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Feng shui living room interior design featuring neutral colors and seating options

23 Feng Shui Design Tips for Your Living Room

There’s more to feng shui than rearranging furniture. This ancient Chinese practice is all about harnessing the power of natural energy (known as chi) in our lives to bring comfort and harmony. When it comes to feng shui basics for the home, one of the most crucial areas to focus on is the living room. It’s the heart of your home, the social center, and the relaxation space. If you would like to improve the feng shui design of your living room, check out the following layout, decorating, and organization tips to get started!

Consult the Energy Map

Before arranging your feng shui living room, you need to determine where the room falls on the Bagua (or energy map). This map details how to layout and connect different rooms in your home with the nine areas of life: creativity, health, relationships, travel, self, career, prosperity, wisdom, and fame. Arranging the layout of your home and each individual room with the Bagua can help attract the most positive energy.

Design Around the Feng Shui Elements

Interior design featuring wood and natural elements. Photo by Instagram user @luannigara

Photo via @luannigara

Along with the nine areas of life, the Bagua also details the five elements that are important to feng shui. They are wood, fire, metal, earth, and water. Each of these elements is represented by colors, directions, and materials that can bring harmony and peace to a space. Adding the elements to your living room with furniture, paint colors, decor, and artwork are crucial for balancing the room’s energy and flow of chi.

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Boost Good Chi with Paint

Living room matte paint color. Photo by Instagram user @charworthhomes

Photo via @charworthhomes

One of the easiest ways to incorporate the elements is by painting your living room walls! Bring power and happiness into your space with the oranges and reds of the fire element. Improve relationships and health with the yellow and brown tones of the earth element. Attract wealth and stronger familial ties with the greens and browns of the wood element. Give your career a boost with the blue and black tones of the water element. Or stimulate creativity and travel with the whites and grays of the metal element.

Minimize Clutter for Chi Flow

Living room with minimalist design. Photo by Instagram user @fengshui.home

Photo via @fengshui.home

Reducing clutter in your living space is a necessary component of feng shui because it allows chi to flow. Chi that flows well in the home creates a more welcoming space and invites good health. Picture chi as water. When you look at your living room, would water flowing in from the entry be able to move freely throughout the space? If not, rearrange the room and remove items to improve the flow.

Use Furniture with Rounded Corners

Furniture pieces with sharp corners that stick out into walkways can obstruct the flow of chi in a room. Threatening angles or obstructive furniture can create detrimental chi, which makes the living room feel uncomfortable. Use circular tables or rounded ottomans to keep the space open. Potted plants can also be added to diffuse obtrusive furniture edges and mask negative energy.

Embrace the Energy of the Fireplace

Living room fireplace with white tile. Photo by Instagram user @aboutmyhouse_

Photo via @aboutmyhouse_

In feng shui, a fireplace in the northeast corner of a living room promotes calm thinking and a healthy education, while a fireplace in the south boosts romance and love. If you can’t build a fireplace, consider adding an electric fireplace for a similar effect, or invoke the fire element with a collection of candles.

Make the Coffee Table a Focal Point

Living room coffee table with gold accents. Photo by Instagram user @sjogardsvillan

Photo via @sjogardsvillan

In the same way that your living room is the heart of your home, the coffee table is the center of your living room. It’s where you gather for socializing, for games, for snacks and beverages, and more. Because of this, you need to pick out a good coffee table and make it the focus of your living room layout. Look for round or oval coffee tables made of wood or metal, and keep the surface as uncluttered as possible.

Think About TV Placement

Entertainment console in living room with hidden TV. Photo by Instagram user @brepurposed

Photo via @brepurposed

If you’re using a feng shui Bagua map, the TV plays a major role. A TV in the north side of the room will bring good luck in a career, while one placed in the south of the living room will increase your chances for fame. When not in use, however, you need to place a cover over your TV or put it in a cabinet or console with doors to eliminate a negative mirror effect. That is, if a TV is off, it can turn into an unintentional mirror that reflects clutter, which can promote bad chi in your living room.

Make Sure the Living Room Entry Is Visible

Not being able to see the living room entry can cause anxiety, which takes away from the harmony and relaxation aspects of your space. Prevent this energy drain by ensuring your living room layout is arranged so every seat can see the doorway. Never place the sofa or couch with the back against the entry, as this can negatively impact your relationships and cause conflict!

Create Space for Seating

No matter the size of your living room, feng shui design specifies there should be plenty of seating for family members or guests. Along with a comfortable couch, add a loveseat and armchair to keep good energy high. Include other seating options like ottomans and stools, but be careful not to clutter the space.

Give the Room Lots of Light

Light is yang energy that promotes health and vitality. A feng shui living room should be bright and open with windows that allow light to flow. If there aren’t any windows, try following layered lighting techniques by adding accent, sconce, and task lighting in addition to overhead lighting. Mirrors also work to reflect light and make the room feel more open.

