The Entry
The entry is your face to the world in feng shui philosophy. Unless you’re looking for a hideaway as a retiree, you want to find a home that has a clear easy-to-find entry. Just think about the first time you approached your home. Was it easy to find the front door? Does the doorbell work? It is clean and well lit? These are key factors to the feng shui of your home. It’s best if there’s an easy-to-follow path from the street to the front door. That the front door and entry foyer is open and spacious. This way you can attract the best opportunities and they have a place to gather and collect. Here are some guidelines for the entry foyer. Avoid having a wall or stairs less than six feet away from the entry door. There should be enough light in this space (so even a change to a brighter bulb can help). Also, avoid homes with another door or a large window directly across from the front door. The qi (life force energy) just goes straight out of the house with this sort of configuration.
Room Placement for Good Feng Shui
Ideally, you want to have the public areas of the home near the front with the private rooms near the back. The best positions for the kitchen, living room, and home office are near the front door. Since this is where the family spends time together, as well as welcomes guests and visitors, it makes sense that it’s closer to the front door. It’s more public. The private areas such as bedrooms are better nested towards the back half of the home. Traditionally, the oldest members of the family (like the grandparents) resided further back. The further back you are, the more safety, power, and influence you have.
Commanding Position
The bed, desk, and stove are the three most influential locations in the home according to feng shui. The bed represents you, the desk is your career and the stove is your wealth and how you nourish yourself. So, you want to have a house floor plan where your bed, desk, and stove are all in a commanding position. You are in a commanding position when you can see in the door, while not being directly in line with the door. Usually, you end up being diagonal, or “kitty-corner” from the door. A good feng shui house plan accommodates the commanding position for the beds, desks, and stove in the home.
What’s in the Center of the Home
What happens in the center of the home affects the well-being of all the inhabitants. The center of the home corresponds to the health or “tai qi” area of the Bagua map and it touches all the other areas of life. Therefore it’s best to avoid having a stair and/or a bathroom in the center.
Staircase Considerations
There are a few stair considerations when looking at floor plans. First, spiral stairs are a big feng shui no-no. They are disorienting and create a fast drilling energy that should be avoided if possible. In general, a lot of stairs, like in a split-level home create difficult feng shui. It means there will be a lot of ups and downs in your life. Stairs directly in front of the front door (within six feet) or in the center of the home are also challenging feng shui-wise.
The Overall Shape of the Home
For the last tip, generally simple and balanced floor plans within a well-proportioned square or rectangular shape offer the best feng shui. It may seem kind of boring, but with the straightforward squarish shape, there are no missing areas of the Bagua map, and things are in most often in harmony and balance.
