The bagua map is the most recognizable tool in feng shui: a grid that divides a home, or a single room, into nine areas, each linked to a part of life such as wealth, relationships, career or health. Once you know which area is which, you can decide where to place colors, objects and furniture with intention.
It looks complicated at first, but laying it over a floor plan takes a few minutes once you understand which version you're using.
Quick answer: A bagua map is a 3x3 grid of nine life areas laid over your floor plan. In the Western (BTB) method, you align the bottom row with the wall containing your front door, so you always enter through Knowledge, Career or Helpful People. The wealth corner is then the far back-left area of your home or room. In the compass (classical) method, you use real compass directions instead, and the wealth area is the southeast.
The bagua map calculator shows the location, element, colors and suggested enhancements for any life area you choose.
What the Bagua Map Is
"Bagua" means "eight trigrams." In classical Chinese thought, the eight trigrams of the I Ching represent the basic forces of nature, such as heaven, earth, thunder, water, mountain, wind, fire and lake. Feng shui arranges them around a center to form a map, and each position is linked to a direction, an element, a color and an area of life.
In practice, most modern bagua maps are drawn as a square 3x3 grid (based on the Lo Shu magic square) rather than an octagon, because it's much easier to lay over rectangular rooms.
The nine areas
| Position (Western method) | Life area | Element | Colors | Compass direction | |---|---|---|---|---| | Back left | Wealth & Prosperity | Wood | Purple, green, gold | Southeast | | Back center | Fame & Reputation | Fire | Red, orange | South | | Back right | Love & Relationships | Earth | Pink, red, white | Southwest | | Middle left | Family & Health of Elders | Wood | Green, blue | East | | Center | Health & Wellbeing | Earth | Yellow, earth tones | Center | | Middle right | Children & Creativity | Metal | White, pastels | West | | Front left | Knowledge & Self-growth | Earth | Blue, green, black | Northeast | | Front center | Career & Life Path | Water | Black, dark blue | North | | Front right | Helpful People & Travel | Metal | Gray, white, silver | Northwest |
Western vs Compass Bagua: Which Should You Use?
There are two main ways to orient the map, and they often give different answers. Neither is "wrong"; they come from different schools.
| | Western / BTB bagua | Compass (classical) bagua | |---|---|---| | How you align it | Bottom row on the front door wall | Real compass directions | | What you need | A floor plan | A floor plan and a compass reading | | Wealth area | Back left corner | Southeast | | Origin | Black Hat Sect, developed in the US from the 1980s | Traditional Chinese compass schools (including Eight Mansions and Flying Stars) | | Best for | Simple, consistent room-by-room use | Practitioners who also use Kua numbers and directions |
The Western method is easier and doesn't change with the direction your house faces, which is why most decorating guides use it. The compass method connects with other compass-based practices, such as Kua numbers and lucky directions.
The key rule: pick one method and stick with it in a given home. Mixing them leads to contradictions.
How to Lay the Bagua Over Your Home (Western Method)
- Get a floor plan. A rough sketch on graph paper is fine, as long as the proportions are close. Include only the main living area: attached garages, porches and decks are usually left out.
- Draw a rectangle around the outer walls of the home.
- Divide it into a 3x3 grid of nine equal sections. In a long, narrow home the sections will be long and narrow too; that's fine.
- Find your front door wall. This is the wall with the door that was designed as the main entrance, even if you usually enter through the garage.
- Align the bottom row (Knowledge, Career, Helpful People) along that wall. Your front door will fall in one of those three areas.
- Label the rest of the grid using the table above. Back left is Wealth, back right is Love, and so on.
You can apply the same grid to individual rooms, aligning it with the room's entrance door. Many people find room-level bagua more practical, especially in apartments where they can't change the overall layout.
How to lay it over your home (compass method)
Stand just inside your front door facing out, take a compass reading (a phone compass held flat, away from metal, works), and note the direction your home faces. Then mark the eight directions on your floor plan from its center, and assign each area by its compass direction rather than its position relative to the door.
Missing Areas and Extensions
Few homes are perfect rectangles. L-shaped and U-shaped plans leave some bagua areas partly outside the home.
- Missing area: a section that's outside the walls when the bagua is laid over the full rectangle. If the missing part is less than half the length of that side, feng shui generally treats it as missing.
- Extension: a part of the home that sticks out beyond the main rectangle and is less than half the length of that side. Extensions are considered a boost for that area.
Common cures for a missing area
- Outside: plant a tree or shrub, add a light, or place a large stone or planter at the corner where the walls would have met, symbolically "completing" the shape.
- Inside: hang a mirror on the wall facing the missing area, so it visually opens into the space. Our mirror placement guide covers where mirrors help and where they don't.
- Within each room: strengthen that life area in each room's own bagua instead.
The Wealth Corner: How to Find and Activate It
The wealth area is the most searched part of the bagua. It's associated with prosperity and abundance, not just money but also a sense of having enough.
Finding it
- Western method: stand at the front door (or room door) looking in. The wealth corner is the far left.
- Compass method: it's the southeast sector of your home or room.
What to put there
The wealth area is Wood energy, fed by Water. Traditional enhancements include:
- A healthy, upright plant, especially a money tree, jade plant or lucky bamboo. See our feng shui plants guide for the best choices.
- A small water feature such as a tabletop fountain, kept clean and flowing.
- Purple, green or gold accents: a cushion, a vase, a throw.
- Objects that feel abundant to you: a bowl of coins, a piece of art you love, something valuable kept in good condition.
What to avoid there
- Trash cans, recycling bins and laundry hampers.
- Dead or dying plants.
- Clutter and broken items, which symbolize blocked or leaking wealth.
- Too much Metal (white, gray, metallic), which "chops" Wood in the controlling cycle.
If a bathroom falls in your wealth area, keep the door closed, keep the toilet lid down, and add a healthy plant to the bathroom to strengthen Wood energy.
Using the Bagua Without Overdoing It
The bagua is a framework for attention, not a set of rules to execute everywhere at once. A sensible approach:
- Choose one or two life areas you want to focus on.
- Clear clutter in those areas first; feng shui consistently treats clutter as the first thing to fix.
- Add one or two intentional enhancements in the right element and color.
- Leave it for a while before adding more.
The feng shui colors guide explains how each area's element interacts with the others, and the feng shui room layout generator can help you visualize furniture placement on top of it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know which way to put the bagua map?
In the Western method, align the bottom row of the grid with the wall that contains your front door. In the compass method, align it with true compass directions from a reading taken at the front door.
Where is the wealth corner in my house?
With the Western bagua, stand at your front door looking in; the far left corner is the wealth area. With the compass school, it's the southeast part of the home.
What if my front door is in the middle of the wall?
That's common. You'll enter through the Career area (front center). If the door is on the left, you enter through Knowledge; on the right, through Helpful People.
Can I use the bagua map on a single room?
Yes. Align the grid with the room's door and apply it the same way. Many practitioners prefer this for bedrooms and offices.
Does the bagua map work for apartments?
Yes. Use your apartment's own front door, not the building's entrance, and include only the space inside your unit.
What do I do if my bathroom is in the wealth corner?
Keep the bathroom door closed and the toilet lid down, keep the room clean and bright, and add a healthy plant or green accents to support the Wood element.
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