Type your office's size, show where the door and windows are, and pick your desk. You get the three best spots for it, drawn in your room, and a check of the spot you drag it to — each with the reason in plain words.
The best spot for your desk
Move the desk so your chair has the wall on your right as you come in behind it.9 of 9 checks pass there · where it stands now: 5 of 9
Quick answer: in feng shui the best desk placement is the commanding position: your chair with its back to a solid wall, facing into the room, the door in view from where you sit, and the desk out of the straight line from the door. Type your office above and the checker draws it, marks the three best spots for your desk and says why, in plain words.
How to use the feng shui desk placement checker
- Type the room’s width and length in feet (12 ft 6 in works) or, with the m button, in meters. The drawing is the room seen from above: the top wall is the one at the top of the drawing.
- Show the door: which wall it is in, near which end, and which way it opens. Left and right are as you stand inside the room, facing the door.
- Add the windows (up to two) and pick your desk: a regular desk (48 × 24 in), a small desk (40 × 20 in), a standing desk or a corner (L-shaped) desk.
- The answer is the best spot the checker found, with how many checks pass there and where the desk stands now. The numbered outlines on the drawing are the three best spots; Put it here moves the desk onto one.
- Drag the desk with a mouse or a finger, or use the turn and arrow buttons, and every check runs again where you let go. The circle is your chair, where you sit. Copy link to this room keeps the room and the desk’s spot.
What the checker looks at
Each check gives one of three words, always beside its icon: Good, Tip (a small thing, often fine as it is) or Worth changing. Each one says why and, if the desk could do better, what to move.
| Check | What it asks |
|---|---|
| Sees the door | Can you see the door from your chair, in front of you or at least to the side, rather than behind you? |
| Out of the door’s path | Is the desk outside the straight band that runs from the door into the room, as wide as the door? |
| Across from the door | Is the desk on the far side of the room from the door: the commanding position? |
| Something solid behind | Is there a wall or a low, solid piece behind your chair, rather than open floor where people walk past your back? |
| Door and window | Is the door lined up with a window straight across the room? |
| Sharp corners | Does a corner, a wall jutting into the room or another piece of furniture, point at your chair? |
| The door opens freely | Does the door swing all the way without hitting the desk? |
| Room to walk: your chair | Are there at least 2 feet free in front of the desk, where the chair goes? |
| Room to walk: the way in | Are there at least 30 inches free through the door? |
The spots are measured, not guessed: the room, the door’s swing, the desk and the space for your chair are drawn to scale, and the checker tries the desk against every wall, every way round, before it picks the three where the most checks pass. In a plain rectangular room with only the desk in it the corner check passes; it starts to matter once you draw the rest of the room in the 2D planner.
Three offices, checked
A 12 × 10 ft spare room, the door in the middle of the bottom wall, a window in the right wall, a 48-inch desk centred against the top wall. It is the layout most home offices start with, the desk facing the wall across from the door, and only 5 of 9 checks pass: your back is to the door, you sit right in its path, and there is open floor behind your chair. The best spot turns the desk side-on, with the chair backed onto the right wall near the far corner: 9 of 9. You face into the room and see the door from the side, and nobody walks in behind you.
A 10 × 9 ft box room, the door at the top end of the right wall, a window in the left wall, a small desk. Pushed against the window wall, facing it, it scores 5 of 9: your back is to the door, a corner of the desk is in the door’s path, it sits close to the door and there is open floor behind your chair. Turned side-on to the window, its end to the sill and your chair backed toward the bottom wall, every check passes: 9 of 9.
A 14 × 12 ft office, the door at the right end of the bottom wall, windows in the top and left walls, a corner (L-shaped) desk against the top wall. It already sits away from the door’s path, so 6 of 9 pass; the three left are your back to the door, the desk near it, and nothing behind your chair. Pulled out from the top wall and turned to face the door, with the chair between the desk and the wall, it passes all 9.
A very small room has a limit. In a 9 × 8 ft room with the door in the middle of one wall, the best spots pass 7 of 9: there is no place far enough from the door to clear its path completely. The checker says so instead of inventing a perfect spot.
Desk facing the wall, the window or the door?
These are the three ways people ask the question, and the checker answers them differently.
- Facing the wall, with the door behind you, is the one worth changing: people come in at your back while you work. Turn the desk side-on so the door is at least to your side.
- Facing the window is pleasant for daylight, but in most rooms it puts your back to the door too: in our 12 × 10 ft room a desk under a window in the top wall scored 4 of 9. If you love the view, set the desk side-on to the window so the light falls across it and the door stays in sight.
- Facing the door is the commanding position, as long as the desk is not in line with it and your chair has room behind it. A desk turned to face the door but still pushed flat against the far wall leaves no room for the chair, and the checker flags exactly that.
What the checker counts behind your chair is a wall or open floor. A window behind you passes that check, so if your best spot backs onto one, lined curtains or a low cabinet under the sill give your back the same shelter.
Common mistakes
- Pushing the desk flat against the wall across from the door. It saves space, but it puts the door behind you. Pulling the desk out and sitting between it and the wall fixes the biggest check at once.
- Forgetting the chair. A desk needs about 2 feet behind it for the chair to roll back. The checker counts that space; a spot that looks free on paper may not be.
- Measuring to the baseboard instead of the wall. The checker leaves room for the wall itself; type the room’s size wall to wall.
- Treating every tip as a problem. Feng shui is a set of layout habits, not rules you can fail. A tip you can’t fix in your room is fine to live with.
Feng shui desk placement: questions people ask
What is the best feng shui desk position?
The commanding position: across the room from the door, out of its straight path, with a solid wall behind your chair and the door in view as you sit. The checker shows which spot in your own room comes closest.
Should my desk face the door?
Seeing the door is the aim, in front of you or to your side. Sitting straight in line with it is the one to avoid, so set the desk to one side of the door’s path.
Is a desk facing the wall bad feng shui?
Facing a wall is fine on its own; the trouble is that the door usually ends up behind you. If your room leaves no other way, a mirror on the desk or the wall that shows the door is the usual answer.
Is it good to have a desk facing a window?
Daylight is welcome, but a desk under a window often puts the door behind you. Side-on to the window keeps the light and the view of the door.
Where should a desk go in a bedroom?
The bed takes the commanding spot first; the desk goes where you can still see the door from the chair, out of the door’s path. Type the bedroom here to place the desk, and use the bed placement checker for the bed.
Which direction should I face at my desk?
This page places the desk by the door, the walls and the windows. For the compass side, the kua number calculator gives the direction feng shui pairs with work for your birthday.
Does it check the rest of the room?
This page checks the desk. To draw the whole office, with shelves, a reading chair and the rug, use the free 2D room planner.
Read next
- 13 work from home office designs
- 17 cozy work office ideas
- Office and living room combos
- Closet office designs
- Kid’s room layout: bed, desk and play floor
Ready for the rest of the room? Draw your whole office in the free 2D planner: walls, doors, windows and every piece of furniture to scale. For the whole room’s areas, see the bagua map.
About these checks: they are layout suggestions from a centuries-old design tradition, written in our own words and the same checks our room-planner app uses. They are not predictions, and nothing on this page promises an outcome. A comfortable, safe room comes first: keep a clear way to the door and to a window you could open in an emergency.