Characteristics of a North-Facing House in Feng Shui
A north-facing home is one of the most auspicious for those looking to advance or strengthen their career. While not as beloved in feng shui design as south-facing houses, north-facing houses have advantages for hot and arid climates. In these places, the sunlight is tempered, which can impact energy bills and the enjoyment of your home throughout the hot summer months.
A north-facing home is considered a positive orientation by feng shui practitioners. Not only is this orientation related to strengthening your career, it is also related to personal growth and self-cultivation. It can symbolize power and success in many distinct realms.
Is Yours a North-Facing House?
Determining the front face of your house is an essential step in deciding its orientation. For most situations, the front of the house also features the front door and entrance. In this situation, you can determine the orientation of your house by using a magnetic compass or a compass app on your smartphone. Stand with your back to your front door and hold the compass out. Your compass will point north if yours is a north-facing house.
Some houses feature sides with more activity than the actual front of the house. This might occur if you live off a busy street that faces another side of your house or if you typically use another side of your house rather than the front. In this case, a feng shui expert may determine that this is the “facing side” of your house. It is best to consult an expert if you are conflicted about the facing side of your home. An expert can use other methods to help you determine your house’s orientation.
A North-Facing House and the Bagua Map
Feng shui designers believe that mapping the flows of energy within a given space is vital to help understand how to optimize it. The tool they use to map the energy of a room or home is called a bagua map. This map contains distinct sections that also correspond to distinct areas of our lives and cardinal directions. The area on the bagua map that corresponds to the north is the area that also symbolizes careers and life journeys.
A North-Facing House and the Elements
The bagua map also contains a balance of the five elements: wood, fire, water, earth, and metal. In order to achieve an optimized space, it is important to harmonize these elements throughout your home. The element associated with the north section of the map is the water element. You can use symbols and colors that represent the water element to help activate the vital energy of a north-facing house. Some of these symbols and colors include wavy lines, water features, and deep blue and black colors.
Within the cycle of elements, certain elements feed and nourish one another. In the productive cycle, the metal element helps to strengthen the water elements. You can also use metal symbols and colors to strengthen and harmonize the energy of a north-facing house. Use metal items like sculptures or decorations, white, gray, or metallic color tones, and circular and spherical shapes to enhance the metal element around your home.
Feng Shui Tips for North-Facing Houses
North-facing homes are related to career and life journeys and with the water and metal elements. These ideas can help you work with the specific qualities of homes that face north and activate their vital energy.
Optimize Your Front Door
Feng shui practitioners pay special attention to the entrance of the home because they consider this the “mouth of chi.” This means that it is the place where vital energy enters your home. Your entrance sets the tone of your house and can either attract or repel energy based on its design.
In homes facing north, it is vital that you use colors and symbols that represent water or metal to attract beneficial energy. Use colors like deep blue, black, or gray that symbolize water for a painted front door. Metal colors like white, metallic, or pale gray will also work. Avoid colors that represent weakening or destructive elements for water, including wood, earth, and fire colors. Colors that should be avoided are vibrant warm colors like red, orange, and purple. Cool and soothing earth tones like green and pale brown and earthy colors like deep brown and ochre.
It is also helpful to add water or metal features near your front door. You should consider wind chimes, small water features, circular and spherical objects, and wavy and undulating lines. Make sure, when adding a water feature outside your front door, that you place it on the left side as you stand facing out. The placement of a water feature on the right side of the door can open you up to negative energy.
Use the Water and Metal Element
The water and metal elements are particularly auspicious in north-facing houses. This is not just true in the north quadrant of the home. You can use water or metal elements in north-facing homes to generate vital energy for your space. Symbols and colors that represent metal or water can help to boost your career opportunities and create future options.
Use color tones of deep blue, gray and black as well, as white, light gray, and metallic tones. Consider these colors in your foyer or interior entrance area. You can also use wall art to symbolize water or metal. Mirrors symbolize water and are beneficial in feng shui if you direct them away from the front entrance.
Add Low Light Plants
Plants are beneficial in feng shui design because they help to purify the air and generate positive feelings. Add a few plants in the north area of your home to benefit from their life-giving energy. Choose just one or two plants in order not to overwhelm your space. Use plants that thrive in low light, like bamboo and ferns. Plants that symbolize the metal element will feature white flowers. Keep plants in good health, as sick or dying plants generate negative energy.
Maintain Good Lighting
North-facing houses are darker than their east or west-facing counterparts. Good feng shui requires an environment that is welcoming and cheery rather than gloomy and dim. Make sure to utilize different light sources to create a layered light design that ensures utility and style. Opt for a neutral to warm light tone in order to create a welcoming rather than sterile environment.
North-Facing House Pros and Cons
There are practical reasons that reflect and support the feng shui ideology concerning the positive and negative qualities of north-facing houses.
Pros
- Stable and Calm – Feng shui designers consider north-facing houses as having a constant flow of energy. This is likely due to the constant flow of indirect light from the sun. The constant flow of balanced and placid energy creates feelings of security and peace.
- Energy Efficient in Warm Climates – North-facing houses are more energy-saving in hot climates as they are not exposed to the full face of the sun all day.
- Lower Maintenance – Houses that are exposed to the sun undergo more wear and tear over time, whereas homes that are north-facing are more protected. The outside facade of a north-facing house will last longer with less ongoing maintenance.
- Ideal North-Facing Rooms – Certain rooms are particularly beneficial with a north-facing orientation. These include rooms for yoga, meditation, rest, and relaxation.
Cons
- Limited Sun Exposure – North-facing houses have less direct sun throughout the day than other home orientations. This can limit the quality and choice of outdoor landscape spaces.
- Cold Climates – Homes that face north as less beneficial in cold climates than in warm climates. A north-facing home is more likely to suffer from severe winter consequences like ice dams, icicles, and frozen drives and walkways.