In the Orthodox tradition, the icon is a shrine. Through holy images, a person focuses on the spiritual, turns in his prayers not to the blackboard and colors, but to the personality depicted on the image. Every Orthodox Christian takes care to arrange at least a small home iconostasis in his home.
Where can I place icons in the house
Icons in the house must be placed in a specially designed place for this. There is a tradition to put icons on the shelf of the eastern wall, however, if this is not possible, then it is not necessary to arrange a home iconostasis on the eastern side. Sometimes icons come in the so-called red corner. "Red" means "beautiful" - this is an indication that the place for the icons should be clean, neat and beautiful.
Holy images can be placed in all living rooms. There is a pious tradition in the bedroom to arrange wedding images. If the family is large, then the icons in each living room are necessary for private prayer of all family members.
For pious believers, holy images (or at least one small icon) are located in the kitchen. This is due to the practice of prayer before and after eating.
Holy icons cannot be placed on a shelf with books that have non-Christian content. It is undesirable to put them on a TV or hang them together with secular paintings - a place for icons should be especially intended for this shrine.
Some believers put an icon over the entrance to the house. Often at this place you can see the image of the Blessed Virgin Hodegetria the Guidebook, since it is useful for an Orthodox believer to go out on the street to pray for help in good undertakings. Sometimes a cross is placed above the entrance to the house.
