Bathrooms have long been a sticky subject in Feng Shui; their bad reputation stemming from the old days when they were small, smelly and badly ventilated rooms. Added to this is the fear, that the luck of the house (and the family) will get flushed away through the pipes and drains of the bathroom. This is based on the fact that bathrooms obviously have strong water energy, which in Feng Shui is associated with wealth, prosperity and career luck. It comes as no surprise then that people are concerned about their wealth luck going down the drain!
Times have changed though, and so have bathrooms. While the main function of the bathroom is still to remove waste and cleanse yourself, it has also become a kind of sanctuary. People spend more time in their bathroom, men tend to read over the toilet and women like to soak and relax in the bathtub. For some people, the bathroom is even their favourite room in the house!
So how can you ensure the bathroom does not spoil the good Feng Shui of your home? Easy … just follow some basic Feng Shui rules.
- Avoid locating the bathroom above the main entrance door. – The main door is the “mouth” of your home and it is therefore a very important sector where you want to have the most auspicious energy. Having a bathroom above the main entrance door is a major taboo and also a terrible waste of a “good” location!
- Make sure toilets don’t share walls with beds. – While we sleep, energy enters our body through our “crown chakra”, the top of our head. Having the headboard of your bed against the bathroom wall with a toilet on the other side may disturb restful sleep and cause illness.
- Try to locate the toilet out of direct sight when entering the bathroom, so the “waste” part and the cleansing part of the bathroom are separated, allowing you to fully enjoy your sanctuary.
- Keep the bathroom sparkling clean and tidy and well ventilated … and the toilet seat cover down at all times and the bathroom door closed.
- Keep all taps and pipes in excellent condition and fix any leakages immediately.
- Choose the right colour scheme. This is where the location of your bathroom comes into play. I would highly recommend you check the bagua (pa kua) map of your home and then choose a colour in accordance with the element of the sector to ensure harmony. Light colours are generally more suitable than dark colours as a bathroom should be more yang than yin. Alternatively, white is also an excellent colour for a bathroom as the colour white is generally associated with cleanliness and purity.
Should you experience any problems or setbacks in your life, the bathroom and its location is one of the several areas your Feng Shui master would examine.