Whether you’ve just moved into a new place and are trying to figure out how to make the best of your new bedroom setup or you’re taking a crack at rearranging and cleaning your lived-in home, there are a lot of practical ways you can go about crafting the perfect bedroom experience. You can’t just throw a mattress on the floor and call it a day! There’s more to it than that—it’s a little bit art, a little bit intuition, a little bit preference, and a little bit of understanding how you can click all the pieces together to create a space that really feels good, where the energy can flow throughout your space in a way that feels natural and empowering. Enter—the art of bedroom feng shui.
What is Bedroom Feng Shui?
Feng shui is the traditional Chinese practice of using energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment, dating all the way back to 4,000BC. However, you don’t need to study for years to become a bedroom feng shui practitioner, you just need to understand the principles that guide the addition of good energy flow to your home. From the way you arrange your furniture to where you place your bed to the colors, lights, and trinkets, each piece of the puzzle of crafting the perfect bedroom can be positively affected by a little bedroom feng shui.
First Things First—What’s your Bedroom For?
The bedroom should be a place reserved for sleeping, resting, and romance. The ability to sleep often has to do with the mental adequacy of the sleeper. We all know how much a stressful day can make it impossible to doze off, but remember that the same goes for the space in which you do your dozing. If your bedroom is the kind of place where clothes are strewn about, there’s a TV commanding your attention while you drift off, electronics emitting blue light, or just plain clutter, you’re creating the opposite of bedroom feng shui. You’re creating bedroom chaos! And let’s be clear—nobody wants chaos in the bedroom.
You should begin your process (if you’re in a lived-in space) by decluttering (or extreme decluttering), letting the light in, throwing open the windows, and letting the negative energy clear out of the space. It’s time for a refresh! Light some candles or incense, or turn on your essential oil diffuser, and feel a decluttered bedroom call you to refresh it all!
Bedroom Feng Shui Starts with the Bed
Bed placement is arguably the most important part of bedroom feng shui. The centerpiece and quality control center of your dreams, your bed is all-important. Aside from that, it’s likely the biggest thing you’ll put in your bedroom, so starting here gives you the most options and the chance to decide where everything else will go.
Coffin Position – You can probably tell by the name but you don’t want to be in “coffin position” which is where your feet point toward the door when you’re laying in bed. It’s a superstition based around the direction you’ll be taken out of a room should you pass away in it. Not good! If possible, don’t allow any door to open up directly in line with your bed. This isn’t always possible, but if it is, it’ll likely eliminate a wall or two right off the bat.
Commanding Position – In opposition to coffin position, “commanding position” dictates that you should have your bed face the door, while not in line with it. You should be able to see your doorway from the bed.
Headboard – Place your headboard against a solid wall that allows you space on the other three sides of the bed (but not against a wall which has a toilet on the other side). Having space around your bed allows for energy to flow more freely throughout the room, allowing for maximum movement (it also makes it way easier to make your bed every morning).
Bedroom Feng Shui for the Rest of the Room
Nightstands – You’ve got space on either side of the bed. Whether you’re single or share the bed with a partner (sharing space on the bed is another matter), it’s imperative that you use a nightstand on both sides—the symmetry is calming and allows you ample storage and space for bed-use items. They don’t have to match, they just have to feel good in the space.
Color – Earthy and natural tones are said to give support and a sense of relaxation. Blues and greens are for vitality, healing, and the body. Pinks are ideal for romance and partnership. Consider what gets large swaths of color and work from there—the blinds/curtains, an accent wall, your sheets or comforter, a painting, your dresser. Pick a tone and let it guide the rest of the room.
Books and Papers – Books, while pleasant to see, are filled with momentum and energy that doesn’t belong in proper bedroom feng shui. Books represent the stimulated mind! And, if you’re a book hoarder that has more books than they could possibly read in a lifetime, that’s a little back-of-the-mind stressor that you just don’t need in your room. That goes doubly for papers. If you store work-related or project-oriented notebooks in your room, you’ll feel their presence weighing down on you (and not in a pleasant way like a weighted blanket)!
Fewer EMFs, More ART – Electromagnetic fields may disturb our sleep. Laura Cerrano, feng shui consultant in New York notes, “Choosing to leave those types of EMF appliances within your bedroom during sleep increases interference with your circadian rhythm. This is especially true with young children and adolescents.” In addition to that, it’s important to remember that blue light emitted from many electronics can throw off your circadian rhythm, making it difficult to fall asleep quickly.
Bedroom Feng Shui for the Discerning Sleeper
Yes, there are many ways you can use a little bedroom feng shui to create a cozier, more comfortable sleep environment. It’s all about balance, about creating a space that promotes harmony and peacefulness, allowing the energy to flow through the room comfortably. Feeling like this bedroom feng shui stuff is all psychobabble mumbo jumbo? That’s okay, too, but following this guide and clearing things up to make your bedroom the best place for sleep is never a bad idea. 6,000 years of bedroom feng shui can’t be all that wrong!