The full vaastu checklist
All 30 checks below. Section six is the one most vaastu lists leave out, and it is the one that makes the rest usable in a Mumbai flat.
1 · Orientation basics
- True north established with a compass at the flat's centre, not from the brochure
- Main door direction recorded — north, east and north-east are preferred
- Brahmasthan, the centre of the plan, kept free of heavy fixed storage
- Weight concentrated in the south and west, lightness in the north and east
- Balcony and larger openings favoured on the north and east faces
2 · Entrance
- Entry door opening clockwise into the home
- Shoe storage kept outside the threshold or in a closed unit to the side
- No mirror directly facing the main door
- Nameplate and a light at the entrance, both maintained
- Clear 3 ft of unobstructed space inside the door
3 · Kitchen
- Hob in the south-east, with the cook facing east
- Sink and hob separated, never adjacent on the same run
- Fridge in the south-west or west, not in the north-east
- Water storage and purifier in the north-east of the kitchen
- If the kitchen is fixed in the north-west, keep the hob on the south-east of that block
4 · Bedrooms
- Master bedroom in the south-west where the plan allows
- Head of the bed to the south or east while sleeping
- No mirror or television directly facing the foot of the bed
- Beams avoided directly over the bed; box them into the ceiling if unavoidable
- Kids' and guest rooms in the west or north-west
5 · Pooja, bathrooms and study
- Pooja unit in the north-east, idols facing west or north
- Pooja never in a bedroom wall shared with a toilet
- Toilets in the north-west or west, doors kept closed
- Toilet not directly above or below the kitchen or pooja space
- Study desk facing north or east, with a solid wall behind the chair
6 · Practical workarounds
- Record every non-compliance rather than pretending the flat complies
- Use light, mirror and colour to correct a direction you cannot rebuild
- Treat structural items — shafts, stacks, columns — as fixed and design around them
- Do not demolish a wet area to chase a direction; the cost and seepage risk is real
- Agree with your family which two or three items genuinely matter before design starts
How to use it sensibly
- Establish true north with a compass at the centre of the flat. Brochure north is frequently approximate and occasionally wrong.
- Mark every item as complies, adapted or not possible. The 'adapted' column is where the design work actually happens.
- Agree the priorities with your family before design begins. Two or three items decided early cost nothing; the same items raised after approval cost weeks.
- Never move a toilet or kitchen stack for a directional reason alone in an older Mumbai building.
What it prevents
- A late demand to relocate the kitchen. Raised at design stage it is a planning question; raised after first fix it is a demolition question.
- A pooja unit backing onto a bathroom wall. Easy to avoid on a plan, impossible to fix after the joinery is installed.
- Spending six figures chasing a direction that a mirror, a light and a colour change would have addressed.
Download the checklist (PDF) →
Read the detail in our vaastu tips guide, or check a direction with the vaastu direction checker.
Frequently asked questions
Is vaastu compliance possible in a typical Mumbai flat?+
Rarely in full. Builder layouts are driven by structural grids, shaft positions and saleable area, not by orientation. Most flats can satisfy the entrance, the bed direction, the pooja placement and the hob direction. The rest is usually fixed by the plan and is better adapted than fought.
What if the kitchen is in the north-west?+
North-west is a recognised alternative position. Within the block, place the hob towards the south-east corner and keep the sink and water storage to the north-east of the kitchen. That satisfies the internal relationships even when the room position is not the preferred one.
Does the direction of the bed really matter?+
Traditionally, yes: head to the south or east. Practically, it is one of the easiest items to satisfy because a bed can be turned. Where a window, a door swing or a wardrobe wall makes it impossible, it is a minor non-compliance rather than a reason to redesign the room.
Should I hire a vaastu consultant?+
If it matters to you, do it before the design starts, not after the drawings are approved. A consultant brought in at approval stage will find items that require moving walls, and by then the cost of change is real. Their recommendations should be given to the designer as a written brief.
Can vaastu and good design coexist?+
Usually. Most vaastu principles are about light, air and circulation, which good planning wants anyway. Conflict arises with the placement of wet areas, which in a flat are fixed. Where the two disagree on something structural, we document it rather than quietly ignore it.