Put them where your family will actually pray. That’s the short answer.
The traditional practice is to create an icon corner in a common area of your home, usually the living room or a main bedroom, where the family gathers for prayer. Think of it as bringing the church into your house. Not as decoration, though icons are beautiful. As a place to stand before God.
The East-Facing Tradition
Orthodox Christians have faced east to pray since the earliest centuries. East is where the sun rises, where Christ will return in glory. So the ideal spot for your icon corner is on an eastern wall, or at least a place where you’ll face east when you pray.
But here’s the thing. If your house in Beaumont faces weird because of how the subdivision was platted, or if the only eastern wall is in the laundry room, don’t stress about it. Put your icons where your family can actually use them. A northwest corner where you’ll pray beats a perfect eastern wall you’ll never stand in front of.
What Goes in an Icon Corner
Start simple. You need an icon of Christ and an icon of the Theotokos. That’s it to begin.
The traditional arrangement mirrors the iconostasis in church. Christ goes to the right (as you’re looking at the corner), the Mother of God to the left. Often there’s a cross in the center, above or between them. This isn’t arbitrary, it reflects the way we see them in every Orthodox church, Christ and His mother flanking the Royal Doors.
From there you can add other icons as your prayer life grows. An icon of St. John the Baptist is common. Your patron saint, or your family’s patron saints. The Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Icons of major feasts. St. Michael parish families might want an icon of the Archangel, given our patron.
One caution: respect the hierarchy. Don’t put a locally beloved saint above Christ or the Theotokos. The arrangement should reflect theology, not just personal preference. When in doubt, ask Fr. Michael before you start mounting things on the wall.
The Practical Setup
You don’t need fancy furniture. A shelf works. A small table in the corner works. Some families use the top of a dresser or bookshelf. Cover it with a clean cloth, white is traditional, but any respectful covering is fine.
Keep a few things there: your prayer book, a prayer rope if you use one, a candle or oil lamp. If open flames make you nervous (and with kids or pets, that’s reasonable), battery-operated candles are fine. This isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about having what you need to pray.
The space should be tidy. Not sterile, but cared for. You’re not building a museum display. You’re making a place to meet God.
Starting Small
If you’re new to Orthodoxy, you might feel overwhelmed walking into someone’s house and seeing an entire wall of icons with a lampada burning and Church Slavonic prayer books stacked up. Don’t try to replicate that overnight.
Buy or commission two icons: Christ and the Theotokos. Put them up. Start praying morning and evening prayers there with your family. Add icons gradually as you learn the saints, as you’re given icons for your name day or chrismation, as particular saints become meaningful to you.
I’ve seen converts go overboard, buying a dozen icons in their first month because they think that’s what Orthodox people do. Then six months later they realize they don’t have any connection to half the saints staring at them. Let your icon corner grow organically with your life in the Church.
Why We Do This
Icons aren’t good luck charms. They’re not religious decor. They’re windows into heaven, making present the person depicted. When you stand before your icon corner to pray, you’re not praying to pictures. You’re joining your prayers with Christ, His mother, and all the saints. You’re acknowledging that your home is part of the Church, that the walls between heaven and earth are thinner than we usually think.
The icon corner also forms your kids. They see where the family prays. They learn to cross themselves before the icons, to kiss them, to stand quietly (well, as quietly as kids stand) while prayers are said. They absorb the faith through the body, through repetition, through seeing Mom and Dad face these images every morning.
It makes your house a little church. And that’s the point.
When You’re Ready
Talk to your priest about blessing your icons. Some parishes have the custom of placing new icons behind the iconostasis for forty days. Others bless them with holy water in your home. There’s no universal rule, but it’s good to have that connection between your domestic prayer and the parish’s liturgical life.
And if you’re still figuring out where to put everything, or which icons to start with, or whether that corner by the window works, just ask. We’ve all been there. Someone at coffee hour will have opinions (probably several people will), and Fr. Michael can give you guidance that fits your actual house and your actual family.
Start somewhere. Even one icon of Christ on a bedroom dresser is enough to begin.
