When it comes to design, hallways are notoriously challenging to decorate. In feng shui, hallways have a reputation of being equally tricky to balance and create an advantageous flow of energy (qi). With the right design elements and the principles of feng shui, however, you can control the energy circulating throughout your home to foster a positive, harmonious outcome. Here we’ll take you through 10 of the best feng shui plants for hallways to boost positive energy flow in your home or office.
The Best Plants for Hallways in Feng Shui
The best plants for hallways in feng shui are those that encourage the balanced flow of positive energy throughout the home, including money trees, golden pothos, fiddle leaf figs, and orchids. Be mindful of size so that you do not accidentally block energy flow with a plant that’s too large.
About the Hallway in Feng Shui
In feng shui, hallways do not represent an aspect of life or the person like other spaces in a house do. Instead, the function of hallways is often compared to that of the body’s circulatory system, highway systems, or systems of tributaries, rivers, and streams in nature. In feng shui, energy flows and is distributed throughout your home via hallways.
Like other areas of the home, encouraging good energy flow through your hallways requires cleanliness, lack of clutter, and good light in addition to materials, colors, and decorative objects that balance the five elements.
Additionally, the architecture of the hallways affects how energy flows through them.
Long Hallways
Energy speeds up as it moves through long hallways, causing it to crash into whatever is located at its end.
If your master bedroom is at the end of a long hallway, this chaotic energy can result in poor sleep or an equally chaotic marriage. If the end of your hallway is at the end of your home, then the energy could simply rush out of your house and be lost.
While stagnate energy is bad feng shui, fast-moving energy is also undesirable. You can slow the energy by incorporating various decor elements like hanging art on the walls, hanging a feng shui crystal ball, placing long runners on the floor, or adding other visual focal points.
Narrow Hallways
Imagine a major freeway in a metropolitan area with only a single lane of traffic. A narrow hallway in a home can similarly restrict the flow of energy, creating an energy deficit at one end and an energy surplus at the other.
While there probably isn’t much you can do architecturally speaking to actually widen the hallway, you can make the corridor feel wider by adding lighting or mirrors along one side of the space. Plus, you can encourage energy to move through the hallway by placing energy-attracting houseplants at either end.
Dark Hallways
Energy moves too slowly through hallways that are not well lit. This creates energy blockages that hinder the free flow of qi through your home.
If only a small amount of natural light reaches your hallways, make sure you add decor elements that will brighten the space. Hang mirrors along the walls to reflect light, add wall sconces or lamps, and add plants to draw energy to either end of the space.
Twisting Hallways
Each twist and turn in a hallway creates a potential energy block. Use decorative elements to direct the flow of energy around these corners to enable the uninhibited distribution of qi throughout your home.
You can place lamps, hang artwork, or display houseplants in the corners of hallways to draw in and direct the energy to flow in a new direction at each turn.
The Role of Plants in the Hallway in Feng Shui
According to the principles of feng shui, like in other areas of the home, plants in hallways serve the purpose of drawing in and directing the flow of energy.
When it comes to positioning plants in hallways, it’s best to think about the hallway’s architecture and how it might affect the speed and direction of the flow of energy.
Since plants attract energy, they serve to speed up energy flow and assist with changing its direction. As a result, it’s best to position plants in places where energy might be blocked or slowed down while it flows through the hallways in your home.
When selecting plants, remember that size matters. The bigger the plant, the more energy it will attract. Plus, function and a free-flowing space are essential in hallways – especially narrow ones. Choosing plants that are too large for the space could hinder the hallway’s function and actually create a detrimental imbalance and energy bottleneck.
The Best Plants for Hallways in Feng Shui
Here you’ll find 10 of the best plant types to consider placing in hallways according to feng shui best practices. We’ve included essential tips and considerations on where to position and care instructions for each.
1. ZZ Plant
The Zamioculcas zamiifolia or ZZ plant for short features petite, ovate leaves that point upward. In feng shui, it creates an upward flow of energy which is ideal for hallways with an atmosphere that feels tight or oppressive.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Grounding, longevity, and resilience |
| Where to Position: | Place at the end of a long hallway to ground fast-moving energy. |
| Care Considerations: | Prefers medium to bright indirect sunlight. Let the soil dry completely before watering. |
2. Golden Pothos
The golden pothos has attractive, trailing foliage and is a hero plant in feng shui thanks to its ability to break through negativity and attract positive energy.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Neutralizes negativity and draws positive energy |
| Where to Position: | Position outside a hallway bathroom to eliminate negative energy. |
| Care Considerations: | Tolerates low light. Water when the soil is almost dry. |
3. Chinese Money Plant
The Chinese money plant (Pilea peperomioides) is one of the luckiest plants in feng shui. With its coin-shaped leaves, it’s typically best placed in the wealth corner of a hallway or home.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Good fortune, prosperity, wealth, and abundance |
| Where to Position: | Position in the southeast or far left corner of your home or hallway. |
| Care Considerations: | Prefers filtered sunlight. Allow soil to dry between watering cycles. |
4. Lucky Bamboo
Lucky bamboo features upward growth and a small silhouette, making it perfect for dark, narrow hallways. It’ll help direct positive energy through the hallway and won’t take up too much space.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Attracts positive energy and good fortune |
| Where to Position: | Place an auspicious number of lucky bamboo stalks at the end of a narrow or dark hallway. |
| Care Considerations: | Change the plant’s water regularly to prevent bacterial growth. Lucky Bamboo can also thrive in a rich, well-draining soil base. |
5. Fiddle Leaf Fig
