Bedroom arrangements in feng shui embrace the primary function of your bedroom, which is to serve such activities as sleep, relaxation and sex. Feng shui principles incorporate the right elements and furniture placement to enhance your overall health and well being. These principles ensure the continued flow of chi energy through the balance of yin (female) and yang (male) energies.

Clutter

To create chi balance, you must first rid your bedroom of all clutter and work-related equipment. Dirt and dust create stagnant chi which can result in such things as illness, disharmony within your relationships and loss of wealth.

Allison Marks

Feng shui expert Allison Marks of 6 Figure Home Office agrees, saying "One of the biggest stress producers in most of our homes is… CLUTTER! Even if you consider yourself a hopeless clutterbug, give yourself the gift of creating a clear and clean sanctuary in your bedroom. Be ruthless!"

Bed Placement

The feng shui rules for bedroom furniture placement are specific and should be followed. If the size or configuration of your room, especially window location, prevents you from following feng shui guidelines, then you can apply corrective feng shui cures and remedies. Bed placement is the most important design aspect of your bedroom.

As the largest piece of furniture in the room and the place where you rest, the bed is particularly important. The wrong placement can jeopardize your health.

• The ideal placement for your bed is diagonally across from the door. This placement gives you privacy and also allows you to see anyone entering your bedroom.
• Never place your bed directly across from the door. This placement puts you in a sleeping position where your feet point toward the door. This is known as the coffin position and is the worst possible position since it's considered the position of death and is very inauspicious.
• Avoid placing your bed in front of or underneath a window since chi energy enters and leaves a room through the windows. If your bed is in this pathway, the chi energy will flow over you as you sleep, causing a restless sleep.
• Don't place the mattress directly on the floor. This is very inauspicious since you're in the main pathway of the chi energy.
• Never place your bed on a wall shared by the bathroom.

Additional Bedroom Furniture

When it comes to other bedroom furniture, you want to follow the same feng shui placement rules as you follow for any room in your home.

Marks is quick to remind that "The bedroom is the most yin place in a home. Think of a comfy cave: dark, cozy, small. There should be a sense of enclosure, and freedom to move within it." Keeping that goal in mind, there are three main rules for your bedroom, which advise against:

• Placements that block natural pathways and doorways.
• Placements that create poison arrows directed toward the bed. Poison arrows are created whenever you place an armoire or dresser so that the sharp edge of the corner is angled directly at the bed.
• Cluttering the bedroom with too much furniture.

If you can't avoid placing furniture so that it create poison arrows, then you can remedy this by suspending a multi-faceted crystal ball from the ceiling so that it is between the poison arrow and the bed. Another solution is to use a runner for a a dresser to conceal and soften the corner edges. You can place nightstands on either side of the bed; just be sure that the nightstand isn't higher than the mattress, since this creates a poison arrow targeting the bed. Chairs and other pieces of furniture should also be set in the bedroom according to these guidelines.

If your armoire doors have mirror insets, then you want to place it where it doesn't reflect the bed. If this is unavoidable, then you need to cover the mirrors when sleeping.

Mirrors

Mirrors can be used in a bedroom, but with great discretion. There are placements you want to avoid such as placing a mirror directly across or over a bed. You simply don't want to reflect the bed in a mirror. This invites a third party into your marriage or relationship and results in infidelity. Some practitioners believe that a mirror can also startle the soul when it steps from the body for its nightly astral travels.

If you must place your bed so you don't have direct line of sight of the bedroom door, you can place a mirror so that you can see the door from the bed, just be sure not the mirror doesn't reflect the bed.

Desks and Electronics

Work and sleep don't mix, so don't place a desk in your bedroom. This is a poor idea for a feng shui optimized bedroom. For good health and rest, keep your work separate from this rest area. Electronics are out, too. They contribute electrical currents to the room that can disrupt your sleep.

Most feng shui experts believe that all electronics should be banned from the bedroom. Marks agrees, saying "I want to say a special word here about televisions. Get it out of the bedroom! You're inviting strangers into your bedroom every time you turn the TV on, bringing that often harsh outer world into your private chamber. Perhaps more importantly, you are distracting yourselves from each other."

In a practical world, televisions and laptops are often a necessary evil in your sacred bedroom space. It's impossible to get away from technology, so a compromise solution is to place your TV in an armoire or other cabinet that can be closed when you're finished watching TV for the night. Close your laptop when not being used and store inside a night stand or drawer. That way they are at least out of sight and your space while you rest.

The Walls

You can decorate the bedroom walls in color, texture, patterns and artwork. You can use feng shui compass directions to aid you in color selection. Choose colors that are restful. Soft colors like cream, peach, and pale pink are good choices. A soft yellow is considered particularly beneficial. "Blues are nice, " Marks adds.

When it comes to color, Marks believes "Color is usually used to enhance a particular kind of energy (element), or to balance the yin/yang relationship. Some feng shui consultants work with color a lot, others not so much, saying that there are more powerful ways to affect the energies. Personally, I love color and use it a lot because it can have a tremendous impact on how we feel in a space."

When you select wall art, choose subjects that are happy and restful. Nature images and themes in twos, such as two mandarin ducks, swans, or peach blossoms, promote romance and a relaxing atmosphere.

Bedroom Location

The ideal location of your bedroom is far from any doors that open to the outside world. Avoid bedrooms with sloping roofs. If you have to sleep underneath a sloping roof, you can use a canopy bed to weaken the effect. A canopy can also provide protection from other negative ceiling elements, like bright light fixtures, a bathroom on the floor directly above you, and a ceiling fan.