Guide: Feng Shui of Kitchen
- Vivian Tay
- Feb 1
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 2
Why Kitchen?
Why the Kitchen, of all places? Some may ask, and I feel this is a legitimate question. If I were to choose the 3 most important areas of one's residence in terms of Feng Shui, the kitchen area is definitely one of the 3, alongside the Master Bedroom and Main Door of the apartment.
阳宅三要·门、主、灶 (灶房，相当于现代住宅中的厨房)
The Kitchen represents the wife of the household. Happy wife, Happy life, isn't it? From Feng Shui's perspective, the Kitchen represents not only the wife's well-being but also the family's relationship. In addition, the kitchen area is closely related to food, and food meant survival in ancient times. Hence, the kitchen area is also considered an important Feng Shui area as it signifies abundance and wealth.
Considering its status of abundance in Ancient China, Kitchen Feng Shui, when appropriately activated, may bring about a positive energy flow that promotes maximum luck. The harmonious flow of positive energies benefits the missus and the man in the house.
Challenges of Kitchen Feng Shui Analysis
With its high importance, it comes with quite several taboos and Feng Shui restrictions. Unsurprisingly, these are hard to practice considering that the Kitchen in Modern HDB or Condo apartments are getting smaller in terms of size. Packed with storage cabinets, a built-in oven or microwave, and other kitchen essentials, the compact modern-day kitchen layout makes good Feng Shui a challenge.
In this article, we will try to classify the key aspects of Kitchen Feng Shui into major categories. Hopefully, you can achieve a prosperous kitchen setup with the suggested tips.
10 Tips for Kitchen Feng Shui
Layout of Kitchen
Let us start from the macro perspective of things, such as the kitchen layout. The Kitchen should not be at the center of the house. Having a strong fire element situated at the heart of your house may result in health issues. It may bring about negative energy, affecting unexpected loss of wealth and high fluctuations of luck.
Door of Kitchen
To ensure that auspicious energy and optimal energy flow within the house, it is crucial to ensure that the door of the Kitchen is not faced towards the main house door. Moreover, one should ensure that the stove is not being seen from the main door position as this will affect a harmonious kitchen environment. The visible kitchen stove is quite a common problem in today's context, considering the popularity of open-concept kitchens compared to closed-concept kitchens. The problem of a visible kitchen can be solved by having a kitchen curtain or a movable room divider.
The door of the Kitchen should also not face other doors as this will disrupt incoming energy. This is especially true if the kitchen door faces the common toilet or toilet bowl. Such an unfortunate floor plan may leave house owners at a loss. However, from the Feng Shui Perspective, there will always be traditional remedies for every problem, just that there may be some visual impact when it comes to the placement of remedies.
The Kitchen Stove
The placement of the kitchen stove itself can already be a topic. Considering how important food and fire were to ancient civilisation, having the optimal energy balance in the Kitchen definitely involved the placement of the kitchen stove. A balanced and harmonious kitchen environment calls for precise placement of the kitchen stove.
Stove – Sitting and Facing
This is a technical Feng Shui concept. A key consideration in determining the path of energy flow (movement of energy) is knowing the Kitchen's sitting and facing. The movement of energy and fresh energy flow is important. For auspicious energy to congregate in the Kitchen, the stove should sit in an inauspicious sector and face an auspicious direction.
If your Stove is sitting in the North-West and Facing the South-East direction, then alas. This is one of the worst directions your stove can be in in terms of general analysis. This phenomenon is known as 火烧天门 which will bring about negative energy and bad luck, especially for the male owner of the house. The strong fire element is not exactly the auspicious element in this area and may also result in health issues for the male homeowner. This floor plan should be avoided if you are doing house hunting or when you are planning the location of your stove during renovation phase. Although traditional remedies exist, such auspicious remedy is never better than an auspicious layout.
Space below your stove
Avoid having an oven, microwave, LPG Gas tank, or wood element materials directly beneath one stove. Also, avoid any plants, food, water piping, oil, or rice bucket beneath your central stove. The stove is a prosperous space, but avoid having an additional fire-enhancing element to cause an overly vibrant fire energy. We would also not wish to have any conflicting elements that may directly clash with the stove's positive fire energy. Hence, just try to avoid having the items beneath your stove to have a balanced kitchen.
Stove Position (In relation to other furniture and fitting)
The facing of the stove is equally important. Similar to the above, we would not wish for the stove direction to be facing any conflicting elements. With fire as the key element of the stove, the kitchen sink ideally should not be directly facing it as it is associated with the water element. This clash of elements may bring about disruptive energy patterns and negative energy.
The stove should usually be placed behind a solid wall rather than on the kitchen island itself (if any). Behind this solid wall, it should not be a room and definitely not a good place for bedhead placement. The vibrant energy resulting from the strong fire element does not sit well with a bedhead placement just behind the wall. If possible, avoid having a toilet just behind the stove as well.
Similarly, if you are living in a duplex setup or a landed apartment, always avoid having a toilet or toilet bowl directly above the stove burners.
Kitchen Colour - 5 elements
Red should be avoided. Similar principles, no more additional fire-enhancing element. Keep the positive fire energy from the stove as it is. The colours also largely extend to your kitchen tabletop. I know what you are thinking. Yes! No green, no blue, no black either. These are colors associated with additional fire-enhancing elements or a clash of elements. Neither contributes to a balanced kitchen setup. Look towards metal element colour tones with beneficial metal energy (less disruptive element) or one with earth tones (earth element is the lesser of the remaining 4 evils). A slight touch of earth energy should be tolerable. Earthly colour should work well and the common marble countertops are perfectly acceptable when it comes to colour.
