The sofa set is one of the most unique pieces of furniture at home and more often than not, the only sofa in the house as well.
It’s place in the living room is so embedded in our minds by default, that even when home owners don’t use the living room a lot, they still cannot picture themselves relaxing in the living room seating on anything other than a couch.
Buying a sofa set is a real headache in itself. There are just so many variables to choose from these:
- L-shape, regular, curved
- Design style
- two-seater, three-seater
- Fabric, leather, faux leather, PVC
- Recliner?
- etc
Let’s say you have already picked a new sofa in a color you desire. The question now is where do you place it?
In feng shui, there are without doubt guidelines which indicate that every house is different and that the placement of a furniture as large as the sofa cannot be universally determined.
There simply cannot be a law that says something like “all sofa sets should be placed in the northwest corner” of the living room. And those that were bought at a sales event should be banished to the store room.
However, there are certain rules regarding sofa placement that applies to all homes.
1) Back support
Because the sofa is a place where we spend an extended time at, there is a need for proper backing so as to act as support.
This is why it is always ideal to lean the sofa’s back against a full wall. A preference is a stone or cement wall to act as a “mountain”.
When a full length wall is not possible, maybe due to the installation of windows, then the lower window trim should not be lower than the height of the head when a person is sitting in the couch.
While this is not an ideal, it is the absolute least you can ensure if you MUST orientate the sofa with it’s back against a windowed wall.
A window behind gives rise to being the victim of backstabbers. This is without mentioning the potentially exposing yourself to poison arrows coming from the exterior environment.
People often instinctively sit on the floor as they feel too exposed from full length windows lurking behind
In cases when positioning the couch against the wall is impossible due to challenging room layouts or practical limitations, the only option left for some households is to place the sofa in open space without any backing.
This is what is often termed as the “floating” position.
If this problem exists, and you still wish to have this feng shui affliction remedied, then use screens or cabinets as the backing.
2) Mirrors behind sofa
If you have positioned your beautiful chesterfield sofa firmly against the wall, it counts for nothing when there are mirrors on it that reflect the backs or the back of the heads of people.
For example if there is a full length mirror on the wall, that backing basically does not “exist”.
3) View of entry way
When resting on the sofa, it’s only right that a resident of the house would feel comfortable, safe, and in a position of power.
This is why the placement of the sofa should allow a person to see the entryway into the space when in a seated position.
Door behind sofa is puts one in a vulnerable state
In any room, especially in meeting and negotiating rooms, the seat with the best overall view of the space, especially the entrance, is the position of power.
This can be akin to a military force fighting from an elevated position in battle. They simply an advantage over others.
This means that if there is a door into the living room, a person sitting on the sofa should have an easy view of it. The door can either be in front or from the sides. Just not at the back.
4) Beam above sofa
If you believe that sleeping with a beam over the bed is a feng shui predicament that needs to be avoided at all costs, then sitting on the sofa with a beam overhead should be forbidden just as much.
A big reason why beams above the bed is such a bad feng shui ailment is that when lying in bed, we are resting and are in a very vulnerable position for an extended period of time. Thus, sha chi can cause more harm to a resident than usual.
The same applies to sinking into the sofa.
It must be avoided as much as possible.
5) The rule of the celestial animals
If you have done some basic reading about feng shui, then surely you must heard about the 4 celestial creatures.
The sofa is a place where it’s concept can be applied. Specifically, the green dragon on the left and white tiger on the right.
I should not have to remind you that the mention of these animals are expressions and metaphors. Nobody really expects you to keep an iguana in a tank on your left and a bengal cat in a cage on the right.
The left side is more about attracting wealth generating opportunities while the right is more related to wealth accumulating (or keeping) tendencies.
The left side should be more open and having a window view on this side would be good. The right side should be less open to trigger the energies of tiger.
When this configuration is flipped, either the household might meet continuous obstacles in their career, or women in the household might find more success luck compared to men.
What if there is no ideal sofa placement position?
It would be no surprise at all when there are no straight forward solutions to sofa placement in the living room, or any room for that matter.
Architects and builders these days tend to make it a point in showing home buyers that they are trendy and modern artists by designing odd-shaped living spaces or unorthodox layouts.
However I find that about 8 out of 10 times, when homeowners say that there is no ideal placement for furniture such as the sofa, it is because they are unwilling to take on the task of shifting other furniture or unwilling to add fixtures that can solve their problems.
I get it.
Shifting a sofa’s position will often mean the relocation of the TV console. And that causes a whole lot of necessary moving of other furniture to accommodate the shifting exercise.
But if feng shui is something that matter to you, then this is a minor inconvenience to suffer from in exchange for better feng shui and peace of mind.
On top of that, don’t for get that screens can be set up to demarcate spaces and “create” walls to serve as a sofa’s backing support. It can even erect new wealth corners that didn’t exist in the first place!
Finally, if there is indeed no solution to sofa set placement that checks all the boxes, then one has to analyze the situation and select the option which is the lesser evil.
Then set up cures and remedies to alleviate feng shui ailments that are present.
