I prefer a headboard against a wall, and I have gotten used to facing in different directions. But if you're uncomfortable, perhaps this room may help inspire you....consider floor plugs to help add lighting to the bedside when it's not against the wall, and a scrim to define a non-wall wall.

[Traditional Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2107) by Miami Interior Designers & Decorators Causa Design Group

thank you!! I am still so confused. On the one hand I like a good direction and am really into those kinds of things. On the other hand I like a good design and have always had my head against the wall. It feels wrong to have it this weird way.
In sleeping in different directions did you notice differences?

I think I would design the lighting with the bed in the location that is the clear choice & see if you could adjust to not facing north. The other locations sound awkward unless you can do something like Annie suggested. You could also have the electricians put the wiring for lighting in the alternate locations & cap them. They'd be behind the drywall but available if you chose to change the bed location.

I would forgo any hardwired lights and just plan for lamps. In my house all the top plugs of the outlets are wired to a wall switch, so you can turn on the lamps at the door. I would put in some outlets in the floor so you place your bed wherever you chose.

Frankly, I traveled a lot on business and slept in many beds facing many different directions...often I didn't even know which way was north. The room layout was always far more of a consideration than the direction, and having nothing behind the headboard would be more disconcerting to me than which way was north.

My current bedroom, the head is to the north, but that's only because the big window and the view is to the south and I want to see it when I wake up in the a.m.

I'm debating bed relocation too. Have comfortably had the bed at an angle to see out the large windows, watch the stars at night. And have always slept on the right side. Even with an angle there is a corner unit behind it, so my head is against a wall of sorts.

Understand your dilemma, but as with mine, not sure how you can change the situation unless it is to change bedrooms. Or close off the closet and put an entrance to the side or actually use the closet without doors for moving the bed into and finding another piece of furniture for closet. I'm grasping here, a floating bed would be odd to me.

My master is my art/office and am in a smaller room. The size difference isn't enough to be problem, especially with windows, doors, etc. which change locations of furniture in either room. I actually have more options for layout in the smaller one.

Do you have a master bath off the MB? This would be a consideration for rooms.

I have noticed no difference sleeping in any direction. I do it in hotels all the time. It would bug me no end to have my bed floating out there. Not to mention the poor aesthetics.

Through the years we've had our bed on 3 different walls in our bedroom. I never noticed the difference.

i would put the bed where it makes the most sense/looks the best in the room. you will probably very easily adjust to a different orientation!!

Are you talking about your head being north as in the north direction ahead from where you enter the room? Or do you mean you need your head to align with the Earth's magnetic field, to the north? Is that a feng shui thing you find useful? I think feng shui also says our feet should not be facing the door. Designers usually place the bed as a focal point when walking in the room. I don't think I would adjust to floating it either.

You need to place the bed where you are most comfortable, physically or psychologically.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Mon, Dec 30, 13 at 20:24

Just how much will not facing north bother you? Have you ever had to sleep in a bed not facing north, when visiting family or staying at a hotel? Were you bothered by that?

For me, it's the practical problems in having a bed floating away from a wall that would bother me more. The cords for the lamps on the nightstands would trail on the floor and trip me up as I tried to get to the closet. I'd probably knock things off the nightstand, because the wall wouldn't be there to hold them on. And having the bed floating out in the middle of the room would take up more floor space and could make arranging the rest of the furniture in a pleasing/workable fashion much more difficult.

I would go with the ceiling fixtures as you have planned. If you end up changing the position of the bed, or move into the other room, you can use lamps instead of the ceiling fixtures.

I never thought of it in that mannerâ¦In my last house my head was on the east wall and this house it's on the west! I like my room now better because as you walk into the room you see the bed. In the other house, the door was on the same wall as the bed so you walked in to the bed on the side. That bothered me more than NSEW.

I've only really focused on the direction the front or back of my house faces - mostly for gardening purposes!

"In sleeping in different directions did you notice differences?"

My husband and I have slept in many bedrooms, guest rooms and hotel rooms - over many decades - and the orientation of our heads was never, ever an issue.

A floating bed would bother us, though...

I am not being dismissive or snarky, really, but once again the old YMMV (your mileage may vary) issue comes to mind here...I am utterly oblivious and almost incapable of deciphering directions, including N-S-E-W orientation.

I'm hearing my husband's voice in my head now 'look at the sun Ann, look at the sun'. I'm the person who navigates and gives directions like this: "When you see the Burger King on the right and the big tan church on the left, take a right then go that way till you come to the empty lot and take another left..."

So it fascinates me that someone would actually not only be able to decipher which way their bed is turned but that it would BOTHER them! Amazing and actually pretty impressive. I'm trying to think of which way my bed faces now, damned if I can figure it out. Oh wait, it's north because the sun comes in the window to my left in the morning, meaning that must be east ("look at the sun, Ann").

Ann
ambling off in some direction, who knows where...

we decided to wire it how it looks best in the room! yes, I am someone who is very sensitive to these types of things more so than some people. But we decided it would be best to have it look right in the room! Thanks for the advice. We also have an extra "guest" room which we could always sleep in if the master doesn't feel right but hopefully it will be fine.

I'm fascinated by the peek we get into other's lives on this forum. The idea that someone could sense what compass direction they face at a given time and be affected by it - positively or negatively - was so strange to me that I checked the OP's posts here to see if she was a troll. She isn't.

And what are the chances that two people who have that same sense actually found one another and married!

Hmm, I never thought about which direction my bed faces. When I am sleeping elsewhere, I just get into bed and as long as the side table is to my right, I am fine. I can even adjust to sleeping on the other side of the bed.

I guess the head of my bed is at southeast, so my eyes are looking northwest. Never thought about it before. I just don't like sun shining n my eyes in the morning.

Put your bed where it looks nicest and works with the rest of the room. You will adjust to the direction quickly.

For those who are interested here is some info...I remember hearing about which direction you should place the head of your bed many years before I knew about feng shui.

Here is a link that might be useful: Best position for your bed