As a place storing dirt and taking filth, the bathroom always has a filthy image no matter in the house or in terms of Feng Shui. Therefore, the bathroom Feng Shui is very important and the bad bathroom Feng Shui will affect your career, wealth, health and emotion. Now, let’s take a look at the taboos for Feng Shui bathrooms.

Bathroom and Other Room’s Door

The bathroom shall not be seen as soon as entering the house. The bathroom door shall not face the entrance door directly, which is unsightly and contrary to the Feng Shui theory. According to the Feng Shui theory, this kind of layout will lead to many diseases and it is the main reason of poor family luck. The solution is placing a screen between the entrance door and the bathroom.

The bathroom door shall not face the kitchen door directly, or the mephitis in the bathroom will scatter to the kitchen, which will affect the housewife health and lead to stomach diseases to people inside. The solution is hanging a curtain on the door or placing green plants between them.

The bathroom shall not face the dining room directly, or it will affect the family harmony and make the family members in bad health.

The bathroom door shall not face the bedroom directly, or it will be harmful to the health of you living in the bedroom, especially you women. The solution is blocking with the green plants. Also, the bathroom door shall not face the bed directly or your head when sleeping.

1. Door Curtain or Drapery

What it is: There are many types of door curtains. The one that I’m referring to is a piece of cloth that is installed right on the door, sometimes split in the middle for easy entry and exit when using the door. Shown below is the kind of door curtain that I’m talking about.

If you’ve ever visited a Japanese restaurant, you may have already seen one that’s similar to the one shown in the image above.

Habit Replaced: Having a door curtain is almost similar to having the restroom door closed all the time. Installing one makes up for the bad feng shui habit of not closing the restroom door after use.

How it helps: When installed on the restroom doors, the door curtain’s function is to block the smell and sight of the restroom, both of which can affect the comfort level you have in your home.

This is especially important when your restroom is close to your kitchen, dining area, and where food is involved.

We know good smell can affect our appetite. Experiments that link smell and hunger suggest that people’s inclination to eat more or less food could be directly linked to their sense of smell, according to French biomedical scientists in the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Medical (INSEAM).

In another study conducted by French researchers, white wine was colorded red with odorless dye. They then asked a panel of wine experts to describe its taste. The connoisseurs used red wine descriptors to describe the taste of the white wine, suggesting that our visual perception actually influence taste.

2. Air Freshener

What it is: Air freshener brings a pleasant scent and improves air quality. It can be installed on the wall and is also commonly used in restaurants to keep the whole dining experience as pleasant as possible.

Habit Replaced: Because the air freshener covers up whatever smell you have in the restroom, it can trick you into thinking that your restroom is extremely clean even when you fail to clean it. You may end up cleaning your restroom less frequently.

How it helps: If smell bothers you, or if you’d like to add a pleasant scent or cover up whatever smell you have in your restroom, then this product is the way to go.

Scent has the ability to affect people’s productivity and emotions. According to an article published by Rachel Herz, an assistant professor of psychology at Brown University, scent affects people’s performance and mood because of conditional responses. In other words, it’s how we associate a scent with a real experience we have in our lives.

For instance, the smell of rubbing alcohol brings me negative emotions because it makes me think of a doctor’s visit, flu shots, blood samples, and needles.

3. Toilet Bowl Cleaner Tablets

What it is: It is a simple tablet that you drop into the toilet’s water tank that colors the water blue (or no color, depending on the product). The tablet adds bleach, antibacterial formula, and a fresh scent to the water so the toilet bowl is cleansed every time you flush it.

Habit Replaced: Closing the toilet lid when flushing the toilet.

How it helps: This product is for those who thinks it’s too much work to to close the toilet lid every time you flush the toilet (like me).

In my previous post about restroom feng shui habits and tips, I mentioned why it’s important to close the toilet lid when flushing the toilet. If you don’t remember why, here’s a video to remind you:

4. Motion-Sensored Trash Bins

What it is: A trash can where the lid opens using motion sensors and closes after several seconds. This is the solution for those who wants to avoid physical contact with the trash can and visual contact with the trash that’s inside.

Habit Replaced: Physically touching the restroom’s trash can with your hands or feet.

How it helps: Even though the garbage bin is only ranked 14th in top spots for bacteria at home, the physical contact with the bin is what spreads the bacteria, and you can easily get infected if you rub your eyes or have a cut/wound on your hand. That’s part of the reason why you need to wash your hands every time you use the restroom!

Whether you want your trash can to have a lid cover with motion sensor is totally up to you. However, I do recommend that you have one because it eliminates physical contact and covers both the smell and sight of the trash (similar to how the door curtain covers up the sight and smell of the restroom).

5. Dehumidifier

Habit Replaced: The dehumidifier is a remedy for restroom humidity. It’s good for those who doesn’t have the habit of opening the restroom window or ventilation after taking a shower or bath. It is extremely useful in bathrooms that doesn’t have a window or proper ventilation.

How it helps: The main purpose of getting rid of humidity is to prevent black mold from invading your bathroom. I know someone who wipes clean all the water in a shower stall after use – just to keep the shower clean and to prevent black mold from growing.

Need I remind you, mold can bring serious health consequences, and the degree of harm varies among individuals. Respiratory responses such as coughing, sneezing, and irritations to the eyes, nose, and throat are just a few mild symptoms.

Prolonged exposure can have more extreme symptoms and are more dangerous for people who have an impaired immune system, such as a person who is undergoing chemotherapy or fighting a cold.