Kitchen Cabinetry
Nothing much in particular except maybe for the general colour scheme. Another point to note is that try to avoid cabinetry that extends to the floor. Having a raised platform will ensure beneficial energy for the Lady of the House. Talk to your kitchen designers; this design should contribute to a functional kitchen.
Refrigerator
Water element or metal element? A key kitchen appliance and a very bulky one. Its key element is controversial, but it certainly attracts positive energy flow. The refrigerator is thought to be associated with containing wealth, and from Feng Shui's perspective, a fully stocked refrigerator is a sign of abundance. Keep this auspicious energy in place!
Avoid having the door of the refrigerator facing any door or window. Auspicious energy will "leak," and it will be hard to store beneficial energy if there is such an outlet.
Rice Bucket or Rice Jar
A close connection to the abundance of luck, it is always believed that the rice bucket or rice jar is the Kitchen's unspoken wealth bowl (If you had read this article, you would understand what I mean). Its connection to luck and wealth is well-founded, considering that rice is the key staple of Ancient China, and when food is scarce, the rice bucket is rarely full. Only the wealthy can afford to have a filled rice jar. The rice jar should be put in a prosperous space hidden away from plain sight. Like a wealth bowl, correct placement will encourage auspicious energy. During Chinese New Year, it is essential to ensure that this rice jar is filled to symbolise a year of abundance ahead.
Number of Stoves
Feng Shui believes that in 1 kitchen, there should only be one stove. By this definition, it means one central stove or hob (so it may contain multiple burners/induction). Do not be confused as 1 stove may contain multiple burners (See diagram above). The issue only arises if a kitchen has two or more sets of separate stoves/ hobs. If there are two separate hobs in a kitchen, it usually signifies additional romance. Hmmm...
Summary
The above Feng Shui Tips for a good Kitchen Design include:
1) Layout of Kitchen
2) Door of Kitchen
3) Stove – Sitting and Facing
4) Space beneath the Stove
5) Stove Direction facing and Stove Location
6) Kitchen Colour
7) Kitchen Cabinetry
8) Refrigerator
9) Rice Bucket or Rice Jar
10) Number of Stoves
Based on Feng Shui principles, the Kitchen is an important area that promotes the flow of energy. If certain Feng Shui principles are not adhered to, there might be negative energy or implications for the Lady of the House. As much as one can try to follow the above tips and promote positive energy flow, there are other key considerations that only a professional Feng Shui Master can offer during a Feng Shui consultation.
For those who prefer DIY, the positive energy flow may be restricted or affected if one doesn't completely see the big picture. For example, the direction and the layout of the house, the Bazi of the occupants, and the yearly flying stars' can all affect the flow of energy in each area of the house. In less severe cases, the clash of elements may result in minor disputes. A significant clash of elements will upset the harmonious kitchen environment, and it will usually harm the female occupants more than that of the male.
To attain optimal kitchen harmony, try to seek a professional Feng Shui Master for a Feng Shui consultation prior to commencing your renovation. Kitchen designers are experienced in this area and will achieve a functional kitchen while not compromising Feng Shui principles.
Other important Kitchen Feng Shui
Apart from the above 10 Feng Shui Tips, there is still an array of other Feng Shui Pointers to encourage good energy flow. Being neat and tidy plays a crucial role in encouraging auspicious energy. So, start clearing your marble countertop or arrange the kitchen island long due for sorting. Avoid cluttered countertops and have a well-maintained kitchen.
Do not position mirrors in the Kitchen. It is ok to position your mirror in the dining room instead.
Avoid decorative plants that are not real. This applies to the whole house and not just the Kitchen. Unreal, dried, or synthetic decorative plants are not encouraged.
To promote a prosperous kitchen, it is quite important to ensure that the "4 kitchen essentials" are not "empty." 柴米油盐 - In today's context, they refer to fire wood (which we readily should have access to in the form of gas pipe), rice, oil, and salt.
Conclusion
From a Feng Shui Perspective, the Kitchen is an essential place to assess a house's Feng Shui, and for very good reasons. However, the above tips and advice are purely for a general Feng Shui evaluation. In today's space-strained environment, there must be a balance between Feng Shui and practicality. As much as a good Feng Shui is desired, a functional kitchen is as important. This placed a great challenge to kitchen designers and Feng Shui Masters as we seek a balanced kitchen to attract good beneficial energy while ensuring it is functional.
As the above are just very general tips, other more important Feng Shui principles will affect the Kitchen and the occupants of a house. Larger and more macro factors, such as the general facing of the apartment, may significantly influence one's apartment's ability to attract beneficial energy.
Not forgetting the importance of Bazi of the occupants, it will result in very different results when applied to the Feng Shui concept of a house. It is thus essential to be aware that Feng Shui is a very personalised service and kitchen Feng Shui is just a tiny tip of a much larger iceberg (hope there is no clash of elements here!). Should you require a Feng Shui audit, feel free to contact us. Let's discuss how we can assist you in your Residential Feng Shui Journey!
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional Feng Shui advice. Feng Shui practices and interpretations can vary, and their effectiveness may differ based on individual circumstances and specific locations. For personalized guidance, it is strongly recommended to consult with a qualified Feng Shui Master or professional consultant who can assess your unique situation. The author and company are not responsible for any outcomes resulting from the application of Feng Shui principles described in this article. Always use caution and discretion when implementing any Feng Shui methods.
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