Vastu in a flat you can't rebuild

Vastu shastra is a body of traditional Indian texts on building, written for large houses on open plots. Many modern practitioners apply and extend it to flats and offices. Scholars describe it as a guideline rather than a rigid code, and critics, including the astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar, call modern Vastu claims unscientific. This guide sets out what the texts and practitioners recommend, and who says it.

Practitioners themselves say full compliance is rare in a flat. Nitien Parmar writes that modern homes are rarely built with 100% Vastu compliance and that builders aim for basic principles, with 60–70% adherence acceptable to most buyers. Harshit Kapadia points out that identical flats stacked in a tower can't all share the same 'bad' Vastu, and says Vastu should work with choice, not fear.

In Maharashtra, the 2014 model bye-laws for cooperative housing societies say no member may make additions or alterations to their flat without the committee's written permission, and that no structural changes are allowed without the prior permission of the competent authority. Applications go to the society's secretary.

Other states and societies have their own bye-laws, so check your society's registered copy. Moving a wall, a kitchen or a toilet also involves plumbing, waterproofing and often the flats below, so it needs a structural engineer's view whatever Vastu suggests. Parmar notes that internal changes can usually be made without disturbing the main structure; common walls between flats can't.

When a room is in the 'wrong' direction, practitioners often suggest changing its use rather than its walls. For a master bedroom in the south-east, Madan Gupta Spatu suggests using the room for something else, or partitioning off part of it. If there's a choice of bedrooms, practitioners put the master bedroom in the south-west.

• Bed: practitioners, and Beautiful Homes, say sleep with your head to the south or east. The Brihat Samhita advises against the head to the north or west.
• Beams: the Brihat Samhita advises against sleeping under a beam. Practitioners say the same for desks and the cooking position, and suggest a false ceiling to hide a beam you can't move.
• Desk and study: Rana and others put a home office in the north-east or east, facing east or north.
• The centre: keep heavy furniture out of the middle of the flat, and leave more open space in the north and east than in the south and west, as Spatu advises.

Kapadia says a mirror opposite the main door can 'push energy out' and should only be placed with a practitioner's guidance. Parmar writes that a bed facing a mirror is thought to disturb sleep, but that a mirror reflecting the dining table is considered good, and one can make a narrow hallway feel wider.

Kapadia, the most practical of the columnists, frames a lot of Vastu as daylight and air: open windows to the morning sun, keep a small night light so the kitchen never goes completely dark, and when choosing a flat, look for windows on at least two or three sides for cross-ventilation, even if the layout doesn't match the traditional template.

Practitioners also agree on keeping the entrance, the puja area and the centre of the home clear of clutter, and the cooking counter clear after cooking.

Paint is the easiest thing to change in a flat. Kapadia suggests soft, light shades on the wall facing the main door rather than dark or bold colours. Colour charts differ between practitioners; see our room-by-room guide.

This is where practitioners differ most, and where you're most likely to be sold something. None of the sources cites evidence that any of these work; they are practitioners' suggestions.

• Tell the designer at the start which Vastu points matter to your household, and how strictly. Scholars describe Vastu as a guideline rather than a rigid code, and most designers are used to working with some of it.
• List the fixed things (entrance, kitchen, toilets, shafts) and ask what can be done with furniture, lighting, colour and room use around them.
• If a consultant is involved, get their notes to the designer before the furniture layout and electrical points are drawn.
• Agree who has the final word on the puja area: some consultants leave its orientation to the family's priest.
• Ask the designer to keep the practical gains, like daylight, cross-ventilation and a separated sink and stove, whichever Vastu version you follow.