How To Use a Feng Shui Home Map to Bring Tranquillity to Your Space

As part of the philosophy of Tao, feng shui is the practice of encouraging the free flow of life force energy, or Chi, through the careful design and arrangement of your living spaces. With thoughtful design, you can harmonize yourself with your environment to positively impact your mood and the direction of your life. Feng means “wind,” and “shui” means water, and together, they represent how we connect and flow with the natural rhythms and cycles of the environment. Join Mini Mall Storage on this deep dive into the feng shui home map and how to use it in your space.

Your Basic Feng Shui Home Map

The Feng shui energy map, or bagua, relates to the overall layout of your home and is designed to be read from the position of your front door. From your entryway, imagine your home divided into a 3×3 grid with eight quadrants and a center point. You could also visualize it as a pizza with a circle at the center and slices radiating outwards. Each zone is associated with a different aspect of life and specific colors, numbers, and elements.

Decorating your home accordingly is believed to result in positive outcomes in those specific areas of your life. The eight quadrants are as follows, to find them in your own home, use your front door as the starting point:

Southeast—sometimes called your money corner, the southeast is associated with prosperity, wood, the color green, and the number four.

South—associated with your reputation, fire, the colors red and purple, and the number nine.

Southwest—this spot in your home governs love and relationships and is associated with the earth, yellow and brown, and the number two.

East—the place of family harmony, associated with wood, green, and the number three.

West—the place of children and creativity, associated with metals, gold, silver, white, and the number seven.

Northeast—associated with knowledge (a great place for a bookshelf!), earth, blue, green, and the number eight.

North—your career center, associated with water, the colors blue and black and the number one.

Northwest—the place of your home associated with travel, friendships, and helpful people, the colours gold, silver, and white, the metal element, and the number six.

The centre of the grid is the heart of your home. It’s associated with health and well-being, the earth, the colours brown and orange, and the number five. In some traditions, the center of the home represents you, and how you move about the space.

Feng Shui Home Decor

Now that you understand how the principles of feng shui influence the different areas of your home, the next step is learning about what that means for your home decor.

Keep the commanding position of each room in mind as you decorate, this is the corner of the room that is the farthest away from the door. The commanding position is a good place to put a dominant piece of furniture for that space, like a bed, desk, stove, and so on.

Regardless of which area of the home you’re decorating, keep the space free from clutter, broken items, and items that might restrict the flow of traffic and energy in the space. Clutter is a big no-no in feng shui, no matter what room you’re in, so if you’re trying to incorporate feng shui into your home, you’ll likely find yourself decluttering in the process.

Feng Shui Plants for Your Home

Plants play an important role in feng shui home design. You’ll want to opt for plants with round, soft leaves and put specific varieties in strategic locations to help nourish the type of energy you’re trying to attract. For example, many people place a money tree in the southeast area of the home to encourage abundance and prosperity. Ferns, palms, golden pothos, and snake plants are also popular choices for the positive, nourishing energy they can bring to your space.

Feng Shui Home Office

Ideally, you’d want your home office to take up residence in the north part of your home in your career center. You’d place your desk in the corner farthest from the door and favor the colors blue and black. To bring elements of water to the design, you could consider hanging art depicting the ocean or adding a small table fountain or humidifier. The north is also associated with the number one, so you could keep items in singular groupings or add visual representations of the number one to your space.

Feng Shui For the Bedroom

In the bedroom, you’ll ideally place your bed in the commanding position as long the door isn’t directly across from it. If possible, position your bed so that when your head is on the pillow, it’s pointing south. Incorporate soothing neutral tones to promote relaxation and avoid clutter. This means cutting out clutter under the bed and on the nightstand and maintaining a more minimalist design. It’s also recommended that you avoid too many plants in the bedroom because they have an active energy. You should also remove electronics and be selective about the type of art you hang up, opting for muted pieces that inspire a sense of calm. When it comes to feng shui, in the bedroom less is more.

Feng Shui Living Room Layout

Check your living room for spaces where clutter accumulates. Clutter restricts the flow of Qi, which can lead to increased feelings of stress, overwhelm and business. And clutter in the living room is no different! Figure out where your living room is positioned on the bagua map and align your design with the corresponding colors and elements.

As you go through the process of transforming your home with feng shui, remember one of the most important rules is to reduce visible clutter in the house. Clutter represents stagnation and disrupts the flow of positive vibes throughout your space. Decluttering is a great way to free up extra space and even earn a little extra cash if you have items in good condition that you can sell.

Have stuff you need to hang on to but nowhere to put it? Mini Mall Storage has the solutions you need. Check out our storage size calculator to figure out which option would be best for you or give us a call and chat with one of our friendly Storage Specialists to find a solution for your storage needs.

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