How To Feng Shui Your Bedroom

Feng shui enjoys a long and storied history in the cultural center of Chinese art and design, and in recent years, it's made a startlingly powerful impact on the Western mind as well (via National Geographic). The process of feng shui is seen most dramatically as a design concept in the home these days, but it's derived from Taoist ideology and can be applied across many aspects of life.

In a broader format, feng shui is employed to help city planners develop whole communities in a way that supports a balance in the positive energy — or chi — required to experience harmony (via The Spruce) that brings good health and all that comes with it. National Geographic reports that Chinese designers have been leaning on this principled approach for more than 4,000 years.

House Beautiful explains that a home and bedroom designed with the principles of feng shui in mind will correspond to the Bagua map, which helps a homeowner understand the eight core areas of their life, as well as the five elements of earth, metal, water, wood, and fire.

One of the first elements that you'll want to tackle when employing the feng shui approach is the creation of what's known as the commanding position. This is done with the bed — the largest piece of furniture in your room and the crucial element that's used for relaxation and sleep every single day. Mindbodygreen claims that a good commanding position can be constructed in the bedroom by placing the headboard of your bed directly against a wall and orienting the piece of furniture just barely off-center from doors and windows.

Creating the commanding position in your bedroom provides a metaphorical platform from which you can properly survey opportunities and potential issues that are arriving into your life. This grounds your daily pursuits and can help you make more intelligent and reasoned decisions at all stages of your daily routine (via Open Spaces Feng Shui). Your bed should be placed in this orientation because it allows for a great start and end to each day, and the positioning creates consistent comfort and peace of mind.

Symmetry is a core concept in the use of feng shui techniques. Whether in citywide architecture or the redesign of your home's bedroom, symmetry provides the structure that you'll depend upon to ensure positivity and balance (via Travel China Guide).

The Spruce recommends building symmetry in the bedroom with your nightstands. Whether you live alone or share the bedroom with a spouse or partner, bringing in two nightstands offers a foundational setup that provides functional storage as well as a stark representation of balance across both edges of the bed.

Artwork is also a common addition to bedroom spaces. But the selections that you make here are important. The Spruce also suggests selecting pieces that speak to you both visually and in a deeper, soulful manner. Adding art to a room for the sake of it is distinctly not a part of the feng shui approach. Instead, selecting artwork that stirs a feeling deep within you makes for a great addition. As always, feng shui promotes generalized minimalism, and so a single piece centered over the headboard, or a pair of equally sized paintings or pictures framed in a way that feeds into the balanced design, can go a long way in promoting the positive energy that you're searching for with the room.

Lastly, employing feng shui in your bedroom requires more than simply a redesign of the furniture and other elements of the space. My Domaine provides a number of essential tasks that should be completed on a daily basis in order to preserve the harmony in your living space. These elements of balance aren't static installations in the room; instead, you'll have to work to maintain the equilibrium that allows for greater enjoyment in the home and throughout all phases of your life.

My Domaine suggests making your bed and opening the blinds (as well as the window if you can) every day. These habits can help welcome positive energy and fresh, natural light and air into your room. Even if you leave the home for the entire day, these practices make for a comforting environment to return to after a day in the office or a weekend adventure with friends or loved ones. The Early Hour suggests that even opening windows and doors for just 10 minutes will provide your bedroom and home with a wave of positive energy and rejuvenation to support your efforts at consistent balance. Keeping these elements in order allows your room to bask in positive energy.