Finding your dream home can be challenging, so having good luck on your side can’t hurt. Here are 13 housing superstitions to be mindful of when house hunting, or when decorating your new home to ensure health, wealth and prosperity.
Pick your floorplan carefully
Under Feng Shui, it is believed to be bad luck to have a staircase that faces the front door, as all the positive energy on the second level of a home will simply exit out the front door when it opens.
Similarly, it’s not ideal to have a direct pathway between the front door and a rear door or window, as it is believed that positive energy will just enter and exit the home in a straight line (although superstition aside, pragmatically, this design helps with cross-ventilation and distribution of natural light in long, narrow home designs).
To remedy the loss of spiritual energy, hang a windchime at the front door, or along the hallway between front and back doors, to intercept it on its way out.
Your address can foretell your future
Your home’s address isn’t just a locator. According to housing numerology, the number can affect the opportunities available to inhabitants.
In housing numerology, add housing digits together to come up with a single digit. For example, a home at 123 Main St. would have a housing numerology of 5, which represents a promise for adventure.
This is compared to the energy with other numerals: opportunity (1), harmony (2), creativity and fun (3), stability (4), love and safety (6), peace (7), abundance (8) and community and compassion (9).
Across various cultures certain address numbers are viewed as either unlucky or lucky.
For example, in North America, homes with an address of number 13, or living on the 13th floor of a building can be unlucky. Some buildings don’t have a 13th floor because of this belief.
In Asian culture, 8 is a preferred address because of how it resembles the symbol for infinity and the promise for prosperity.
The graveyard shift
Some people are uneasy living near a cemetery, with fear of their home being haunted.
This superstition has cultural basis, but homeowners may find that their bad luck is real, as typically homes located near a graveyard are harder to sell, and tend to stay on the market longer.
Avoid green paint
Ironically, shades of green are among some of the most popular colors at the moment, given their role in biophilic design, that promotes health and wellness at home.
However, some consider green paint to be unlucky, because of its historical role in poor health.
In the 19th century, the paint color Scheele’s Green was regarded as the “it” color for society’s upper classes, but the paint contained arsenic, so was poisonous to inhabitants in homes painted in the color, and many died before the connection was established.
Some avoid green for this reason, while others celebrate this color history. Farrow and Ball have a green shade that mimics Scheele’s Green, aptly named Arsenic.
Avoid a pie-shaped lot
According to Feng Shui, pie-shaped lots with a narrow front that opens wider at the back are unlucky due to narrow frontage — the positive energy will have a hard time getting into your home.
If you are considering a pie-shaped lot, it is preferable for the triangle have its widest point at the front door, and narrowing as it reaches the rear.
A rectangular or square lot is best, because of the ability for energy to free flow.
Embrace curved lines
Curved lines are trending in everything from curved walls to furniture and accents.
Curved lines are visually appealing because of how they gently encourage the eye, but they also provide good luck to homeowners, as evil spirits can only travel in a straight line, according to folklore.
Spiral staircases are a bad idea
A grand spiral staircase makes an impacting style statement, but homeowners make want think twice before they design one.
The winding shape of a spiral staircase creates negative energy and is divisive, because of how it corkscrews through a home.
Typically, spiral staircases are designed with open risers — apparently a bad décor choice— because the extra space lets the good energy escape between upper and lower floors.
Lucky décor
Certain décor choices are known to bring luck.
- Pineapples represent good fortune, so a print or an ornament with pineapples will protect homeowners.
- A lucky horseshoe hung over a doorway or at the front door will keep the devil out of your home. The legend goes that the devil visited a blacksmith and demanded his own horseshoes for his hoofs, but found the horseshoes to be very painful and promptly left, never to return.
- Incorporating décor with the shape of a four-leaf clover, the well-known Irish symbol for good luck, can bring prosperity to homeowners. Look for clover-motif wallpaper to create a lucky accent wall.
- Evergreen boughs, while popular during the holiday season, should be a year-round fixture for superstitious homeowners. Considered a beacon of spring, they represent hope and optimism, and are another helpful good luck charm to hang over doorways.
- Western Gothic is one of hottest trends for 2024, , and has the added bonus of bringing a homeowner good luck. Décor that features horns or antlers projects strength, which will protect a home and its inhabitants. Look for western-themed light fixtures and artwork that incorporate horns or antlers.
Blue porch
The front porch is having a design revival, with homeowners appreciating having additional outdoor space that makes them feel connected to the community.
A colorful front porch adds to curb appeal, and for good luck, homeowners are advised to paint their porches blue (or at least their porch ceiling blue). Evil spirits cannot cross water, and the legend says that the spirits would confuse a blue porch for water, and keep their distance.
This superstition was common in the southern U.S., and you’ll still see many porches painted in “haint blue”, the particular shade that keeps haints (evil spirits) out of your home.
Too many bathrooms
While having lots of bathrooms is often a sought-after home feature, apparently this can bring a homeowner back luck- mostly because of the drains, which pull the positive energy away from the home.
If your household requires multiple bathrooms, best to have them located away from the center of the home and also not near the kitchen.
Mirror, mirror on the wall
While installing a mirror is a great way to lighten a space and make a room feel bigger, they can bring bad luck, or not — depending on your belief.
Some believe that mirrors steal your soul, while others believe that mirrors represent dangerous gateways between different worlds.
This is contrary to the role in distributing positive energy that mirrors play, according to Feng Shui.
Plant trees
Typically, a new construction home will require a homeowner to plant trees, but for luck a homeowner should plant many trees, and soon after moving in.
That’s because having the ability to “knock on wood” can dispel evil.
Planting an oak tree is a good idea too, as placing acorns on your windowsill can keep your home from being struck from lightning.
Look for a witch window
A popular architectural feature in New England homes, the witch window is a must for homeowners, who would like to keep witches outside.
The witch window is a full-sized window, tilted at an angle, usually placed in gables, or on the second level of a home. The angle is intentional, as folklore states that witches flying on brooms would not be able to navigate through a tilted window.
