A Kitchen in the North-East: What Two Schools of Vastu Say
A kitchen in the north-east: what two schools of Vastu say
Why this question comes up so often
The kitchen belongs in the south-east, the fire zone, with the south-south-east and the west as acceptable alternatives. The north-east is one of the zones the practice lists as wrong for it, along with the north and the open centre of the house.
Yet in a great many homes, particularly flats and older terraces, the kitchen sits squarely in the north-east, because that is where the plumbing runs. So the question is not academic. It is one of the most common things a reading has to deal with.
There are two broad schools of thought on it.
The strict school
The strict view reads the rule as a rule. Fire in the water zone is a clash of elements, and a clash is not softened by decoration. If the kitchen is in the north-east, the answer is to move it, or at least to move the cooking to another part of the house, and to give the north-east back to a light use: a sitting area, a study, an open space.
Its strength is clarity. Its weakness is that it gives most people an answer they cannot act on. Moving a kitchen means moving gas, water and drainage, and in a rented flat it is not possible at all.
The corrective school
The corrective view keeps the same diagnosis but treats it differently. The fault is the fire meeting the zone, so separate the two where they touch, and make the rest of the room behave as much like a north-east room as a kitchen can.
Its strength is that every household can do it. Its weakness, critics say, is that it can become an excuse for doing very little.
The two side by side
| Strict school | Corrective school | |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnosis | Fire in the water zone | Fire in the water zone |
| First step | Move the kitchen | Correct the stove |
| Cost | Building work | A stone slab, some tidying |
| Works in a rented flat | No | Yes |
| What it asks of the room | A new use | Lightness, order, nothing heavy in the corner |
Where they agree
Both schools agree on the diagnosis, and both agree on the direction of travel: the north-east should end up lighter, lower and less cluttered than it is. They differ only on how far to go.
This practice's correction
This practice takes the corrective route, with a specific remedy from its own rules:
- Set the stove on a slab of green marble or green granite. This is the practice's correction for a stove in the north, north-north-east or north-east.
- Keep the north-east corner of the kitchen itself clear. No fridge, no tall cupboard and no bin in the corner; the heaviest pieces belong towards the south and west of the room.
- Keep it bright and clean. The north-east is the zone of clarity; a dim, greasy corner is the opposite of what it asks for.
If you are planning a refurbishment anyway, that is the moment to consider the strict school's advice and move the cooking towards the south-east of the house. Otherwise, the correction above is what a reading would give you.
Read next
Why the south-east is the kitchen's natural place: the south-east kitchen. Why the north-east is treated so carefully: the north-east zone. And the general approach to fixed features: Vastu remedies without demolition.