How to Place Your Bed for Good Feng Shui

According to feng shui principles, the bed is the most important piece of furniture in your home because it represents you. 

Just think about how many hours you spend in your bed. You probably devote more time there than any other place. And the time that you are in bed, you are typically sleeping. When asleep, you’re in a passive “yin” state and more susceptible to the energies around you. So your bed placement affects you in your conscious and unconscious states.

Therefore, if you start anywhere with feng shui, start with your bed! If at all possible, always place the bed for the best feng shui. If it’s really impossible, there are some ways to correct it. I highly suggest you can place it in the best way and opt to correct it if you have no other option. Here are some tips to place your bed for good feng shui. 

• 01 of 07 Commanding Position mindfuldesignschool.com In feng shui, we place the bed using the principle of the commanding position. You want your bed located so that when you’re lying in bed, you can see the door to the bedroom. However, you don’t want to be directly in line with the door either. A good rule of thumb is it places the bed diagonal from the door. See the diagrams above, which show the most ideal locations. It’s understandable that there are many cases in which this is not possible. There’s still hope! If you can’t be in the commanding position, you can correct the bed by using a mirror. Place a mirror so that when you’re in bed you can see the reflection of the door.
  Pro tip: I recommend a freestanding mirror which makes it super easy to place and adjust it at the correct angle.
• 02 of 07 Placing the Bed in Relationship to Doors Charlie Dean / Getty Images Besides the commanding position, there are other guidelines to look out for when placing your bed in relation to the doors in the bedroom.  You also want to avoid any doors opening up directly onto any part of the bed. For instance, when you have a door opening up in line with your head, you may develop headaches. Or if you have a door opening onto your feet, you may have foot problems over time. Avoid having your feet point straight out the door. This is often referred to as the “coffin position”. If the only place for your bed is in line with a door, it can be correct. You can hang a faceted feng shui crystal ball halfway between the door and the bed.
• 03 of 07 Headboard Against a Solid Wall Hero Images / Getty Images The head of your bed should be sitting securely against a solid wall. This means that you are supported from the back. I know it may seem like common sense, but I’ve seen people place the beds with the headboard in the middle of the room, or even the whole bed floating in the middle of the room. Always remember, you want the support of a wall behind you. Second, avoid windows behind the head of the bed if possible. This is especially important if you’re on the ground floor or have eye issues. Better to have a solid wall behind you.
• 04 of 07 Locating the Bed Away From a Toilet Wall Caiaimage/Martin Barraud/Getty Images Avoid sharing your headboard with the wall of the toilet. This means you want to rule out placing your bed on a wall that has the toilet on the other side of it. You don’t want to have a toilet on the other side of the wall from your head. If it’s not possible, you can place a mirror on the wall above and behind the bed to expand the view of the bedroom beyond. This will energetically erase the toilet.
• 05 of 07 Space on Both Sides of the Bed Space on Both Sides of the Bed Hero Images / Getty Images For adults, it’s best to have open space on the left and right sides of the bed. I suggest you have at least 18” on each side. It’s not ideal to place your bed with one side up against a wall.  The space on both sides allows a balance of your yin and yang, feminine and masculine, as well as space for each partner (or future partner). If this is not possible, do the best you can to have space on the wall side. You can also place a mirror on the wall that the bed is up next to. This can expand the view of energetically.  For children, it’s okay to have a bed against the wall as it can give them some support.
• 06 of 07 Beams, Soffits, and Sloped Ceilings Joe Schmelzer / Getty Images For the best feng shui placement, you want the area above your bed free of beams, soffits or sloped ceilings. These architectural features above the bed can create unnecessary pressure. If it’s unavoidable, a correction is to drape fabric to conceal the ceiling feature. If it’s not a large beam or soffit, it may be possible to simply blend the feature into the ceiling by painting it the same color. This makes the dropped ceiling areas less oppressive.
• 07 of 07 Feng Shui Bed Placement Checklist Anna Cor-Embankment/EyeEm/Getty Images Here’s a quick overview on what you can look out for when placing your bed for good feng shui:

Bed Direction

1. The headboard shall not face the bedroom door directly.

You need a secure, stabile and quiet environment to sleep. The door is a necessary gateway for getting in and out of the room, so the headboard shall not face the bedroom door directly; otherwise you sleeping in the bed may easily feel insecure and suffer from neuralgia and headache. If the headboard faces the door, you can use a screen to block the door and maintain the privacy of the bedroom.

2. The headboard shall not be west-facing.

The headboard direction means where the headboard is placed. According to scientific analysis, the earth revolves on its axis from east to west; if your head faces the west, the blood will always rush to the head and you cannot sleep peacefully, so the bed shall be placed in north-south direction and you can sleep with south-facing head and north-facing feet to avoid geomagnetic interference.
3. The headboard direction shall be chosen according to your birth season.
If you were born in spring or summer (March 6 to August 8 in Gregorian calendar), you need to cool off your hot life with the water or metal direction, so the headboard should face west, north, northwest or northeast. If you were born in autumn or winter (August 9 to March 5 of the next year), you need to warm up your cold life with the wood or fire direction, so the headboard should face east, south, southwest or southeast.

3. The headboard shall lean against the wall.

If the bed does not lean against the wall, the headboard is required to avoid the sense of suspension and the headboard shall not have the kitchen or bathroom behind; otherwise, you sleeping in the bed will be absent-minded and extremely suspicious, thus affecting your health and work.

4. The headboard shall not have a beam above.

The ceiling shall be flat without a beam which may lead to the feeling of heavy body. In particular, you sleeping under the beam will feel great pressure and mental stress, which will affect your health and work. Such circumstances also include: the bedroom door shall not have a beam above; the indoor air-conditioner shall not be placed above the pillow; the bed shall not have a drop light right above.

5. The headboard shall not face a mirror.

The bed shall not face the mirror, the floor-to-ceiling floor and window because you may be easily scared by yourself in the mirror or the floor-to-ceiling window at night and feel restless, leading to dizziness, hypochondria, nightmare and neuralgia. If there is a mirror facing your bed in the bedroom, you can cover it or turn it to the wall during the night. It is suggested to inlay the mirror in the bedroom closet.

6. The headboard shall not lean against the window.

If the headboard adjoins the window, it will lead to restriction and you sleeping in the bed will easily feel insecure because you cannot see the window in front, thus leading to mental stress and affecting your health.
→ Feng Shui Tips and Solutions for a Bed under the Window

7. Don’t face the the bathroom door or lean against its wall.

The headboard shall not face the bathroom door or lean against the bathroom wall, which may easily lead to lumbago, backache, rheumatism and headache.