Vastu tips for home: a room by room guide

This guide puts every room on one page, with the first choice, the acceptable options and the directions to avoid. It also covers what to look for when you build or buy, and what you can still do in a flat where the layout is fixed.

Before you build or buy

Most Vastu problems are easiest to avoid at the start. When you compare plots or flats, look at these points before the interiors.

• Where the house stands on the plot: build towards the south-west and leave more open space in the north and east.
• The main door: north, north-east and east are the first choice; the south-west and south-east corners are avoided.
• Slope and levels: the commonly given rule is that the ground is higher in the south and west and lower towards the north and east.
• Shape: square and rectangular plots are easiest to plan. A missing or cut north-east corner needs the most care.
• Water: an underground tank or borewell belongs in the north-east, north or east; an overhead tank sits over the south-west.

Room by room at a glance

These placements are the ones used across this site. "Also used" means acceptable, often with small adjustments.

Keep the centre open

The centre of the home, the Brahmasthan, is traditionally left open. In an independent house this can be a courtyard or a double-height hall. In a flat, keep the middle of the main hall free of a heavy sofa set, a large table or a storage unit, and avoid a toilet, staircase or pillar here where you have a choice.

Heavy south-west, light north-east

This one idea explains many Vastu rules. The south-west is the earth zone, so it carries weight: the master bedroom, wardrobes, the overhead tank, the staircase and heavy storage. The north-east is the zone of prayer and water, so it stays light: a pooja corner, windows, a small plant or water feature, and as little furniture as possible.

The same thinking is commonly applied to heights: walls and roofs in the south and west a little higher than in the north and east, and windows larger on the north and east sides.

If you live in a flat

In a flat you rarely choose where the kitchen or toilets are, but you still choose how each room is used and arranged. That is where most of the benefit lies.

• Give the south-west bedroom to the head of the family; use the north-west room for guests or children.
• Set the bed so that your head points south or east while sleeping.
• Place the study desk so you face east or north.
• If the pooja room cannot be in the north-east, a small shelf on the east or north wall of a quiet room is commonly used.
• Keep the north-east of each room uncluttered and the south-west corner of each room for heavy furniture.

Adjustments without rebuilding

• Many consultants suggest moving the heaviest wardrobe or cupboard to the south-west wall of the master bedroom.
• Where a toilet sits in an avoided zone, many consultants suggest keeping its door closed, the lid down and the room very clean and well lit.
• A bowl of sea salt in a bathroom corner, changed every week, is a commonly suggested traditional practice.
• Many consultants suggest a small water feature or a tulsi plant in the north-east of the balcony or garden.
• Shifting the bed or desk to face the right direction is commonly suggested before any structural change.

These are traditional practices that many families follow. They vary between Vastu schools; for your own home, a consultant can say which matter most.

Related Vastu guides

• Vastu directions: Deity, planet, element and the right rooms for each of the eight directions, and how to find them at home.
• Main door Vastu: The best directions for the main door, where it sits on the wall, and what to keep out of its way.
• Kitchen Vastu: The best direction for the kitchen, where the stove and sink go, and which way to face while cooking.
• Bedroom Vastu: The right direction for the master, children’s and guest bedrooms, with bed, mirror and wardrobe tips.
• Vastu remedies without demolition: Room use, colours, light, clutter, mirrors, plants, salt and yantras: traditional fixes, and when to rebuild.
• Vastu for flat: Facing, the main door and the rooms of a flat, and what you can still change when the walls are fixed.

Your personal best directions come from your Kua number. Check your whole home with the house Vastu calculator, see whether your house number suits you, and find your lucky number. More tools: all free calculators.