by JANE NEILSON

A recent Google search produced 25,600 hits on “Feng Shui.” It has clearly come into our American vernacular. Some of its guidelines are fairly well known, such as having a nice foyer and keeping the staircase away from the front door.

However, did you know it is bad feng shui to have your bed on a wall with windows, doors, or against plumbing? Step 6 of How to create a good feng shui floor plan is all about bathrooms, closets, and storage areas.

In Weston MA new construction, it is frequently challenging to find a wall such a position for the bed. (Remember, if placement on a wall with windows or plumbing is unavoidable, there is always a cure)

Recently I was assisting a builder in creating a good feng shui floor plan, and learned that bathrooms can be very tricky: they have one of the worst possible reputations in feng shui. The worst feng shui locations for a bathroom are:
1. In very close proximity to and/or facing the front door
2. In the center of your home
3. In very close proximity to and/or facing your kitchen
4. In your feng shui money area (southeast corner)
5. In your love and relationships feng shui area

The laundry room, as well as the closets and storage areas are also considered challenging because of the stagnant, heavy and cluttered/neglected energy they may possess. Of course we have all seen beautiful, well-organized closets, laundry rooms and storage areas, but they were usually an exception to the rule.

So, if you are house hunting and looking to design a good feng shui floor plan or are choosing between several different existing floor plans, what should you avoid in terms of location of the laundry room, closets and storage? Here are some basics to take into consideration.

The worst feng shui locations for a laundry room, closet or storage areas are:

1. A laundry room right next to the bedroom
2. A closet facing the front door
3. Big storage area close to the bedroom

Of course, we cannot always control the floor plan. You can, however, make sure your storage areas and closets are well-organized and clutter is minimal. Their impact will be far less challenging than that of a house with a less challenging location of any of these areas, but kept in a cluttered, neglected state. Feng shui is all about energy, remember?

When you are working with an existing floor plan, you will have to find some sort of compromise to achieve a good balance between the location of each of these spaces. This is where it is imperative to understand the proper application of subtle and intelligent feng shui cures. However, when you are in a position to design a floor plan, why not minimize bad bathroom energy from the very beginning so that you do not constantly have to deal with it? The same applies when you looking at several houses with different floor plans, be sure you know about potentially bad bathroom energy and know what to avoid.

However, if you are lucky enough to be designing your dream home, do your best to take this knowledge into consideration and create a really good feng shui floor plan!