Feng shui rules can apply to the interior design in every room of the house, including the bedroom (see feng shui bedroom rules and layouts), dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. However, each room will have a set of unique rules, layouts, and colors due to the different purposes and features in each room. Living room feng shui pertains primarily to orientation within the home, furniture arrangement, lighting, and colors.
Below you’ll find 69 general rules, 12 color rules, and 12 layouts.
A. 12 Feng Shui Living Room Layouts (Diagrams)
B. 69 Feng Shui Living Room Rules
These living room feng shui rules will help you achieve chi energy and balance in this important space.
- Never place a sofa with its back to a window. This cuts off the flow of energy throughout the space and causes the sofa’s occupants to turn their backs on the view.
- Add a mirror across from a window with a good view. This helps reflect its positive energy into the room while also enhancing natural light.
- Every seating place should have an easy view of the front door. People can become anxious if they cannot see the entrance to the living space.
- Place wealth bowls on your living room coffee table. The bowl can contain gems, crystals, and coins to attract wealth to the home. You can use gold-painted rocks and faux gems if your budget doesn’t allow for the real thing.
- Use positive artwork to bring good energy into the living room. Landscapes, flowers, and pictures of smiling people are all good examples.
- Place a mirror across from an inspirational piece of art to double positive energy flow.
- Following feng shui principles, avoid paintings with negative energy, such as frowning faces, a stormy sky, or a swirling sea. If a painting brings a sense of gloom or depression, don’t place it in the living room.
- Position your TV carefully. When turned off, TVs act like mirrors – covering the screen when not in use is optimal. However, if that’s not possible, turn the TV so it reflects something positive in the room, like a great view, a happy family portrait, or a living plant.
- Remove all clutter from the living room. Clutter creates a negative energy counter to the positive energy of feng shui design. Keep essential items that exude positive energy.
- Deploy organizational solutions to keep the space clean and clutter-free. If you have children, find containers that are both decorative and functional to contain their toys.
- Use mirrors to reflect natural light. Good feng shui relies on natural light to thrive. If you have small windows, mirrors allow you to bring that natural light throughout the living room.
- Deploy multiple sources of light. Low levels of light that create a gloomy atmosphere is the enemy of positive energy. Add a variety of overhead lighting, table lamps, and floor lamps to illuminate all parts of the room.
- Open the living room windows as often as possible. Good airflow helps to remove negative energy and to bring positive energy into the space.
- Make the space inviting to children and adults, especially if you don’t have a formal living room dedicated to visitors. Everyone should feel comfortable in the space.
- Do not decorate the living area in a single color. Color is an expression of light, so it’s important to balance the use of color to create a balanced space.
- Give people room to breathe. Trying to cram too much furniture into a confined space stifles energy flow and makes people uncomfortable sitting down.
- Avoid pointing sharp items at seating spots or play areas. Sharp corners and angles attract Sha Chi, which can attack people in the space. Keep sharp corners and angles pointing in neutral directions.
- A well-balanced living room will have at least two exterior walls. This allows the natural energy to enter the space easily through windows and doors.
- Avoid placing a living room in the center of the house if possible. The further from an exterior opening, the more likely the energy will become sluggish. Your living room should be lively and bright, not dark and stagnant.
- Try to avoid having two doors or entryways directly across from each other. When there is a direct line between the two, energy will flow straight through and leave the rest of the room without restful energy.
- Ideally, the living room should have only two doors and a few windows. If there are too many entry points into the room, the energy that comes in can become chaotic, unsettling the space.
- Create clear walkways. Traffic flow should be easy and smooth. Those smooth pathways allow energy to flow cleanly through the space. Obstacles in the walkways can create a safety hazard that draws negative energy.
- Position your fireplace carefully. Placing it in the northeast part of the room will bring calm thinking and fortunate educational prospects. Placing it in the south or southwest will enhance romance.
- Living room feng shui TV placement is very important. For example, placing a TV in the south area of the living room offers opportunities for respect and fame.
- Avoid tangles of wires in your living room. These tangles attract and trap negative energy. Instead, use wire organization systems and keep wires out of sight where possible.
- Choose rounded furniture pieces when possible. This avoids the gathering of negative energy at sharp corners and angles. A round coffee table is an ideal anchor for the center of the room.
- Place the sofa against a solid wall to promote stability and security for those who sit on it.
- Adding a love seat and a chair offers several seating options, making the space comfortable for any combination of people.
- Arrange living room furniture in a U-configuration if possible. Sofa placement promotes a positive flow of energy around the space.
- A square coffee table is ideal for a living room. It offers a place for everyone to put down drinks and other items. It also offers a central point around which people can gather.
- An aquarium placed in the north side of the living room attracts wealth and opportunity. Placing it in the southeast attracts good luck.
- Candles serve a similar purpose to a fireplace when placed on the south side of the living room. Adding candles to a fireplace mantel on the south side doubles their effectiveness.
- Crystals hanging from the ceiling helps to dispel negative energy in the room, especially that caused by sharp corners or angles.
- Square or rectangular is the ideal shape for living room feng shui. These simple shapes bring blessings and wealth while also encouraging positive energy to stay around.
- Avoid polygonal or irregularly shaped living rooms, if possible. Numerous corners add additional spots for stagnant energy.
- Don’t display a mirror above a sofa. This displays the back of the head to onlookers, which can create distress.
