A big part of Feng Shui revolves around the shape and form of all objects and furnishings. These items, big and small, from a side table inside to an outside tree, will all manipulate air currents and the unseen energy all around us.
In some instances we want to buffer the “qi” flow and in other cases we want to re-direct it. Along with that can come something as benign as a bed’s headboard. It’s shape and look.
It’s actually not good or bad to have a headboard. If the pillow side of the bed is against a solid wall, that is a de facto headboard, providing an anchor and comfort within the room. Originally, the solid headboard served a practical purpose to protect the head and upper body from cold drafts before homes had central heating. Nowadays, a headboard still serves a purpose when a person has no other choice but to position a bed against a window.
Headboards come in a variety of materials, including wrought iron, wood, or upholstered wood. Wood furniture can go just about anywhere, but metal furnishings should be taken into consideration for the unique energy of the room. In some rooms, a metal headboard can be helpful and in other circumstances, metal in a bedroom could be undermining.
The shape and style of the headboard can also block or re-direct the qi (energy flow) and that includes whether the headboard is solid or not. Often, the shape and style of a furnishing can have both subjective and objective influences.
With the photos provided, there is a style of headboard called “gothic” as it is comes from Gothic architecture. However, it also looks like a tombstone, which then makes the bed itself look like a coffin. This style of headboard is not recommended in Feng Shui practice because it consciously or subconsciously looks like a grave site marker, aka a tombstone. If you are around images that are sinister or associated with images that make one feel uneasy, then it is best to avoid if possible. You can look at this headboard style and ask yourself if it feels like a relaxing, peaceful bedroom image or not.
In my professional consulting practice, I do not encounter very many people with the tombstone style headboard, but I learned about it early on in my feng shui studies. There is no one décor item that can wreak havoc in a person’s life. Usually, there is an accumulation of design and décor flaws which can result in something definitive happening.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Feng Shui Architecture and Design Blog Series
