Why Plants and Good Bedroom Feng Shui Aren’t Compatible

Whilst plants in the home offer all sorts of benefits, they are fundamentally bad for bedroom feng shui. A wood element, plants attract lively, upward-directed energy that isn’t suitable for a relaxing or restful space. When watered, plants also add the water element to a bedroom which effectively douses fire, diminishing the romantic energy in a couple’s bedroom. According to the principles of feng shui, plants should never be kept in the bedroom.

The Bedroom in Feng Shui

In feng shui, the bedroom is often considered the most important room in the home because it’s the room where you likely spend the most time. It’s also the place where you sleep, which puts you in a passive state that’s more easily affected by the natural energies flowing through the space.

The bedroom, in feng shui, represents the person or people who sleep in it. When a couple shares a bedroom, the bedroom can also symbolize their marriage or relationship.

The goal of incorporating feng shui principles into a bedroom is to balance the natural flow of energy in a way that promotes rest and romance, which are the two primary purposes of the bedroom. Introducing design elements that could create an imbalance or draw in too much excitable energy are considered bad bedroom feng shui.

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What Are the Primary Issues With Plants and the Bedroom?

Although there are a few conflicting opinions among different practitioners, plants in the bedroom are almost always thought to be bad feng shui.

The primary reason is that plants all belong to the wood element, which has strong upward energy. The energy of the wood element promotes growth, change, flexibility, and development. This energy is thought to be too strong, vivacious, and excitable for a restful bedroom.

Additionally, living plants need to be watered, which introduces the water element into the bedroom. Water diminishes the fire element. Incorporating the water element in the bedroom is like covering up your romantic passion with a wet blanket.

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What Science Says About Plants in the Bedroom

During the day, plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. Although plants have the ability to purify the air and replenish oxygen, many plants actually release carbon dioxide at night, the time when you’re most likely breathing the air in your bedroom. This increase in carbon dioxide could disrupt sleep.

If you’re concerned about toxins in your bedroom air, you can plug in an air purifier that will filter the air while also creating white noise that will likely improve your sleep, too.

What about the calming effects of plants? Simply looking at a plant has the power to decrease stress and anxiety, so you might think that plants are perfect for the bedroom. Honestly, though, how easy is it to look at a plant while you’re asleep?

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The Best Plants for the Bedroom in Feng Shui

While feng shui would have you skip plants in the bedroom altogether, there are some guidelines for choosing a bedroom plant if you must.

• Keep it small. Larger plants draw in higher volumes of energy and are never recommended for the bedroom. They also release a greater amount of carbon dioxide at night.
• Position it far away from the bed. Placing a plant near the bed will draw too much energy to the spot where you need to rest.
• Position it in the east, southeast, or south areas of your bedroom’s bagua map, which will be fed by a plant’s wood element.
• Try cut flowers, like peonies, instead. Peonies represent romance, marriage, and partnerships which are positive energies for the bedroom.

Suppose you decide to keep a living plant in your bedroom. In that case, the most acceptable options include orchids (to encourage a positive partnership), snake plants, areca palms, spider plants, and peace lilies (for calming energy). Each of these plants also continues absorbing carbon dioxide through the night, so your oxygen levels should not be disturbed, either.

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Best Practices for Good Feng Shui in the Bedroom

When it comes to achieving good feng shui in the bedroom, keeping plants out is a great place to start. However, there are plenty of additional guiding principles to follow, as well.

The Bed

• Arrange your bed in the room’s commanding position. The commanding position of every room is opposite, facing slightly right or left of the doorway, with a solid wall or sturdy headboard behind the bed.
• Don’t store anything (that’s unrelated to sleep) under your bed. Keeping the floor beneath your bed free from clutter will ensure energy is able to flow freely through the room without getting blocked where you’re resting.
• Keep space on either side of the bed free instead of having one side pushed against the wall in a corner.
• Don’t install beams, fans, large light fixtures, or other heavy objects on the ceiling above your bed.

Night Tables and Lamps

• Add a pair of nightstands and lamps on either side of the bed to create good, balanced energy. These nightstands and lamps don’t have to be identical, but they should feel balanced in terms of size, color, and weight.
• Decorating in pairs around the bed ensures balance in your current or future relationship.

Bedroom Lighting

• Soft light or natural light is best in the bedroom.
• Bright overhead lights should be avoided or set up with a dimmer switch so that they can be adjusted to create a more relaxing atmosphere.

Bedroom Colors

• Decorate your bedroom with colors based on what you need and what energies the colors represent in feng shui.
  • Reds and Oranges – Increased passion and romance
  • Neutral Earth Tones – Promotes relaxation and support
  • Blues and Greens – Healing, vitality, and rejuvenation
  • Pinks and Peaches – Attracts a partnership to your life

Artwork

• Choose artwork that features the right colors and relaxing themes for your bedroom.
• If possible, select images that can be displayed in pairs.
• If prone to depression, display artwork at eye level or higher to lift the energy in the room.

Mirrors

• Feng shui suggests leaving mirrors out of the bedroom altogether because they can create an energy that’s too lively for the space.
• If you do have mirrors in the room, try to keep them out of your line of sight from the bed and/or position them so that they face the windows.

Honor the Bedroom’s Purpose

• Anything that does not serve rest, romance, and relaxation should be kept out of the bedroom or at least out of sight. This means you should refrain from storing books (other than the one you’re currently reading), laptops, phones, work papers, or gym equipment in the bedroom.

Where to Position Plants in the Home for Good Feng Shui

Although plants in the bedroom are bad for feng shui, there are plenty of other locations where they will balance the energy in just the right way. For good feng shui, place plants in the east, southeast, or south sections of your home. Plants are also auspicious when placed in the entryway, around the front door, in the dining room, and in the living room.

Further reading: Discover the Best Feng Shui-Friendly Hanging Plants.