Home Design & Decorating Feng Shui

How to Fix Feng Shui for Bad Bathroom Locations

modern bathroom with wood vanity and black accents

Collov Home Design / Unsplash

When people learn about feng shui, they are often concerned about the location of their bathroom. It is something to look at, and there are definitely less-than ideal bathroom locations that we’ll go over in this article. However, it can be helpful to have a broader perspective, and not to approach your bathroom location with fear.

Before we get into which bathroom locations are less optimal, it’s important to take note of why bathrooms are considered challenging in feng shui. In ancient times, bathrooms were a place of uncleanliness and possible illness. You wouldn’t want to have the latrine, or the place where you had bathroom waste, near the home. When feng shui developed, bathrooms were not yet the modern, sparkling clean, spa-like rooms that they can be today. 

Another reason to pay attention to the location of bathrooms in a home is that there is a lot of water that comes in and out of them. In feng shui, the water element is related to your prosperity and how energy comes to you. Because of this, it makes sense to pay attention to the areas of your home where there are drains, where water can leak out. 

With all of this in mind, it’s important not to be fearful of any particular bathroom location. You need a bathroom in your home! It’s a really convenient aspect of our modern homes, and bathrooms can be places of rest and rejuvenation. Taking a nice bath or shower can be invigorating and uplifting. 

Now that you have a little more perspective on feng shui and bathrooms, here are some bathroom locations that are less than ideal, and some ways to work with them. 

colorful floral wall paper on a bathroom wall

Collov Home Design / Unsplash

Bathroom in the Wealth Area

The wealth area is a very hot topic when it comes to feng shui. In feng shui, we have something called the bagua map. If you lay the bagua, which is an energy map, over your floor plan, you can determine where the wealth area is in your home. A really easy way to find your wealth corner is to stand in the front door of your home looking in toward the center and locate the far left corner—that’s your wealth area. If you have a bathroom in this corner of your home, you have a bathroom in the wealth area. 

This isn’t the most ideal position, because obviously you don’t want to have wealth draining out. A simple way to balance out the draining water energy here is to place a plant in this corner of your home. If your bathroom is in the corner of your home, you likely have a window with some light that will allow a plant to thrive. This plant can receive the water and transform it into uplifting qi, rather than something that drains away. Additionally, the wealth area is related to the wood element, which is further enhanced with a living green plant.

Bathroom Directly Opposite the Front Door

Having a bathroom directly opposite the front door means that when you walk into your home, the bathroom is the first thing you see. In feng shui, we pay attention to what you see and experience in your home, especially in relation to the front door. The front door is the mouth of qi, which means it is how energy enters your home. If the first thing you see when you walk into your home is the bathroom, it could potentially lead to illness or needing to go to the bathroom a lot. Ideally, you don’t want to have a bathroom here, but if you aren’t able to renovate and relocate the bathroom, a simple solution is to place a mirror on the outside of the bathroom door. This will energetically erase the bathroom and minimize any possible negative effects. 

Bathroom in the Center of the Home

The center of the home connects to the health and wellness of all the people in the home, and of the home itself. The center area is very important because it’s the center of the bagua and the center of your life. When you have a bathroom in the center of your home you will want to correct it. One simple way to balance out a bathroom in the center of your home is to again place a mirror on the outside of the bathroom door to energetically erase the bathroom from this area of your home. Another way is to paint it the color blue or green to bring in the wood element.

bright bathroom with two sinks and a blue vanity

Sam Yink / Unsplash

Bathroom in the Relationship Area

Another bathroom location to pay attention to is the relationship area of the bagua. You can find the relationship corner of your home by standing in the front door of your home looking in. The far right corner will be your relationship area. 

This area is related to your primary relationships, your feminine side, and your self-love. Having a bathroom in this area isn’t the worst, but there are still ways you can make the most of this placement. This is actually one of the best locations for your bathroom, because this gua is related to the earth element, which can receive the waste of the bathroom, just like the earth can compost our organic waste. That said, by placing a living green plant in this area, you can help to cultivate more growth and transform that downward water energy into uplifting life energy. 

General Tips to Improve the Feng Shui of Bathrooms

If you’re worried about a bathroom causing a drain, there are some ways to work with this, regardless of the bathroom’s location. First, you can place a mirror on the ceiling above the toilet to lift the qi. Next, you can also keep the bathroom door closed at all times to prevent that energy from seeping into the rest of your home. Finally, you can make sure to keep the bathroom in good working order, and make sure it stays clean, fresh, and tidy.