Among the many feng shui issues that can be present in a living space, one of the most common problems that affect the most people is bed placement.
This is because a lot of people who respects feng shui are not necessarily homeowners. And for a lot of them, the only living space where they can claim is their domain is the bedroom. This is not forgetting that a lot of people rent small apartments or bedrooms since they have yet to buy a house outright.
And the primary piece of essential furniture that demands the most focus is the bed.
The bed is where we sleep. It also determines our sleeping orientation which affects what types of energy we absorb when our defenses are down. In some metaphysical circles, sleeping is also the time when our soul wanders since the soul never sleeps. And the soul simply cannot be at ease when put under the stress of bed afflictions.
If you are one who agrees that the position of your bed in the bedroom goes a long way in feng shui, then running into bed placement problems can be really stressful indeed.
Here is a list of the common bed placement problems and typically how to address them.
1) Bed feet facing door
If we are a gather a group of feng shui experts and have them rank a list of bed afflictions, this one would probably be number 1 with a strong consensus.
Chinese, especially seniors, often associate this with the “coffin” position as this is how the dead are moved when exiting places or between places. From the feet first. Yet do realize that this is an expression that relates to the severity of this affliction.
Consider that every person has their own aura that is shaped like the magnetic field of the planet earth. The north pole being at the head and south pole being at the feet. If the feet is pointing at the bedroom door, then your personal energy could exit your personal space instead of regulating around you, and also constantly get distorted by energy entering from the door. This makes you even more exposed to hostile energy forces in your surroundings.
It doesn’t matter if you are sleeping with your head pointing to your best direction. You will get clobbered by bad feng shui in this sleeping position.
Which is a good example of form school taking precedence over compass school any day.
How to remedy:
- Shift the bed
- Set up a screen between the bed and door
- Use a canopy bed
- Install curtains at the bedroom door
- Rotate the bed and set up a screen
Concerning the last point of rotation, the bed would still be exposed to the door. But from the side rather than bedfeet. This is choosing the lesser of 2 evils. The screen would still provide protection nevertheless.
2) Bed facing window
This can refer to the situation of either the bed feet facing the window or a window behind the bedhead.
The problem would be compounded if the lower height of the window is below the height of the bed. A common fixture with the proliferation of full-length windows in modern interior design.
When the window is at the feet, it results in a personality that is less grounded. And when the window is at the head, it results in thinking too much, like day dreaming. Children sleeping under these unfavorable configurations are especially vulnerable to being negatively influenced.
This does not imply that adults are safe when the bed is facing a window. Just that adults are assumed to have a stronger mind to brace against such exposure. They are still going to get hit as well. How badly depends on their own mental strength and will.
While this is one of the most common bed afflictions arising from bad placement, it is also one of the less dire ones.
However, this can quickly turn into a critical affliction if there are hostile structures in the external environment directing sha chi towards the window.
Imagine that your head is at the window and a structural blade in the form of a sky axe is gesturing at you from the opposite side. It’s just bad feng shui, bad omen, bad symbolism, and bad bed placement.
How to remedy:
- Shift the bed
- Install curtains at the window
- Install window blinds
- Paste stickers at the window
In some circumstances a strong imposing headboard might be enough to fend off negative energy. But let’s not leave that to chance.
3) Washroom door line cutting across bed
Having a personal washroom directly accessible from the bedroom can be a huge convenience. Many cannot imagine life without this simple luxury.
However, the location of the bathroom door can very often create feng shui problems that cannot be fully eliminated. And a lot of times, the bedroom would have otherwise been a perfectly fine room if the bathroom door was absent.
The presence of a door instantly makes the entry line a passage of energy. And since the particular space is the entrance to a washroom, negative energy from the toilet is going to be channeled via this door. Sleeping within the bounds of this entry line would mean being exposed to the negative energy, and will most often cause health problems. It can also cause scandals to occur within previously faithful relationships.
The worst scenario of this category of affliction that I have come across is when the entry line of the washroom door is across the bed head area. And the toilet bowl is directly behind the door facing the bed. On top of that, the bed is at a lower height than the toilet bowl. This is akin to sleep on crap. A chuckle always comes up when when such a scenario is described in discussions between feng shui experts.
The straight forward solution to washroom doors cutting across the bed is to relocate the bed to another sector within the living area. When this is not possible for one reason or another, then take a look at alternative solutions.
How to remedy:
- Install curtains at the door and place a pothos plant in the washroom
- Set up a screen between the door and the bed
- Construct a hidden door for the washroom which is concealed by the wall or totally blends into the wall
- Relocate the washroom door
- Sleep in a different room
If renovation can resolve the feng shui issue but the cost involved is making you think twice, consider how long you would have to live with this affliction and make a judgment call. Just remember to be aware of this issue and look out for it on the floorplan when you buy a new house.
4) Beam hanging above the bed
Beams hold a lot of pressure to retain the structural integrity of a building. And sleeping under it means that you would be at a resting state under all that pressure.
Some architects are smart enough to design properties that have the beams hidden from view. But developers who want to squeeze more profits out of their projects can often just leave the ugly beams exposed.
Fortunately there are a lot of remedies and cures for beams over the bed.
How to remedy:
- Build a false ceiling to level off the beam horizontally
- Sleep in a canopy bed
When the beam is only at the wall area above the bedhead, you can also:
- Build a false wall to level off the beam vertically
- Order a custom made cabinet in place of the false wall to level off the beam vertically
- Build a feature wall that levels off the beam vertically that fits the width
The best solution is with remodeling works to install a false ceiling. This remove the affliction once and for all.
5) Protruding wall cutting into bed
This is a problem frequently observed in irregularly shaped rooms.
When the bed is being “cut”, it always means health problems and bad romance luck.
Among the various feng shui afflictions related to bed placement, this is one that can be very difficult to fully remedy because bedrooms with this particular issue usually don’t have a lot of space to work with. If the room has a lot of space, this problem is unlikely to be present in the first place.
How to remedy:
- Shift the bed to a safer location if the available space allows it
- Place cabinets to level off protruding wall areas
- Set up a screen to protect the bed area
- Place tall potted plants to hide the sharp corners
If a suitable alternative bed location is unavailable, then this might be an affliction that the occupants just has to live with.
Because if you are shifting the bed to another area to avoid the sharp edges of a wall, but that means putting your bed feet facing the door, then the former is the lesser of 2 evils. It’s better to just stay at the current location and place plants to hide the wall corner.