Do you like spending time in the living room? Do your guests feel comfortable when you entertain them in your living room?
If you answered “no” to the questions above, the feng shui of your living room could be the issue here.
Reading: Living room feng shui rules
Let me clarify two points first.
First, the purpose of the living room is for you to relax and entertain guests. Unlike the bedroom where it is private and more “yin”, the living room is an area that is more “yang”. it is where people are active, talking and moving. (related: a guide to the yin-yang theory of feng shui)
Second, living room feng shui is only a small part of feng shui. it’s not even one of the main areas of focus in feng shui. the 3 focus areas are the kitchen, the front door and the bedroom. their locations, relative to the orientation of the house (and many other factors), have a much greater effect on your life.
so when you follow the tips and feng shui rules listed here, don’t expect big changes in your life. what you can expect is that you and your guest will enjoy more comfort in your living room. this, in turn, can strengthen both your mental well-being and your social connections.
here it goes!
living room location
1. suitable near the front door
When you walk into a home, the first room that greets you should be the living room. imagine the alternatives. how would you feel if you walked into a house and saw the master bedroom? or when you enter do you go directly to the kitchen or the dining room? something just doesn’t feel “right”, does it?
The living room is a place to welcomes guests. It is the place that you are ok with letting people outside your front door see. It is a public area of the house and doesn’t have much of a privacy requirement. This is why the living room should be close to the front door.
2. suitable on the front of the house
If your living room isn’t near the front door, it’s fine if it’s located in the front of the house. this uses the same concept where the bedroom is suitable at the back of the house. the living room is suitable in the front of the house because it is the place to receive you and your guests.
again, imagine the alternative. if you are a guest and have to walk past the bedrooms to the living room, would you feel like you are intruding on the host’s privacy?
3. location based on personal and home kua
The living room is a place where you spend a lot of time when you are at home. therefore, it is best to have it in an auspicious area based on the kua house. (just like having the bathroom or kitchen area in an unfavorable area)
If the living room is not in an auspicious area, adjustments can be made to the sofa based on your personal kua number. but remember: the settings must be practically efficient first. don’t put your sofa in a strange or inconvenient place just to be able to take advantage of the auspicious energies of your kua.
living room design
4. prefer the standard form with four corners
many new age designs make the living room round, triangular or other creative shapes. those designs are not the best. Irregularly shaped living room designs are said to attract people who will complicate your social circle.
The ideal design is a living room with four corners, like rectangular or square-shaped designs. These designs will help you attract people who are more mainstream, or those who are more righteous or virtuous. But of course, the people you attract have a lot to do with your character as well.
5. avoid low ceilings
Have you ever been in a place where the ceiling is so low that you’re afraid you’re going to hit your head, even though you know you won’t? How did the place make you feel?
the low ceiling gives off a kind of negative energy that makes us feel compressed. it’s the same feeling some people get when driving a sedan next to a 16-wheeler. a living room with low ceilings will give you and your guests unseen pressure and great discomfort. In addition, because the space is smaller, it is also more difficult for the place to gather the good feng shui energy that you and your guests bring. therefore it is strongly recommended that you avoid this type of layout.
6. avoid sloped roof
This uses the same concept as #5 above. the area where the ceiling is lower emits compression energy similar to low ceilings.
If your living room is designed this way, try to avoid sitting and resting in the area where the ceiling is low.
7. the high ceiling has more room to grow
higher ceilings, even loft areas up to 2 stories, are preferred for living room design.
Because of the extra space, higher ceilings have a tendency to attract more light and can gather more positive energies. In symbolism, high ceiling correlates to having more room to grow.
8. must have windows
I think most people have at least one window in their living room. But imagine your living room doesn’t have a single window, wouldn’t it feel depressing?
The lack of windows not only affects the circulation of qi in the living room, but also negatively affects the occupant’s ability to establish social connections. there is a chance that the occupants will become more reclusive and withdrawn from human interaction.
9. having a balcony is a plus
living rooms with a sliding glass door to a balcony has the same effect as a large “window”. it has the ability to let in more fresh air and qi from outside.
See also: Feng Shui Rings – Everything You Need To Know
When it comes to social connections, having a balcony door is said to create stronger social connections. gives you more chances to get help from friends or meet the “noble man”, or people who would help or motivate you in terms of career, relationship or health.