The fiddle leaf fig is a favorite in feng shui. Its large, ovate leaves draw in positive energy, its upward growth provides uplifting energy, and its fruitfulness encourages prosperity and abundance.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Positive energy, neutralizes negative energy, wealth, prosperity, and abundance |
| Where to Position: | Position a fiddle leaf fig beneath beams or at the end of a narrow hallway. |
| Care Considerations: | Avoid drafty locations near HVAC vents, windows, and doors. |
6. Orchids
Orchids are beautiful to look at, and they offer many benefits in feng shui. They can be used to beautify hallways while drawing in auspicious energy.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Family and fertility, relationships, and harmony |
| Where to Position: | Position in the hallway outside the master bedroom or family room. |
| Care Considerations: | Requires filtered sunlight, moderate humidity, and a well-draining potting mix. |
7. Money Tree
The Pachira aquatica (commonly called the money tree) is another lucky plant in feng shui. They typically feature a braided stem topped with a tuft of soft, deep-green, ovate leaves.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Positive energy, prosperity, abundance, and wealth |
| Where to Position: | Place at the end of a narrow hallway or in corners to direct the flow of energy. |
| Care Considerations: | Prefers filtered light and evenly moist soil. Be careful not to overwater. |
8. Calathea
Calatheas (commonly called prayer plants) have lush and attractive foliage. The leaves of many species of calatheas also feature pretty patterns and markings in silver, white, or light green.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Fame and reputation, prosperity, and positive energy |
| Where to Position: | Position in the fame and reputation corner of your home (south). |
| Care Considerations: | Prefers bright indirect sunlight but watch out for direct sun that will scorch the leaves. Avoid letting Calathea soil dry completely and feed with a light fertilizer in spring and summer. |
9. Bonsai Trees
Bonsai trees of all kinds are particularly good feng shui. Their organically curving shapes help soft sharp decor elements or rigid, abrupt corners, making them a good option for hallways.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Remove blockages, ease tension, and help improve transitional spaces |
| Where to Position: | Place in the corners of twisting hallways to direct energy. |
| Care Considerations: | Bonsai trees require mindful pruning and maintenance to maintain their health and attractive, minature appearance. |
10. Areca Palm
Areca palm is a favorite plant in feng shui. It draws in lots of bright, positive energy and is also easy to grow and attractive. This plant, however, grows fast and has a large profile, so be sure to use it only in hallways with plenty of space.
| Feng Shui Benefits: | Neutralizes negative energy and attracts positive energy |
| Where to Position: | Position in large hallways or corners with enough room to accommodate the plant’s large fronds. |
| Care Considerations: | Needs a bright, sunny hallway and even moisture in the soil base. |
Types of Plants to Avoid Locating in a Hallway
Since hallways have a natural tendency to feel claustrophobic, you should always avoid placing large plants in these areas of your home. They can draw in too much energy while also blocking its flow, creating both a buildup and a blockage in your home’s circulatory system.
Spiky, sharp, or rigid plants like cacti and some succulents are also generally not recommended for any area of the home in feng shui because they can create poison arrows of negative energy.
Additionally, make sure you only decorate with healthy, vibrant plants. Houseplants that are sick, dying, or dead will draw negative energy into your space.
Control the Energy Flow in Your Home With Houseplants
While you don’t want energy to become super-charged while running through a hallway, blasting whatever happens to be located at its other end, you also don’t want the energy to become dark and stagnate in this space.
Instead, introduce a few thoughtfully selected and placed houseplants to control the energy flow and keep positivity circulating throughout your home.
Feng Shui Plants for Hallways FAQs:
What Does the Hallway Represent in Feng Shui?
Like in decorating, hallways in feng shui aren’t considered official rooms inside the house. So, rather than representing an aspect of one’s life, like a master bedroom reflects the self and marriage, hallways function more like rivers or veins through which energy flows and is distributed throughout the house.
What Is a Good Feng Shui Entryway?
A good entryway in feng shui is balanced. It should allow and invite energy to flow freely into the home. It should be clean, free from clutter and debris, and it should feature a working doorbell and swept front steps.
Ideally, the entryway will be framed by healthy plants, well lit, and open to the rest of the home. If the front door is directly met with a staircase or wall, use mirrors or artwork to direct energy around these obstacles.
Is It Bad Feng Shui to Have a Mirror at the End of a Hallway?
In decorating, mirrors double the light and double the perceived space. In feng shui, they can be placed along the walls of a hallway. However, feng shui principles caution against placing a mirror at the end of a hallway because it can slow down the flow of energy through the house.
Where Should Plants Be Positioned in a Hallway?
Plants draw in and direct the flow of energy throughout your home. The best position for a plant in a hallway depends on the unique architecture of the home in question.
Placing a plant in the middle of a narrow hallway could block the flow of energy. However, energy will flow freely around a plant that’s centered on a round table in the middle of a grand hall. If a hallway ends in a dead-end, position a plant at the end of the hallway to uplift the energy in the dead space.
If space accommodates, installing a vertical garden, placing plants, or hanging them along the walls of a hallway will encourage more energy to circulate throughout the house.
Feng Shui Plants and The Home
For more, see our essential guides to the best Feng Shui plants for living rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, front doors, bedrooms, balconies, offices, desks, and those that attract wealth, prosperity, and luck.
Andrew is the Editorial Director at Petal Republic. He holds a BSc degree in Plant Sciences and has trained professionally at leading floristry schools in London and Paris. In amongst overseeing a global editorial team, Andrew's a passionate content creator around all things flowers, floral design, gardening, and houseplants.
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