Oftentimes, one of the first questions I’m asked is: “Sofia, we should always keep the toilet lid down, right?” And Sofia replies “It depends”, which triggers a lift of the person’s eyebrow.
In the olden days, bathrooms, or sanitary facilities, if you prefer, were seen as something extremely negative and were located outside the homes – it was only a hole in the ground. As time moved on, social status, comfort and developments in construction meant that bathrooms were now inside the homes and nowadays they are almost mini spas, featuring beauty and design.

Although a bathroom is a place to rid yourself of what is not necessary and to remove soiling, the truth is that it’s also a space for cleanliness, purification and energizing. For this reason, the bathroom shouldn’t be overlooked, rather it should be an area with the capacity to revitalize us.

So, when I’m asked if the toilet lid should be down and the bathroom door shut and I reply “it depends”, it’s because it does in fact depend on the type of energy the bathroom has, among other factors.

There are cases where the bathroom’s energy needs to be drained and there, the lids remain up and the bathroom doors shut so the energy doesn’t spread throughout the house. In others, we need to retain the energy and, in that case, the lids are down and the doors semi-open.

Another question I get asked a lot is the colours to be used in the materials, accessories and towels in a bathroom. Here too, there should be some care so that the bathrooms are in synch with the energy in this area and the rest of the house as a whole. These colours are not defined through the bathroom being East, Southeast or North or any other sector of the house. For instance, if they are East and Southeast they can be green because these sectors represent the wood element and if they’re North they should be black or blue – the colours of the element water, to which the sector corresponds… No. One thing is the elements and in turn the colours that represent a certain cardinal point; another is the elements (including the colours) that we must place in that sector. In terms of Classical Feng Shui, only when we analyse the space and the calculations can we conclude the best elements (colours, materials, shapes, etc.) to place in each area of the house.

However, for anyone who doesn’t have those calculations available and, for instance, likes red, orange or even burgundy-toned bathrooms, the colours of the Fire element, please know that it is important to unite/harmonize, through the Constructive Cycle of the Five Elements, the Fire element in those colours with the Water element, one that is so present and pivotal in bathrooms. Accordingly, in this case, to harmonize these two elements, place something that represents wood in the bathroom, for instance something made out of wood proper, or something green, or vertical stripes or even a plant.

Another feature that is very usual in Portuguese homes is to have the bathroom in the top central part of the dwelling. Like so:

This feature can have a strong impact on the emotions of the residents, especially with regard to their worth, their self-worth, how others value them and even lack of confidence on their own merits, which generally leads to fears and discomfort. This emotional issue can happen even if the bathroom is well located energy-wise. As such, one of the solutions you can use in such cases is to place something in red that stands out in this area, as red is associated with Fire, which is associated with inner and outer acknowledgement. If for any reason this element is not to be used in this area, or it’s not enough to fix the problem, we need to work on worth and frustration in other ways and in the rest of the house.

Another detail we need to take into account because it touches automatically on energy, vitality, the capacity to react to everyday niggles, are plumbing and taps. Broken pipes, dripping taps, labyrinth like routes in the mains are many times what triggers these symptoms.

If you want to learn more about bathrooms, namely the significance of their location and what you can do, check out my book “Change your Home Enrich your Life”.

To conclude, turn your bathroom into a pleasant area, take care of it and help it take care of you!