10. avoid display balconies
Exhibition balconies are those that do not have a balcony door. they are usually out of reach and difficult to clean. they are rare and can only be found on tall buildings.
the reason why these balconies are not preferred is mainly because they can hardly be cleaned. As dust, trash, and grime accumulate, they can be a sight for sore eyes and create negative qi that can enter through the window. on the contrary, having these balconies is totally fine if you can easily clean this area.
11. should be brighter than the bedroom
As mentioned above, the bedroom is yin and the living room is yang. brightness and light is a form of yang energy that keeps us awake and gives us vitality (and the lack of it can make us sleepy). therefore, the living room should be filled with light, preferably sunlight if possible.
The brightness of the living room is said to affect our mood and energy level. Not only a dimly-lit living room drain the occupant’s energy to go to work, it can also cause unnecessary conflicts within the household because of how it affects mood.
how bright should the living room be, then? the living room is bright enough if you can read without turning on the lights during the day and brighter than the bedroom lighting at night (assuming your bedroom isn’t extremely bright).
12. abutments are not recommended
This is using the feng shui school of shapes concept. For example, lamp posts, electrical poles, and other pointed objects have a form of xa qi (negative energy) and should not be located right outside your front door.
The same happens with the pillars because their “shape” is not the best. most likely, these pillars bring more negative things than positive. if you really want to have pillars inside your living room, it is better to install the ones with round edges.
13. fireplace location
There are some restrictions on the location of the fireplace, assuming you use it frequently. If your fireplace is just for display or is rarely used, then the concerns below do not apply to you.
If the living room is in the northwest sector of the house, frequent use of the fireplace is said to affect the health of the male householder. this includes problems related to the heart and blood, such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and even stroke. this should definitely be avoided if the male head of household is older or has health problems.
for living rooms on the west side of the house, frequent use of the fireplace can affect the ability to attract wealth and save money. that’s because west is correlated to metal and the ability to accumulate wealth, and the hearth’s correlation to fire destroys metal in elemental phase relationships. if you have this problem, the simple solution is to use the fireplace less often!
placement of furniture
14. command position of the sofa
Like the bed in the bedroom, the desk in the work area, or the stove in the kitchen, the sofa is the central piece of furniture in the living room.
as such, the same concept applies. the sofa is ideally placed with a wall behind it. when seated, you should be able to see the door, similar to what we call the “command position”.
15. use large furniture behind the sofa to lean on
if you can’t place the sofa against the wall, you can place furniture behind the sofa to mimic its effects.
The furniture is ideally the same height as the sofa. It can be a cabinet or something sturdy and heavy so your movements on the sofa won’t move both the sofa and furniture around.
16. the entrance door should not look directly at the sofa
This is a similar concept with the bedroom door facing the bed. when you enter the front door and go straight, you must not bump into the sofa.
This situation is worse if the front door leads to a narrow hallway that leads to a sofa. That’s because this shape is similar to a poison arrow, commonly seen in the shape of a t-joint. the easy remedy for this situation is to move the sofa to another place or place a divider or some kind of furniture in the middle.
17. identify a main sofa for yourself
Please note that doing so is not intended to achieve the desired feng shui benefits. however, it relieves some of the anxiety of your guests. For example, let me ask you: are you comfortable taking other people’s seats? Have you ever noticed that when you’re a guest in someone’s home, you notice which sofa is more appropriate for the host, similar to seating in a corporate meeting room?
that’s what you should do for your own living room if you have frequent guests. this reduces anxiety and promotes comfort for your guests. usually the couch against the wall should be identified as yours. One way to do this is to place a small cover on the seat or seat back that you claim as your own.
18. avoid the catwalk behind the couch
If you have a catwalk behind your sofa, it is said that there is a tendency that you could attract people who could be harmful to you (in different ways). Also, it may be more difficult for you to get help or assistance from friends.
The remedy here is similar to the remedy for sofa that’s not against a wall, which is to place a heavy furniture behind the sofa. (see #15 above for more details)
19. avoid the sofa under the beam
This concept is the same as having the stove or the bed under a beam. what lightning brings is a form of negative energy (xa) that can cause problems for your health. others say this will put you in a situation where you will be “forced to bow, submit, and/or give in.”
This only applies if the beam is directly overhead when you’re sitting on the couch. if that’s the case, simply move your sofa or chair away from the beam. As for the cure, some experts have suggested placing large tree-like plants below the beam, as their upward growth is said to counteract the xa energy of compression of the beam.
