October 18, 2024

A Visual Guide to 8 Common Feng Shui Placements at Home

By: Melecio Martin G. Arranz IV

One of the central concepts in Chinese culture is chi or qi. It represents the vital life force flowing through every living creature, and its balance is essential to one’s well-being. This ancient belief manifests in various practices, especially when creating harmonious living spaces through feng shui (风水).

Feng shui, which translates to “wind-water,” is the art of arranging a home’s layout to enhance the flow of chi. Traditional Chinese belief suggests that following feng shui placements creates a balanced and positive vibe for your home. In this article, you will find everything you need to know about feng shui.

Understanding Feng Shui

Feng shui is a traditional Chinese geomancy practice involving arranging floor plans and living spaces to make them harmonious and balanced. It follows the idea that everything in the environment has chi and that properly organizing the surroundings improves chi.

Feng shui has four central precepts, namely:

1. Chi

As mentioned, chi is the vital life force flowing through all living things. Feng shui ensures it flows freely through your home to promote health, wealth, and happiness.

2. Five elements

Feng shui utilizes five elements or wu xing—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—and describes their interactions in productive and destructive cycles. Following feng shui placements means balancing these elements and improving the flow of chi.

3. Yin and yang

Yin and yang are complementary forces representing nature’s duality. Yin represents darkness and passivity, while yang represents light and activity. In feng shui, balancing yin and yang is crucial to maintaining equilibrium in life.

4. Bagua map

The bagua map is a tool feng shui consultants use to understand and optimize the flow of chi in a space. It divides a home or room into nine areas, each corresponding to a particular aspect of life.

The Role of the Bagua Map in Home Layout

The bagua map—the primary tool in feng shui—studies the flow of energy within a space. It comes from I Ching or The Book of Changes, one of the oldest Chinese divination texts. 

Essentially, the bagua map divides a home, room, office, or building into nine sections corresponding to a particular area of life. Aligning the following sections with feng shui principles can help balance your world.

Wealth

The wealth quadrant in the bagua map’s far left corner equals prosperity and abundance. It’s linked to financial well-being and material wealth but also encompasses economic opportunities and non-monetary resources. When you balance this quadrant, you attract more wealth into your life.

Fame

The fame quadrant in the upper center wall represents how other people perceive you. It relates to your social standing, achievements, and the respect you earn in personal and professional matters. A well-balanced fame quadrant improves your chances of gaining recognition for your efforts. 

Marriage

The far right corner pertains to romantic relationships, marriage, and essential relationships in your personal and professional lives. A harmonious marriage quadrant promotes loving, supporting, and fulfilling relationships.

Family

The family quadrant on the bagua map’s left side represents familial dynamics, ancestry, and support systems. This area pertains to your relationships with family members and close friends. A balanced family quadrant leads to strong, healthy, and supportive familial bonds.

Health

At the center is the health quadrant, aptly positioned based on the universal truth that “health is wealth.” Since health influences your physical, mental, and emotional well-being, it ensures chi in other quadrants flows smoothly and positively in harmony.

Children

If you have kids, it’s important to harmonize the center-right of the map. This area primarily governs your relationships with your children, but it also influences your creative pursuits. 

Knowledge

The outer left corner pertains to wisdom, self-cultivation, and personal growth. It’s linked to learning, studying, and developing your skills and insight. A well-balanced knowledge quadrant improves one’s ability to gain wisdom and make better-informed decisions in one’s personal and professional life.

Career

The bottom-center section of the bagua map relates to your professional life and life path. It governs your career choices, professional growth, and overall life direction. It also promotes fulfillment and clarity in your professional endeavors, helping you navigate your career trajectory confidently.

Partnerships

The partnerships quadrant at the lower right corner conveys relationships with colleagues, mentors, and other support systems in your life. It also represents travel and exploration opportunities.

8 Common Feng Shui Placements

Reorganize your condo or house into a harmonious space based on feng shui principles.

1. Entryway

Your home’s front door, or the “mouth of the chi,” is the first point of contact for energy entering your home. It sets the tone for your entire house, so it should be inviting and clutter-free to ensure chi can enter and circulate freely. To achieve these goals, keep this section brightly lit, add a clean doormat, and furnish it with welcoming decor.

2. Living room

This is where family, friends, and guests gather and interact, so it should feel comfortable and encourage conversation. Place furniture in a layout that invites interaction—such as chairs facing each other—but ensure seating arrangements don’t have their backs to the main door. Otherwise, you create a sense of vulnerability. It’s also important to avoid blocking pathways and to add bright yet subtle lighting.

3. Kitchen

The kitchen is the busiest and arguably the most important room in your home because it’s where you prepare food for nourishment and sustenance. So, keep it clean and organized to maintain a positive energy flow. It’s not advisable to place the stove in front of the sink, as it creates conflict between fire and water elements. Then, keep appliances in good working condition to promote prosperity.

4. Bedroom

Since bedrooms promote rest and intimacy, they are pivotal for your health, well-being, and relationships. Ideally, you position your bedframe in the command position—a clear view of the entry door but not directly in line with it—to elicit a sense of security and control over the space. Soft colors for walls and furniture pieces also promote restful sleep and strengthen intimate relationships.

5. Bathroom

While bathrooms are the perfect zone for cleansing and renewal, some view them as a potential drain for wealth and chi because of the water flowing out. To balance it out, make your bathroom clean, tidy, and well-ventilated. Keep the toilet lid closed when not in use and shut the bathroom door to prevent positive chi from going down the drain. 

6. Home office

Productivity, focus, and career advancement flourish in your home office when you place desks in the command position, as it puts you in control and makes you feel safe. A well-lit, organized, and clutter-free virtual office also prevents distractions. Meanwhile, separating your work and relaxation areas sets a clear division between office responsibilities and leisure activities.

7. Windows and doors

These elements represent the flow of energy into and out of your home. Keep windows clean for natural light and positive energy to enter. Then, consider using curtains or blinds to limit light and maintain privacy. Meanwhile, doors should open smoothly without creaking to facilitate a smooth flow of chi at home.

8. Plants and colors

Plants and colors, including hues on walls, furniture pieces, devices, and fixtures, are powerful tools in feng shui since they influence your home’s overall atmosphere. Plants bring the wood element into your space, purifying and adding life to it. Likewise, certain colors evoke specific moods. Choose feng shui-friendly hues to dominate your living area, such as:

• Green and blue for vitality
• Purple for prosperity
• Pink and peach to attract romance
• White for simplicity
• Mustard, brown, and orange for balance

Channel Good Luck through Your Home

You might be practicing feng shui to uphold Chinese tradition or simply create a timeless interior. Regardless, feng shui is perfect for when you want a safe, peaceful, and flourishing space. So, create that environment and invite happiness by implementing these adjustments in your home.

Looking for a new place that aligns with feng shui? You need not choose between traditional and contemporary lifestyles in a Binondo condo like Four Season Riviera. Here, you can reside and thrive in the world’s oldest Chinatown near Manila’s bustling economic landscape.

Find out more on Federal Land’s website or contact us for additional information.