Choose Your Couch Carefully

For good feng shui, choose a couch that’s comfortable, has rounded edges, and allows for plenty of seating. The popular L-shaped sectional couch should be avoided in a feng shui living room as its shape can mimic a “poison arrow.” If you can’t afford to get rid of your L-shaped sofa and replace it, add a crystal or potted plant at the end of the arrow shape to combat negative energy.

Place the Couch Against a Wall

Interior of Park Avenue apartment living room. Photo by Instagram user @studio_db

Photo via @studio_db

In a feng shui living room layout, the sofa should be placed against a stable wall to evoke the feeling of safety. Avoid floating the sofa in the center of the room, and never place a sofa in front of windows. This not only obstructs positive chi from entering the room, but it also prevents you from enjoying the view outside.

Decorate with Metal Elements

Metal picture frame and plant pot. Photo by Instagram user @champagne.reid

Photo via @champagne.reid

If you want to decorate with small trinkets, go for items that evoke the metal element. Metal represents organization and planning and can be incorporated by adding bowls, candlesticks, and picture frames. The circle shape is also associated with the metal element—add a round rug or piece of art with a circular pattern to boost productive chi!

Promote Good Energy with a Clock

Living room design with clock over couch. Photo by Instagram user @rawdicalclocks

Photo via @rawdicalclocks

In feng shui, the rhythmic movement of a clock can boost good chi, keep your family in a good routine, and ward off bad spirits. To create this positive energy, place a clock next to the door or facing a window rather than the center of the room. Be sure to also hang the clock at eye or chest level as a clock placed too high or low can obstruct the flow of chi.

Be Precise When Placing Mirrors

Mirror over fireplace in contemporary living room. Photo by Instagram user @mary_murdough

Photo via @mary_murdough

According to the Bagua, mirrors are representative of the water element and can generate the most energy when used in the east, southeast, and north areas of the room. While mirrors are beneficial for adding light and inviting natural energy, they can also generate negative chi. To avoid this, make sure the mirror does not reflect clutter or people standing in the entryway of the room.

Use Rugs to Soften Spaces

To enhance wealth energy and the fire element, place a zig-zagged or patterned rug with pops of orange in the southeast corner of the living room. Or lay down a green colored rug in the northern corner for the wood element. If your living room decor is more neutral with gray and white, add a rug in the shades of black or blue to promote the calmness of water.

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Boost Wealth Energy with a Fish Tank

Not only is a fish tank a beautiful and peaceful addition to a room, but it can also increase your wealth energy. Place a square or rectangular fish tank in the southeast corner, as this area of your living room is the most prosperous for wealth and abundance.

Preserve Good Energy with Foo Dogs

With their roaring mouths and beautiful detailing, foo dogs are decorative symbols that have a long history of protecting homes. Once placed outside palaces and homes of the elite, these statues now come in more compact sizes, making them ideal for living rooms. Place a pair of foo dogs facing outward near the entry of the room, or add them to the top of the fireplace mantel to ward off bad chi.

Be Strategic with Wall Art

Modern living room with simple wall art. Photo by Instagram user @designs_magic1

Photo via @designs_magic1

Feng shui design favors artwork, photos, or sculptural pieces that are centered around positive energy. Think of adding pieces to your living room that show people smiling, peaceful nature scenes, or pictures of happy memories. The north wall in the living room embodies success and career, so hang art that includes water elements like an ocean, waterfall, or lake. Let your creativity shine by putting bold, abstract paintings on the west wall. Family photos are best on the east side of your living to stimulate health, while images of nature on the south wall can bring fame.

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Enhance the Wealth Corner

Wealth corner set up on end table. Photo by Instagram user @alohaelixir

Photo via @alohaelixir

Decorated and adorned properly, a wealth corner can help you become prosperous and successful. To find your wealth corner, stand in the center of your home with a compass. The southeast corner is where your wealth corner should lie with the north corner as a the secondary wealth area. Fill these areas with items like a jade plant, a small water fountain, or a wealth ship.

Add a Wealth Bowl to the Coffee Table

Feng shui wealth bowl. Photo by Instagram user @jackie.tyrrell

Photo via @jackie.tyrrell

In feng shui, items like coins, crystals, or gems are symbols of wealth and prosperity. Put a wealth bowl filled with these items on your coffee table to draw good money energy in your home. If you don’t have access to real gemstones, don’t worry! You can fill your wealth bowl with faux crystals and coins or gold-painted rocks.

Include Potted Plants

One important element of feng shui is including a few natural touches to the room, especially in the east corner. Potted plants are a perfect way to add a bit of greenery to your feng shui living room—not to mention, they call to the earth element. Put a few ferns, vines, or fig trees around the room to brighten up the space.

The living room is a place to relax, entertain, and enjoy friends and family. By following these feng shui living room tips, you can turn your space into a beautiful, comfortable place to unwind. Find even more design and organization tips for your home with these living room organization ideas!

Feng Shui Living Room Design Tips