20. places to put little used furniture
See also: 15 Benefits of Feng Shui Frog in Your Home
is there an ideal place in your living room to put your bookcases, dish racks, wine cabinets or other furniture that is not used often? the answer is yes.
Just as bathrooms and storage rooms are ideally located in the most inauspicious places according to your kua, the best places to place furniture that is rarely used are where there is energy in a negative way hitting that area. these places include areas under a beam or the area at the end of the front door.
21. the location of the furniture should allow the qi to flow smoothly
The flow of qi is sometimes similar to the way humans walk through an area. When placing furniture, make sure its location doesn’t make you feel like you have to walk an extra mile to get somewhere. convenience is more important than following the advice and rules laid out in this article, depending on the severity of the problem.
as uncle dixer said: the feng shui classics said it very clearly: be practically efficient first, then ritually correct.
22. when furniture placement rules conflict
what if you want to place your sofa in an auspicious location, such as one of the rich feng shui areas, but doing so would place your sofa under a beam?
As I mentioned when bed placement rules conflict, the general rule here is to avoid the negative xa first, then consider the positive. seek peace and stability first, and then go after growth. think about it. The effects of negative feng shui energies are like carrying dead weight. they are the barriers and obstacles to your goal. how fast and far can you go when you’re carrying all that dead weight? remove them first before anything else!
items in the room
23. works of art should promote harmony
In other words, avoid artwork that triggers negative emotions such as sadness, despair, or anger. even motivational artwork that includes inspirational quotes is not best suited for the living room (but is more suitable for the study room or workplace). Artwork depicting flowers, animals, or nature are quite common and make great additions to your living room.
24. location of artwork and feng shui items
The placement of artwork and items depends on what they are. it is common to see artwork such as paintings hanging on the wall just behind the sofa wall. don’t be afraid that the artwork will fall on your head!
As for other types of artworks and lucky symbols, like horses, they should be placed with a solid wall behind and NOT have it face towards the outside of the house. The idea here is that wealth should come in the house and not to the outside.
Other items, such as the rooster, can be used to heal power lines (“xa centipede”) by targeting them. if there is no xa, or negative energy outside, then the figure does not need to point out.
25. living room generally not suitable for mirrors
some like to be in the living room and some don’t. Here is an excerpt I took from my previous article on feng shui mirror locations:
“Some say that putting mirrors in the living room makes parties and gatherings more festive because it feels like the number of people has doubled. however, others are concerned that the mirror will amplify the energy brought in by guests, especially those with negative energies.”
I would personally put something other than mirrors in the living room, like a painting or figure. empty space looks great too and is easy to clean!
26. suitable for large potted plants
Placing a large potted plant in the living room is said to attract wealth (but location restrictions apply, see below). the plant should have large, round leaves, and avoid those with pointed, needle-like leaves.
Some say that the health of the living room’s plant is an indicator of luck of the household. If the plant is blossoming, that means the luck of the household is on a good path. If it is dying, it may indicate that luck is declining.
However, I’d take it with a grain of salt. I have no case studies on this. however, houseplants are a great addition to your home and provide more than just feng shui benefits.
27. restrictions for plants in large pots
Although large plants are great for the living room, not all areas of the living room are suitable for placing them.
If the living room is in the southwest or northeast corner of the house, avoid placing large plants in the southwest or northeast corner of the room, respectively. that’s because southwest and northeast correlate to earth, and plants, which correlate to wood, destroy earth.
If you place a large plant in the southwestern corner of a southwestern living room, it is said that the health of the female householder will suffer. even small plants should be avoided in this area if the female head of household has health problems.
If the large plant is in the northeast corner of a northeast living room, the family’s digestive system is said to be affected. the family may feel more fatigued than usual.
don’t forget, you can always put something other than plants in those areas!
conclusion
The purpose of the living room is for you to relax and entertain your guests. Unlike the bedroom, which prefers yin energy to help sleep, the living room prefers yang energy to make social activities more lively and fruitful.
The tips provided here can transform your living room into a more comfortable place for both you and your guests. however, if you are seeking the benefits of feng shui, such as attracting love or wealth, following these tips can hardly help. for that, you’ll need a full feng shui audit and home consultation.
Have you followed any of these feng shui tips for the living room? how has it worked for you? Comment below and share your story with us!
See also: 15 Tips for Upping Your Cubicles Feng Shui – Goldtouch