The bed in the bedroom is where everyone rests and recuperates. If positioned correctly, it can also help attract wealth or enhance financial fortune. Placing the bed in the wrong direction not only makes it difficult to fall asleep but may also lead to nightmares, causing unease and anxiety. It can further disrupt your financial flow, prevent wealth accumulation, and even adversely affect your health. Let’s explore the various feng shui principles related to bed placement.
1. North-South Orientation is Optimal
The bed should ideally face north-south to align with Earth’s magnetic pull. A classic feng shui adage states: “Sit facing south, sleep with head toward south or north” for health benefits. This orientation principle is central to home feng shui, making bedroom positioning crucial for daily living. If you desire restful sleep, these considerations are essential.
2. The headboard should be firmly against a solid wall
Feng shui advises positioning the headboard directly against a solid wall. From a scientific perspective, if the headboard is distant from the wall, the space above the head allows airflow. This can create a sensation of coolness overhead during sleep, compromising sleep quality. Sometimes it can even create the illusion of someone standing behind you, making sleep restless. Some beds are placed right next to floor-to-ceiling windows, with only curtains blocking external light. From a feng shui perspective, this can lead to financial leakage and health issues, such as increased susceptibility to respiratory infections or migraines.
3. Avoid placing beds or windows directly opposite doors or windows
Regardless of location, positioning the bed so the sleeper can see both the bedroom door and window from the bed helps absorb natural energy. Most modern room designs include windows, so this isn’t usually a concern. However, never position the headboard against a door, as doors act as energy portals. If your face constantly faces this portal, it may be exposed to stagnant energy. If limited space forces the bed near the main door, this violates a major bedroom taboo.
4. Avoid placing the bed under a beam
When decorating a bedroom, pay attention to the direction the bed faces for energy flow. Ensure no beams are directly above the bed, as overhead beams can create a sense of oppression and harm physical and mental well-being. Additionally, never position the bed facing a mirror. In the half-asleep state, waking up in the middle of the night may startle you with your reflection, causing restlessness and dizziness. Moreover, when asleep, one’s energy is at its weakest. Mirrors, being highly reflective objects, can easily reflect away the body’s energy. This is another crucial consideration for furniture placement.
5. Positioning the bed in the wealth corner can attract prosperity:
Feng shui emphasizes that the living room represents the wealth position, while bedrooms serve as the wealth storage. Therefore, sleeping in the wealth corner can enhance wealth accumulation. In a bedroom, the wealth position or auspicious corner is likely diagonally opposite the door. Keep this area clean to accelerate wealth accumulation. Placing round or bowl-shaped items like treasure pots, safes, or similar objects enhances effectiveness. Beyond these, items like flower pots, plates, loose change, coins, crystals, or crystal geodes also attract wealth.
6. Bed orientation should not face the main door directly
If the headboard aligns with the main entrance or bedroom doorway, feng shui terms this “door clash,” causing restless sleep, nightmares, or hallucinations. Placing the bed too close to a glass window creates a sense of emptiness and instability, hindering career advancement. In modern cities, buildings are often densely packed—front, back, and side by side. Placing the bed too close to windows compromises the bedroom’s privacy. Moreover, as urban environments grow increasingly chaotic, disruptive noise can penetrate glass windows and disturb sleep. Feng shui texts also note that positioning the bed near windows may invite “affairs outside the marriage.”
7. The headboard should rest against a solid wall
When arranging the bed, we must pay attention to this. Sleeping Orientation Feng shui principles state that the headboard should be solid, not exposed. It must rest against a wall, not a window. Some young people today place beds casually for aesthetic reasons, but this is incorrect and unscientific. A bed not against a wall can create a sense of emptiness and insecurity during sleep. Therefore, we must pay attention to the orientation of the bed—the headboard must be against a solid wall.
Optimal Orientations
Bed positioned east-facing west — “Sitting in inauspicious direction, facing inauspicious direction” — Inauspicious
Bed positioned west-facing east — “Sitting in inauspicious direction, facing inauspicious direction” — Inauspicious
Bed positioned southeast-facing northwest — “Sitting in auspicious direction, facing inauspicious direction” — Auspicious
Bed positioned northwest-facing southeast — “Sitting in inauspicious direction, facing auspicious direction” — Inauspicious
Bed positioned facing south with head to the north — “sitting in inauspiciousness, facing auspiciousness” — inauspicious
Bed positioned facing north with head to the south — “sitting in auspiciousness, facing inauspiciousness” — auspicious
Bed positioned facing northeast with head to the southwest — “sitting in auspiciousness, facing inauspiciousness” — auspicious
Bed positioned facing southwest with head to the northeast — “sitting in inauspiciousness, facing auspiciousness” — inauspicious
Sleeping bed facing northeast toward southwest — “Sitting auspicious, facing inauspicious” — Auspicious
Bed Placement Guidelines
1. Avoid positioning the bedhead toward corridors, elevator shafts, stairwells, toilet drainpipes, or flush toilets. These areas represent “yang movement” with highly unstable airflow. Even through walls, such disturbances can affect brainwaves, preventing restful sleep.
2. Position the bed against three walls to capture wind and gather energy.
Position the bed against a wall on three sides, placing it in a location that gathers and retains energy.
3. A corner shielded from door and window drafts.
Place the bed in a corner of the room shielded from direct drafts from doors and windows, ideally with walls on two sides. If this isn’t possible, add screens or panels facing the door or window to block the drafts, ensuring the bed position gathers and retains energy.