House and Flat Facing in Vastu: Which Direction and How to Arrange It

First, how do you find your facing correctly?

Facing is decided by the direction you look towards when you stand inside your home and walk out through the main door. It is the direction you face as you exit, not the direction the building block or the road sits in. Many arguments start here because people confuse the two, so I always ask clients to check it properly first.

• Stand at the main entrance, inside, looking out as if leaving.
• Use a simple magnetic compass or a phone compass, held flat and away from steel gates or the metal door.
• The direction your face points is your facing. That is all.

For an apartment, use your own flat door, not the building's ground entrance. Once you are sure of the facing, the layout guidance below applies cleanly.

Which facing is considered best?

Traditionally, east and north facing homes are spoken of first, because they invite the morning sun and light. That is why they are often called ideal in older texts. But I want to be honest with you as a consultant: this is a preference, not a rule that ranks your home as good or bad. West and south facing homes are fully accepted in classical Vastu when the interior is set right. I have corrected far more homes by fixing the placement of the kitchen, the heavy storage and the sleeping rooms than by worrying about the gate direction. Judge your home by its internal balance, followed as personal faith, with no outcome promised.

East and north facing: how I lay them out

These facings get generous morning light, so the classical advice is to keep the front and the north-east open and light.

• Keep the north-east corner clean, light and uncluttered. Tradition treats this zone as the one to leave open, so avoid a toilet, a store or heavy cupboards here.
• Place the kitchen towards the south-east, with the cook facing east while working, as the texts advise.
• Keep the master bedroom in the south-west, the heaviest and most grounded corner.
• Let the entrance area stay bright and unblocked. Shoe racks and dustbins are better tucked to the side.

West and south facing: how I lay them out

West and south facing homes need no drama. The same principles hold; you simply arrange within the space you have.

• South facing: keep the main door in the correct segment of the southern wall as your local Vastu practitioner marks it, and avoid loading the north-east with weight.
• Anchor the south-west with the master bedroom and the heaviest almirah, so the home feels settled at the back.
• Keep the kitchen in the south-east if the plan allows, otherwise the north-west is the accepted alternative.
• West facing homes do well with the evening use rooms, like a study or a guest room, along the western side.

Element balance matters more than the label of the facing. If your plan does not allow the ideal placement, small corrections are usually enough, which I cover in my notes on remedies.

A simple order to fix any facing

When a client is overwhelmed, I give them this order to work through, one room at a time. It suits every facing.

• Keep the north-east open and light.
• Give the south-west the heaviest, most stable use, usually the main bedroom.
• Settle the kitchen in the south-east where possible.
• Remove clutter from the entrance and the centre of the home.
• Only then look at colours and traditional remedies.

Do this much and your facing, whichever it is, will be arranged the way the classical texts intend. Nothing here is a promise of any result; it is simply the traditional way to place a home with care.

Common questions

Read next

• which room belongs in which direction
• choosing and reading a plot
• gentle traditional remedies when the layout is fixed