八宅 · Eight Mansions
Southwest-facing house feng shui
A home that faces southwest sits northeast — and in Eight Mansions a house is classified by the direction it SITS in, not the direction it faces. That makes this a 艮宅 (Gen house), a West-group home. Its four supportive sectors are Northeast, Southwest, West, Northwest; its four demanding sectors are North, East, Southeast, South. Those demanding sectors are not a flaw — they are where the bathroom, kitchen and storage are supposed to go.
The eight sectors of this home
- North五鬼 · frictiondemanding
A kitchen or bathroom here is a correct placement, not a problem. If it holds a bedroom, keep the room uncluttered and avoid making it the place where difficult conversations happen.
- Northeast伏位 · stabilitysupportive
This sector is quiet by nature. Do not over-program it; it works best holding one calm activity rather than several competing ones.
- East六煞 · obstaclesdemanding
This sector adds a little drag to anything long-running. Short-stay rooms suit it. If it is someone’s bedroom, favour a simple layout and good ventilation.
- Southeast绝命 · most demandingdemanding
Best filled by a bathroom, store cupboard, or the stove body. If a bedroom sits here and cannot move, sleep with the head pointed toward one of that person’s own favourable directions — the sleeping direction does a lot of the work the room location cannot.
- South祸害 · frustrationsdemanding
The mildest sector to give up. If the plan forces a bedroom into one of the four demanding sectors, this is the one to choose, and the occupant will barely register it.
- Southwest生气 · successsupportive
Keep this sector active and unblocked. An entrance, a desk, or a frequently-used room belongs here; a storeroom wastes it. Light it well and keep the floor clear.
- West延年 · longevitysupportive
Put shared furniture here rather than solo work. This is the sector that softens conversation, so it earns its keep as a dining or sitting area.
- Northwest天医 · healthsupportive
Protect this sector from noise and clutter. If someone in the household is run down, moving their bed here is the single highest-leverage change in the plan.
This is the house. What about the people in it?
A home’s sectors are only half the reading — the other half is the chart of each person living in it, and households rarely share the same supportive directions. Run your own combination free, no signup.
Common questions
- Is a southwest-facing house good feng shui?
- There is no such thing as a universally good or bad facing direction. A southwest-facing home is a 艮宅, a West-group house, which means it naturally suits people whose own Kua number is 2, 6, 7, 8 — the other four Kua numbers can live in it perfectly well by leading with their sleeping and desk directions instead. What matters far more than the facing direction is what you put in each sector.
- Which direction does a southwest-facing house sit in?
- Northeast. The sitting direction (坐山) is always the 180-degree opposite of the facing direction (向), and it is the sitting direction that determines the house type. This is the single most commonly confused point in consumer feng shui: measuring at your front door gives you the facing direction, and you then take its opposite to classify the house.
- Where should the bedroom be in a southwest-facing house?
- The home's supportive sectors are Northeast, Southwest, West, Northwest, so a bedroom in any of those is well placed from the building's point of view. But a bedroom serves one person, so their own Kua matters as much as the house's: if the room sits in a sector that is demanding for the occupant, point the head of the bed toward one of their four supportive directions. The sleeping direction carries most of the weight the room location cannot.
- Where should the kitchen and bathroom go in a southwest-facing house?
- In the demanding sectors — North, East, Southeast, South. This surprises people, but it is standard classical practice: 灶宜坐凶向吉, the stove should sit in a difficult sector and face an auspicious direction. Utilities suppress the sectors they occupy (压煞), so a bathroom in the 五鬼 sector is correct placement, not something to renovate away.