What is the best bed position for a good night's sleep? Should the window be above the bed? Feng Shui guides us on the orientation and positioning of the bedroom.
Avoid rooms that connect to the bathroom (an "energetic" reduction of the sleeping area), or that are situated above a garage (metal masses). If there is no choice, the remedy is simple: paint the bathroom door the same colour as the wall, and move large metal masses out of the garage.
Choose furnishings with soft, curved shapes and no sharp edges, especially in areas of passage. Colours should be "restful" (pastel, delicate tones) rather than stimulating (overly "vivid" colours). Avoid black, red or excessively bright colours. If there are "stimulating" elements such as mirrors or reflective objects, it is a good idea to try covering them with a sheet.
The bedroom should face north. If that is not possible, here too it is best to try to keep the room cool and to create shade; ideally it should not overlook a street or a square, but face an internal courtyard or an area of lesser social activity. In any case, the walls should be insulated — both thermally and acoustically — using materials employed in green building.
The bed should not be placed in spaces without natural light, in cramped and enclosed areas, or in low, windowless mezzanines. This problem can be remedied by adding lights, colours, curtains and colour blocks so as to visually widen or heighten the space.
Exposed beams must not be too low, and must not cut horizontally across the bed. The solution is therefore to position the bed away from the beams, to use a four-poster bed, or to hang a sheet above the bed attached to the beams in question.
Once the correct position for the bed has been found, it is best to place the bed with the headboard facing north: a German medical study revealed that resting in the right position increases the REM phase of sleep — the phase dedicated to true rest — by 7%.
The headboard should be protected by a solid wall with no windows, and positioned out of line with the door; it should be placed against the wall with the greatest height, so that the sleeper has a "breathing" space above their head. It is best to avoid having the headboard on the wall adjacent to the bathroom drain, a television, or other sources of noise. The bathroom wall should therefore be soundproofed using natural materials (cork, wood-fibre materials, etc.).
The bed should not be "cut through" by the line connecting the door to the window; indeed, the bed should not have its foot end pointing towards the door. If it is not possible to move the bed to a more favourable position, it should be placed so that the door-to-window line runs along the foot end rather than the head end.
Rooms that are excessively high are not ideal: they create a sense of instability. This problem can be resolved by installing a false ceiling, or by painting the ceiling in a way that visually "lowers" it; lights can be lowered, thereby reducing the perceived height of the space.
If the room is too bright (because it faces south, or is close to artificial lights), it is best to use warm lighting (rice-paper lamps) with soft shapes.