How to use mirrors for Feng Shui? 9 Tips that will transform your home

Mirrors are one of the common tools used in Feng Shui, be it to improve the qi or to add a certain element to the room.

By making minor adjustments such as adding a mirror, moving your bed slightly, and several other techniques, it is said that you can alter and increase the power of Feng Shui. This is widely known as 些子法, a somewhat mysterious and highly sought after “secret”.

Using mirrors in your home allows you to bring in more light and make it look more spacious, and thus improving the energy within.

Even if you are not a proponent of Feng Shui, you can still reap its benefits as some of its principles actually improves the layout and flow of your home’s interior decor.

In this post, let’s find out how to use mirrors for Feng Shui with these 9 tips.

What is Feng Shui?

Before we dive into the tips, let us take a closer look at what Feng Shui means and how it can benefit you.

As an art form, it came about several thousands of years ago, originating in China.

The Chinese word Feng 风 means wind, while the word Shui 水 means water, and they are widely regarded in Chinese culture to mean good fortune.

At the center of Feng Shui lies the Chi, which means energy. This is energy derived from nature and Feng Shui seeks to balance the interaction of humans with nature by proposing certain practices, so that the 2 parties are in harmony, ensuring success in all endeavors.

By learning how to position items correctly, you can improve the natural energy flow and bring about balance and harmony throughout. There are 8 key areas that Feng Shui targets, namely:

Family
Wealth
Health
Benefactors
Children
Knowledge
Fame
Career

What are the Five Elements in Feng Shui?

In Feng Shui, the world is divided into 5 elements, and each of them represents certain things:

Earth – Stability and security
Wood – Growth, expansion, and health
Fire – Passion and fame
Metal – Focus, and clarity
Water – Abundance, prosperity, and flow of emotions

Each of them has its own characteristics and brings about a different set of moods and feelings, and so it is important to balance them out to ensure a harmonious living space.

You should also know that an individual object can exhibit a few elements, so do take that in mind when decorating your home. Your goal is to find balance amongst them.

Tips for using mirrors for Feng Shui

Having introduced to a small part of Feng Shui. let’s now find out how mirrors can be used to improve the natural energy flow in your home.

1. Use mirrors to invite energies to your home

Mirrors are reflective and can “double” or amplify certain energies that you wish to bring into your home. For example, if your home is facing out to trees, you can place a mirror at a spot where they can be seen, thus bringing in wood energy. Wood energy is widely associated with growth and career progression.

2. Commanding position

In Feng Shui, the theory of the Commanding Position is extremely important. Essentially, this places you in a position of command which overlooks the door (entrance) and gives you the best chance to deal with whatever comes into your life.

The way to set one up is to ensure that the main piece of furniture such as a desk or bed, can see the door without being in its direct line of sight.

How you can make use of this theory is that if you are unable to see the door (you need to be able to see it) from your position of command, be it in bed or at your stove in the kitchen, you can place a mirror strategically so that it becomes visible.

By setting up this way, you can “see bad people” coming and hence ward off danger and be successful.

3. Mirrors near doors

Still on the topic of doors, it is said that you cannot place a mirror directly facing a door, but instead placing it perpendicular to the door.

This is because the main door is where the natural energy, or qi, comes into your home, and a mirror directly facing it will repel that energy.

While this is not a rule per se, many classical practitioners still advocate this.

4. Mirrors in dining room

Photo by A. Rejeanne Interiors – More dining room ideas

I suspect it is not exactly common that households place a mirror in the dining area, maybe because they usually prioritize other areas of the home or for some other reason.

In Feng Shui though, it is highly recommended that mirrors be placed in dining rooms, as they represent your wealth vault.

By placing a mirror over the main dining space, you are effectively enlarging your wealth vault and increase your capacity to hold wealth.

Neat.

5. Avoid mirrors in the kitchen

In Feng Shui, the kitchen is considered a place with negative energies, mainly due to the existence of fire in it.

While the fire element is not considered negative, it is often the way it is placed that causes the negative outcomes.

As such, it is normally recommended by Feng Shui masters not to have mirrors in the kitchen.

6. Do not place mirrors facing bathroom doors and toilets

We usually use the bathroom to wash ourselves and release our waste, and that is why the bathroom is often associated with negative energies.

In light of this, you should avoid placing any mirrors that are directly facing the bathroom doors, as that will allow the negative energies to grow and spread to other areas of the house.

The same logic applies to the toilet, so avoid having mirrors that face the toilet too.

7. Mirrors in the bedroom

Photo by SWZ Architects LLC (merging with LFA) – Look for bedroom pictures

It is very common for us to place mirrors in our bedrooms (I love having full length mirrors in there!), but you need to be aware of where to place them too.

One piece of advice that I have heard from a practicing friend is to try covering your mirrors if you have trouble sleeping. If that helps, it is time to find a better spot for it.

Generally, it is ill-advised to place a mirror facing your bed directly, as they are thought to be the cause of bad dreams and sleepless nights.

No harm trying that out if you do face such a problem.

8. Welcome the elements by changing the shapes of your mirrors

Photo by Bright Designlab – More hallway ideas

In general, mirrors are associated with the water element, but by using different shapes, you can actually invite other elements into your home too.

Round mirrors are great representations for the metal element, while square and rectangular ones communicate the stability of the earth element.

A tall mirror can represent a tree, which is the wood element, while an odd shaped mirror such as a triangle one can exude fire elements.

You could also investigate the use of different colors to add more elements to the balance, for example, a brown (Earth) triangle (Fire) mirror.

9. Hallways are great for mirrors, just not at the end

If you have a hallway connecting different parts of your home, it is ok to place mirrors along the side walls but you do have to pay attention to a couple of points.

First, do not place a mirror right at the end of the hallway. This brings about the notion of “stay away”, which is bad for Feng Shui and energy.

Secondly, as you place hanging mirrors along the walls of the hallway, do not place them facing each other, which leads to them canceling each other out.

How to use Mirrors for Feng Shui: In Summary

Now that you have some understanding of how mirrors work in Feng Shui, what will you be doing next?

Investigate further or go about doing things the same old way?

Well, the truth is that there are no hard and fast rules to follow here, but the principle of having everything in harmony makes a lot of sense to me, be it in home decor or in life.

Take note too that the information here is just the tip of the iceberg, so if you are really keen on learning more about Feng Shui, I encourage you to find a reputable master or a course.

Good luck!

Don’t forget to learn about the mistakes to avoid when decorating with mirrors and be sure to check out our wall mirrors collection too!