Feng Shui in a Small Bedroom or Other Tiny Space: 5 Tips for Positive Energy Flow

By Chantal Bufé

You don't need a large home to create a space that is both aesthetically pleasing and attracts positive energy. Incorporating feng shui in a small bedroom, living room, kitchen—or any tiny space for that matter—is possible with the right planning and organization. And by doing so, it can make your home both look and feel better, which is notable since the pursuit of well-balanced, health-focused spaces has grown in recent years. And feng shui has become a large part of this conversation since the traditional Chinese practice focuses on creating environments that are in harmony with the natural world.

"Since the pandemic, people are paying attention to the effect their surroundings have on their mental and emotional health and are looking for answers about how to create a vibrant and inviting environment where they feel safe and happy," explains feng shui expert Marie Diamond. Perhaps the best part of the practice: square footage doesn't matter, so anyone can incorporate it. To increase positive energy and happiness, Diamond offers tips for introducing feng shui into small spaces and tiny quarters.

Why are you motivated to pursue a sense of harmony with your environment? How can feng shui help you reach your goals? When planning feng shui remedies in a small space, getting clear on these questions can prove extremely beneficial. "We spend so much time in our own homes that our vision is clouded and we’re often blind to the clutter, disorder, and unfinished projects that surround us," Diamond explains. Especially in small spaces, where every square foot is precious, it's important to keep track of everything, she says.

Her first tip? Step outside and then return and explore your home as if you were seeing it for the first time. What problem areas catch your eye? What needs to be changed, removed, or repaired? This inventory, she says, is essential for good feng shui in a small space. "There's no point in just drifting along without a plan. The personal motivation behind the design concept must be the right one. That's at the heart of feng shui."

Getting rid of excess clutter will allow the chi in your home to flow freely.

A basic concept of feng shui is that different aspects of our lives should have different physical spaces associated with them in order to maintain a certain balance of energies. But creating different areas dedicated to different uses— for family, creativity, and work, for example—can be a challenge in a small space. This is when it may become necessary to think beyond traditional concepts where each room is assigned one primary role.

Instead, we should have a more flexible approach to the roles that rooms play and be open to assign them complementary functions. This allows for a reimagining of our environment and a change of perspective that can be invaluable, especially in small apartments. A living room can be both a social space and a workspace, for example, with a portion of it functioning as a home office. You’ll still want to avoid a merging of different energies, however, and Diamond has strategies that create separations, visually and mentally. Screens, curtains, and rugs can be used to emphasize and delineate the purposes of different areas.

In a kitchen, for example, consider storage systems that let you stow away daily necessities to transform a table from a workspace to a gathering place. Chairs with high backs can provide visual and functional divisions, and even fragrances can be used to create certain boundaries. "It's a simple way to highlight the specific energy of an area and make sure it serves its primary function," Diamond says.

You should be able to walk from end to end of a room without having to dodge obstacles.

Good feng shui requires space for positive energy—called chi—to flow. It is especially true that small apartments can feel cramped and, as a result, the circulation of energy is restricted. For this reason, it is essential to purge a space of clutter and create order, Diamond explains. To make a home more efficient, storage systems in the form of flexible built-in wall units or modular shelving can alleviate the chaos. "Storage solutions are first and foremost about being creative; after all, they should become part of the interior design, not simply more clutter," Diamond continues. Her rule of thumb: There should be enough open space in a room so it is possible to walk effortlessly from one side to the other without having to dodge any obstacles. Only then can chi flow unimpeded.

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Ultimately, it's the positive energy that allows us to experience the advantages of small spaces. "It's easier for us as humans to feel comfortable in smaller spaces, and that feeling of comfort can, on its own, promote energy flow," Diamond says. So if you incorporate feng shui into a small bedroom, for example, the positive forces only amplify.

Be bold with your color choices, painting walls and niches and also adding colorful accents with textiles.

Diamond encourages people to focus on three principal elements—color, light, and plants. First, find the courage to play with color. It's common in small spaces, especially rental apartments, to find an overwhelming amount of white. Diamond warns, however, that a monochrome interior design can lead not only to extreme emotional highs and lows, but also emotional stagnation. When adding color, a good strategy is to look to nature for inspiration: If you can't paint or wallpaper your home, splashes of color in sunny hues (yellow, orange, red, and pink) in the form of pillows, rugs, and decorative throws can help invigorate the positive energy.

When it comes to light, it is important to use table and floor lamps to provide sufficient soft and even light in small rooms, where niches and corners are sometimes neglected. Dark shadows should be eliminated, Diamond says.

Plants, which represent an essential life force in feng shui, are to be used with caution. Even though they represent longevity, positive health, and emotional harmony, if a plant comes to dominate a small room, the natural equilibrium can be thrown off balance.

Finally, Diamond recommends airing out smaller rooms more often. Feng shui translates literally as "the way of wind and water," and those elements are central to the Chinese practice. Since there is less wind energy in small rooms, she suggests opening a window several times a day to restore the space's balance.

A home's entrance creates a first impression so it's important that its atmosphere of well-being begins there.

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In feng shui, the entrance to a home is especially important."It sets the tone for the whole home. The energy that provides life flows through the space," Diamond says. To receive and promote this energy, the entrance area must be inviting.

In some smaller homes, the front door often opens to the middle of the kitchen or the living room, so it becomes even more important to find a way to define this area. One way to do this, for example, is to paint your entryway a different color or use mirrors to make the entryway look larger.

However, the simplest and most overlooked trick is a doormat. It sends a message, not only to visitors who come to the front door but also to the universe that this is the entrance to the home. Still, don't opt for just any welcome mat. Never choose something with the family or homeowner's name on it, since, according to Diamond, walking on or over a name can create negative energy. It's also good to avoid doormats with phrases and opt for something simple and to the point.

Doormats aside, Diamond says the entrance area should be bright and appealing. The front door should be clean and well-maintained, the house or apartment number should be prominent, and the doorbell should function properly. If all those elements are in place, there should be no obstacles in your way to create a home full of love, positive energy, and happiness—even in the smallest of spaces.