Your new lucky paradise - the bathroom
Updated: Oct 16, 2022
Your bathroom: dull place to do the necessary? Gorgeous spa setting to relax in? Happy shiny lucky rejuvenating paradise? Unless you answered #3, read on to transform what might be the most neglected room in the house into a space that is not only pretty, it might just change your fortunes and your life.
Feng shui in the bathroom
As the season changes and once again a long, hot soak or shower starts sounding pretty great, people's thoughts turn to making the bathroom more inviting - especially after the pandemic lockdowns have taught us all the value of having a private self-care oasis at home. Making some changes to the bath can add so much to your enjoyment, rest and renewal, not to mention your house or condo’s resale value. But even if you’re renting and/or don’t have the budget for a full bathroom renovation, the principles of feng shui can simply and inexpensively improve your WC, and even how you feel.
How to give your bathroom better flow
You may not think of the room layout in your home in terms of energetic optimization, but some ancient cultures do – and in Chinese culture, the bathroom is a tricky room indeed. The principles of feng shui - the system of laws that are said to govern spatial orientation in relation to the flow of energy – dictate that the bathroom should, if properly designed, encourage purification and renewal. Unfortunately, an improper placement, design or colour scheme can basically ensure that your luck is flushed right down the toilet, making the bathroom an inherently inauspicious room that’s always going to need some work to optimize.
When considering my bathroom accessories, feng shui was the first thing I looked at because, let’s face it, a thriving and powerful 5,000 year old culture probably knows at least a little bit what it is talking about. There’s no sense in washing success down the drain if there’s an easy fix for that.
Of course, if you’re building your house from scratch, you can choose the optimal placement for all the bathrooms to begin with; just use this handy bagua chart to make the most of the natural energy flow throughout the entire home. But even if your bath is very much fixed in place already, you can make improvements to the energy flow that could enhance your family’s luck, health and wellbeing.
Here are some feng shui principles relating to bathrooms:
Use colours like green and blue in the bathroom because blue represents water and green symbolizes new life and new beginnings – perfect since you are washing, cleansing and shedding the old in the bathroom.
Earth colours and the use of wood in the bathroom are also important to balance the elements and counteract the effect of too much water washing away the good as well as the bad.
Always leave the toilet lid down in closed position again, to prevent overabundance of the water element. Closing the door is beneficial too (if you have sufficient ventilation that closing the door won’t lead to problems with mildew)
You should not put any personal pictures or symbols of your family, life’s passions, career etc. in the bathroom because it is an invitation to washing them away.
Use living green plants, or at least artificial plants, never dried flowers, to decorate the bathroom and bring in freshness and rejuvenation.
Bathrooms should be well-lit; consider using sheers or blinds on bathroom windows to let in lots of light.
Keep your bathroom clutter-free so energy can flow freely and help you release unwanted energy.
Use of Feng Shui Colours in the Bathroom
You can feng shui with paint too! Surprisingly, among builders, brown is already very popular as a master bathroom default colour, revealing that the days of one shade only (stark white) are gone. We’ve seen lots of pictures of the chic black and white bathroom, yet black remains one of the most underused colours in the bath, perhaps because we can’t all rock that formal, elegant look. Or maybe it all has to do with colour psychology: Brown conveys warmth, comfort and security, and it’s a neutral that can make your rejuvenating greens really pop.
Not sure how to use soothing greens and browns to give your bathroom that serene yet fresh space to get ready, pamper yourself and recharge your batteries? Check out these colour schemes for small bathrooms courtesy of the DIY Network.
Best Materials to Use in the Bathroom
So how do you get all those elements to mesh? Try using:
-Wood flooring in the bathroom – gets the wood element in there, is easy to care for and different in a good way
-Decorative wall tiles in blue and green colours, either throughout or as an accent colour
-Stone countertops for luxury and elemental balance
-Decorative light fixtures that match the tone of the room, as you would use in any other room. Plus your skin will look a lot better than it does under a single dangling yellow bulb.
-Luxurious accessories like live house plants, beautiful sisal bath mat, even a woven hemp basket of folded towels
Most importantly…pay attention to what you put on your skin
There’s no sense in creating a spa-like oasis for self-care and then grabbing a cracked bar of harsh, chemical-laden soap to complete your cleansing regime. Once you have the bathroom of your dreams, you need the right natural bath and body products to complete the spa effect! You’ve invested in the bathroom, now invest in your skin care with affordable, natural skin care from SaltZ&Co - they look great in any bathroom, too.
Are you already so proud of your SaltZ&Co products and how they look in YOUR bathroom? Drop a picture of your SaltZ in action here or on our Facebook page, @saltzbaths!