To use a bagua map in an apartment, align the bottom row of the grid with the wall containing your own flat's front door, not the main entrance to the building. Map the flat as a single unit first, then, if you wish, lay a smaller grid over individual rooms. Studios, balconies and converted flats each need a slightly different approach.

Living somewhere with an unusual layout? You can send us your floor plan and question and we will tell you how the map falls.

Which door anchors the bagua map in an apartment

In a house, the front door is obvious. In a flat, there may be a street door, a communal hall, a lift, a landing and then your own door. Feng shui treats the door you lock behind you as the mouth of your home. The building entrance shapes the energy of the block as a whole; your flat door shapes your space.

Purpose-built blocks

In a modern block, use your flat door. If it opens into a short internal hallway, that hallway still belongs to the bottom row. Where you enter from a lift lobby or corridor, the corridor sits outside your map, though keeping your doormat area tidy still matters.

Converted Victorian flats

Many UK flats are carved out of larger houses. A ground-floor flat may share the original front door and hall with the flat above. Use the door that leads into your private space, even if it is inside the old hallway and faces sideways relative to the street.

When your door opens onto your own internal staircase

Upper flats and maisonettes in conversions sometimes have a private door at street level and a staircase up to the living space. Practitioners differ here. A common approach is to align the map with the top of the stairs, where you actually step into the main floor of the flat, and to treat the staircase as an approach rather than a room.

Mapping the whole flat, then each room

Trace the outline of the flat from a floor plan, ignoring internal walls. Divide its length and width into thirds to make nine areas, with the door wall at the bottom. Note which rooms fall in each area. You can stop there, and in many flats that first layer is enough to show which parts of the home deserve attention.

It helps to write the nine area names directly onto a printed copy of the plan. Seeing, for example, that the relationships area falls in a cluttered box room or that the career area is the coat cupboard by the door turns an abstract diagram into a practical to-do list.

A second layer is to map individual rooms. Stand in the doorway of a room, treat that door wall as the bottom row, and lay a small grid over the room itself. This is particularly useful in a flat, where one room may cover two or three areas of the main map and you want to choose, say, where the desk or bed sits within it.

The main bagua map guide covers the compass method and irregular houses in more detail if you want to compare approaches.

Studios and one-room living

In a studio, the whole flat and the main room are almost the same thing, so the map does a lot of work. Bed, desk, kitchen and sofa all share one grid. A few principles help:

Keep the bed out of the direct line of the door and, ideally, away from the career area just inside the entrance.
Use a rug, bookcase or screen to give the sleeping area a sense of its own space.
Keep the centre of the room clear where possible, since the centre represents balance for the whole home.
Let the kitchen corner stay tidy, as it is visible from everywhere.
Choose furniture with legs or open shelving where you can, so the single room feels lighter and less crowded.

Balconies, bay windows and odd-shaped flats

A balcony is usually treated as outside the outline unless it is enclosed and used year round. An enclosed winter garden, common in newer London blocks, may be included. A bay window that takes up less than half the length of its wall is generally read as an extension of that area rather than a change in the outline.

Flats in older buildings often have angled walls, chimney breasts and recesses. Small notches can generally be ignored; a large cut-out on one side may leave an area partly missing, which can be balanced with light, mirrors or plants in the nearest part of the flat.

Renting: what you can still change

Most tenants cannot move walls or doors, but feng shui works mainly through furniture, light, colour, plants and clutter. Choosing which room does which job, where the bed and desk sit, and how the entrance looks are all within reach. Our article on a home energy reading for a rented space explores this further, and Vastu for flats with fixed layouts gives the Vastu perspective on the same constraints.

For a personal assessment, the Energy at Home session is a 45-minute online consultation that combines the flat's horoscope and your own Vedic chart with Vastu Shastra and Feng Shui, which helps when there are only a few changes you can realistically make.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use the building's main entrance for the bagua map?

No. Use the door to your own flat. The building entrance affects the block as a whole rather than your individual home.

Can I use the compass method in an apartment?

Yes, though steel frames and appliances can disturb a phone compass. Take readings in several spots and use the one that repeats.

How do I map a flat on two floors?

Map the entrance floor first, aligned with your front door, then carry the same grid upwards following the outer walls.

What if my flat door opens into the middle of the flat?

It still sits in the bottom row. The flat simply has rooms on either side of the career area, which is common.

All we need to begin is a floor plan or sketch with your flat door marked, which floor you are on and the birth details of the main occupants. Send your question through the enquiry form or book the home session, and we will reply with how the map falls in your flat and where to start.