The front door of your home or office, the architectural front door that is, is an extremely important feature feng shui-wise. It is where the life force energy, the "chi", enters your home. Even though you probably use an interior garage door, primarily, it is the architectural front door that is considered the "mouth of chi."


In China, home of feng shui, doors are red. Your home owners' association may take a dim view of your having a red door. To attract the benefits of life force energy in your home, it is enough to have the finish of the front door in marked contrast to the rest of the house. Your garage door, on the other hand, should blend in with the exterior wall finish. You want the chi to be attracted to the front door, not distracted by the garage door.

If your front door has a lock that sticks which makes it difficult to open with one hand, it takes two to wrestle it open, it is irritating to you and slows the flow of opportunities in your life. Once the door is fixed, you'll be amazed at the simple pleasure of opening it with ease and notice good things flow more easily and continually to you.

Here in the desert, many front doors open directly into the living room/great room and a gorgeous view out large windows. If there is nothing to capture your eye between the door and the window, the life force energy enters your home through the front door and whooshes out the windows directly opposite.

You want the life force energy to meander or stroll through your home rather than whoosh through. An entry table with a sculpture or flowers either in the center of the entry or as a console table to one side captures your attention - and that of the chi as well. A distinctive and dramatic chandelier in the entry is also effective.

If you wonder whether the life force energy is strolling through or zooming out the window, pretend you are a guest coming to your home for the first time. Go outside. Close the front door. Then open it and see if your eyes go directly to the view outside or if your interest is captured by something, ideally a series of somethings, before it gets to the view.

If the entranceway is obstructed by boxes just delivered by UPS, your gym bag, assorted mail, magazines, and several days of newspapers, or anything else that could be described as clutter, that translates to headaches, respiratory ailments, and birth/delivery complications. All really good reasons to keep the entrance cleared.

Doors also represent our ability to make clear and considered choices in life. It is important that all the doors in your home have a full range of motion. That is, they can open completely and easily. When all your doors can open fully, you will find yourself dithering less and being more decisive.

Doors directly opposite one another across a hallway are "fighting." No, you don't need to remodel your home. A piece of art, eye level, placed to the right of each door as you face inward, creates a truce!

One last tidbit about doors: Take the time to clean any smudges or visible fingerprints off of them within 48 hours of your noticing them. Doors also represent communication between adults, so for clarity and fewer misunderstandings, keep your doors clean!

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Desert Sun