Feng Shui for the placement of furniture is becoming more popular in the Western world as people seek to bring balance into their hectic, modern lives. Feng Shui involves placing objects such as furniture in a space so that good energy is allowed to flow through unencumbered. When decorating your home and placing furniture, you can follow some of Feng Shui’s basic principles to capture positive energy and keep negative energy away.

In each room of your home, there are rules you can follow to ensure furniture, and other objects, are placed in prime locations. First of all, you should position furniture according to comfort and convenience, making sure that no object blocks external and internal doorways (a symbol for blocked opportunities). As you arrange a room, keep high traffic areas open and unobstructed as well.

The most common rule of Feng Shui, as it applies to furniture placement, is to place main pieces, such as bedroom furniture or desks, in the “command position.” This is simply the space facing the door, and off to the side. Without knowing anything about Feng Shui, most people have an innate sense of the good energy of this position. In a meeting, for example, most people try to grab the seats in this area of the room.

Placing important furniture in the command position has many benefits. If you place your office desk and chair in this position, you might see an improvement in your career prospects and increase your productivity. For those in business for themselves, the flow of good energy can lead to an increase in customer phone calls (and therefore business), more respect in your chosen industry, and opportunity for continued success. As long as your chair does not back into a window, the command position is one of the first things to consider when applying the basic principles of Feng Shui to your own home.

Because sleep is such an important aspect of our lives and contributes to good health, placing your bed in the command position is crucial. Keep in mind, the worst place for the bed is right in front of the door with your feet facing toward it. Labelled the 'coffin position,' because the dead tend to be moved feet first, placing your bed in such a manner promotes the wrong type of energy. Keep the head of the bed away from a window as well, as this allows personal energy (chi) to escape outside.

Feng Shui is applicable in every room of the house, including the kitchen. It may be difficult to move existing appliances to cater to Feng Shui positions, but if you plan to redesign your kitchen, you may want to keep some of these tips in mind:

The stove needs to be placed so that anyone using the stove does not have his/her back facing the kitchen door. If you really can’t rearrange the placement of your stove, there is a trick - put a mirror behind the stove. A handy way to deal with this issue, a mirror above the stove also lets the cook see who enters the kitchen, without having to turn away from the food. The mirror also doubles, symbolically, the number of burners on the stove, which represents prosperity.

If you can, make sure the refrigerator and sink are not beside the stove. As Water element appliances, they should not be placed directly next to a Fire appliance. As you might guess, Water douses Fire, so keeping the two away from each other will only serve to contribute to our family’s health, happiness, and prosperity.

In addition to using furniture placement to promote good chi in your home, it can also be used as a means of redirecting the flow of chi. In family and living rooms, especially larger ones, make use of the space by creating conversation areas with the furniture. This will help direct the flow of energy in a harmonious manner throughout the space, rather than letting it enter the front of the house and rush straight through, and out the back. Think of this energy as air circulating through your home, cultivating good vibes. Another way to encourage this type of energy flow is to set up screens and dividers to ensure there are no straight paths from doors to windows.

In houses where the living room and dining room meld into a single L-shaped space, the large area can be difficult to tame. Guests and family members feel less comfortable and have trouble enjoying intimate conversations in such an environment. As mentioned above, grouping furniture so that smaller conversation areas are created is the best way to deal with such a situation, but you can also divide the area into two separate rooms to provide more privacy and comfort in each space.

In a dining room, which usually features a double door entryway facing a window, it’s quite difficult to keep the energy flowing well. It’s no wonder these rooms are seldom used. What you can do to make guests feel more comfortable, when you do use this room, is to try and place each seat so that it faces a wall and protects the people sitting down.

Keeping spaces free of clutter is also key to good chi. Although cosy spaces are required to maintain a good flow of energy, an overstuffed abode will only foster a sense of chaos and confusion. Don’t use too much furniture - just enough as necessary without ridding the entire room of open spaces. Breathing room allows positive energy to circulate in every space of the room, without facing obstacles. To hamper chi from settling in corners, you can put furniture in corners of the room.

Feng Shui is a great way to spruce up your home and invite good feelings into your personal space. Although furniture placement may differ depending on the framework of your own home, once you start to sense how chi flows well in your dwelling, you’ll be able to see what works best. If something doesn’t seem to be working, change things around until you find the best furniture placement for you.


By Katerina Mitrou sponsored by People’s Furniture sells high end, low cost dining, living room and bedroom furniture.