- Decorate ceiling beams to avoid bad luck. A hanging beam can make people nervous and create a sense of pressure throughout the room.
- Keep the living room floor even. Having different levels in the space will cause the family to have ups and downs in luck.
- Decorate your living room with circular accessories and wall decor. Round shapes attract and accelerate energy, so adding them into this space will create a lively place for friends and family to gather.
- Do not place sharp objects, like swords or knives, in the space. Also, keep firearms and taxidermy pieces out of the living room. All of these items encourage quarreling and even violence.
- Choose accessories that have meaning to you. Filling your space with meaningless items has the same effect as adding clutter. Meaningful items bring happiness to the space while drawing in positive energy.
- Bring a potted plant into your living room. It brings in the wood element, helps to purify the air, and adds texture to the space.
- Avoid low or slanted ceilings. Both will give the room’s occupants a feeling of pressure from above. Low ceilings, in particular, stifle the flow of energy in the space.
- Sliding glass doors, which exit to a balcony or small porch, bring in fresh air and light. They also promote strong social connections with neighbors and friends.
- If you cannot place a sofa against a solid wall, place a solid piece of furniture behind it. The furniture should be the same height as the back of the sofa and should not move easily. A sofa table is a common choice to correct this situation.
- Add a water fountain on the north side of the living room, with the water flowing towards the room. This attracts wealth and good luck.
- Use wood accessories on the east side of the room.
- Hang coins from a red ribbon on the east side of the room, drawing wealth and money to the family.
- Add a dragon painting to the east side of the room. It should be looking into the room to draw wealth.
- Frame a happy family portrait in a metal frame and place it on the west wall for good luck.
- The L-shape of a sectional sofa can create an arrow of bad energy. To dispel this, place a plant at the corner or hang a crystal ball just above it. Both will keep the negative energy away.
- Two sofas facing each other can cause conflict. Place a table between them or reposition them to a more neutral place.
- Avoid sharp-leaf plants in the living room. The sharp points generate bad luck, according to feng shui. Plants like cactuses and roses should also be avoided for this reason.
- When placing a fish tank in the living room, ensure an odd number of fish is in the tank. One ideal mix is 8 red fish and one black one.
- Do not bring dried flowers or plants into the living room. Dead plants present negative energy into space. You don’t want death present in this auspicious space.
- Avoid placing any seating under a beam. Sitting under a beam will bring headaches and wealth loss.
- Don’t bring used furniture into your living room. It will bring the residual energy of past owners into the space. Family antiques should be used with caution for this very reason.
- Do not place lighting directly above a sofa. It can cause dizziness and restlessness.
- Use furniture that is proportional to the space. Don’t try to stuff a big sofa into a small space. Undersized furniture will get lost in a big room. Both will offset the balance in the room.
- Use light-colored window hangings in the living room to bring in natural light and good energy.
- Avoid using tall furniture in the living room, such as an armoire. The room’s occupants can feel diminished by the height of such a tall piece.
- Leave glass tables out of the room, as they tend to give off intense, harsh energy. If you have no other tables available, cover them with a natural fabric covering.
- Fix broken items in the living room. You might have a hanging curtain rod, a sticky drawer, or a tear in the carpet. These broken items bring negative energy into the room. Fixing them will get the positive energy flowing.
- Avoid hanging pictures in a straight row, as this creates a poison arrow of negative energy. Creating a gallery wall with pictures and mementos at varying heights is better.
- Place a lamp directly across from the main entrance to the room to activate wealth. Make this space look as prosperous as possible to maximize the wealth attraction.
- Keep the corners of the room clear to avoid stagnant energy build-up at those points. You can also use light to brighten up these spaces.
- Select fabric curtains, drapes, or shades for the windows. They create a more comfortable and welcoming environment than wood shutters or plastic and metal blinds.
- Don’t leave chairs standing alone in the middle of the living room. Provide them with an accompanying piece of furniture, such as a table. This helps ground both pieces.
- Every family member should have a comfortable place to sit in the living room. Add additional seating for a few guests. For tight spaces, pillows and ottomans can double as seating.
C. Feng Shui Living Room Colors
1. 12 Color Rules
The choice of colors depends on the position of the living room in relation to the house.
- Avoid dark colors in the living room. Dark colors tend to draw bad luck and add a sense of gloom to the space.
- Black and blue work well on the north side of the living room.
- Red, pink, orange, and green work well on the south side of the living room.
- Green and brown in the southeast side brings wealth and money.
- Blue, gray, gold, tan, and bronze work well in the west and northwest areas.
- Mustard, clay, brown, tan, and russet work well in the northeast and southwest directions.
- Blue, black, green, and brown work well if the room is on the east or southeast part of the house.
- Red is an energizing choice if the living room is in the south part of the house. Try melon, pale tangerine, brown, green, tan, or ochre for less energy.
- In the southwest and northeast parts of the house, tan and ochre dominate. Yellow is another option.
- In northwest living rooms, grey, white, and black come recommended.
- For living rooms in the west part of the house, grey, gold, yellow, bronze, and white dominate.
- In the north, black and blue dominate. For less energy, a palette of light blues and greys would work.
2. List of Colors
Here is a comprehensive list of colors that work well in a living room:
- Black
- Blue
- Red
- Pink
- Orange
- Green
- Brown
- Gray
- Gold
- Tan
- Bronze
- Mustard
- Clay
- Russet
- Melon
- Pale tangerine
- Ochre
- Yellow
- White
