mirrors out of it. Mirrors reflect energy and can cause the energy within the bedroom to be restless. That’s not conducive to a good night’s sleep. A mirror that reflects the bed is even more worrisome; this is said to bring about the possibility of infidelity in a couple’s relationship.

If you feel it necessary to have a bedroom mirror (after all, they can be rather useful), just make sure that it’s not facing the bed. Ideally, you want to be able to cover the mirror at night while you’re sleeping.

Conclusion

Feng shui can get as complex as you’d like it to, but hopefully, this article gave you an idea of how to tackle the basics of bedroom feng shui. There are multiple feng shui schools and mountains of information out there, but applying the ideas here should give you a good start. Here is what you need to do:

1. Find your bedroom’s bagua area,
2. Choose your colors accordingly, and
3. Create a harmonious layout.

Before you know it, you’ll have a bedroom overflowing with auspicious energy.

If, in the process of feng shui-ing, you end up investing in a lot of new décor, make sure your home insurance’s Personal Property limits are high enough to cover your new stuff.

Want to learn more? Visit our Interior Design resource centre for inspiration and tips to help you create the perfect living space. Or, get an online quote in under 5 minutes and find out how affordable personalized home insurance can be.