Have you heard the Feng Shui expression that calls a front door the Mouth of Ch’i? This speaks (pun intended!) to the absolute, essential and noticeably elevated status and importance of your front door. Here’s why.
Ch’i is the vital energy that each and everything possesses. People, animals, desks, cars, roads – everything contains Ch’i. It also connects and nourishes us.
As humans we strive to have the right amount of auspicious Ch’i in and around ourselves to allow us to be at our best. When the vital Ch’i energy in and around us is balanced and flowing harmoniously, we have a life we love.
As the home’s “mouth” for this most fundamental essence, the front door receives and then directs this vital energy into our space. Like the mouth in our bodies, it is the one primary entry point for nourishment. In our home’s case, this nourishment is Ch’i.
Recently I’ve had a lot of dental work with two different teeth on either side of my mouth requiring attention. Boy, did I feel totally challenged. Unable to chew correctly, I was constantly compensating for the deficits. It was a taxing and difficult time.
Thanks to a wonderful dentist, my mouth is now doing fine, and I’m feeling much healthier and more empowered. Now, transfer this story to your front door. Keeping it in good Feng Shui order will allow it to perform at its best for you.
The prominent role for our front door makes it imperative that we give it the special attention it deserves. Does the Mouth or main entry for the vital Ch’i that energizes your home serve you to the best of its ability?
Feng Shui offers an array of suggestions to optimize the front door’s full potential and provide you and your family with all of the nourishment you deserve. Let’s take a closer look.
Your Feng Shui Front Door
First, we need to identify the front door. Sounds a bit silly, but I assure you many of my Clients have tried to negotiate which entry point to their home should be called the front door. The more you read different Feng Shui information the more confused you may become about what to designate as your front door.
For me, a Feng Shui Front Door is the architectural front door of your home.
If you live in an apartment, condo or other dwelling with only one exterior entrance, it’s easy to identify your front door. Hooray!
It may not be so obvious in a single-family house with an entry door inside the garage, perhaps one outside near the garage, another on one of the sides, and that’s in addition to the architectural front door. It can get confusing.
Look at the photo at right. Assuming it is a single residence, which door would you call the architectural front door?
Think of how homes are often designed. The architect usually highlights one door on the facade of the structure. That door may be larger or more prominent than the others with perhaps some extra embellishments. Windows are frequently placed to balance and enhance this special entrance.
Inside, foyers, halls or closets are organized to accommodate the acceptance of guests. This is your architectural front door, your Feng Shui Front Door.
In the photo above, both doors have the same design and lovely paint job so that doesn’t help. I’d then turn to the inside of the building for additional guidance. Whichever door opens to the most public area that might receive guests is the Feng Shui Front Door.
A further suggestion would be to paint the other door white to blend in with the house. This even further accentuates the Feng Shui Front Door which remains a lovely blue.
Can you now identify your architectural front door? If not, contact me, and I’ll be happy to assist.
Path to Your Feng Shui Front Door
Now that you know which door the Ch’i will enter through, let’s make sure that it is crystal clear to the Ch’i where to go.
To do this, imagine you are someone that’s visiting your home for the first time. Start at the roadway your home borders. How easily could you find the Feng Shui Front Door?
Is the path to your front door obvious? Or do you have to hunt around a bit to identify and reach it?
When you live in a condo or apartment with an interior entrance, often off of a hallway, a visitor may have to go through a lot of maneuvering to get to your particular unit’s door. That signals that the Ch’i does as well. Is your building address and main entry easy to spot? Once inside the lobby, can you quickly find the elevator? All of these factors lead Ch’i to your door.
Once off the elevator to approach the door, you can call the Ch’i to your specific Feng Shui Front Door. If you building rules allow, add a wreath, door mat or other eye-catching item to your unit’s front entry area.
If there are a lot of restrictions to what you can do, are you able to add a discreet door decal that will welcome guests? You could also tie a ribbon, bell or other adornment on the doorknob. Either will surely let everyone know where you live! When your eye is attracted to the door, that means the Ch’i will be as well.
Now let’s look at the path to your Feng Shui Front Door for a condo or apartment with an exterior entrance. This may be on the ground level or on an upper level that requires climbing stairs to reach the front door.
Again, it’s good to lead the Ch’i right to your Feng Shui Front Door. If there are a lot of twists and turns to get there, add something that will “flag” a visitor and get your entrance to stand out.
One Client of mine has a second story exterior entrance to her condo. Part of her approach was a covered balcony with an open rail that could be seen from the street. Since the actual route to the condo was fairly complex. A visitor could, however, see her deck railing from the parking lot. I suggested adding a brightly colored banner, flag or other eye-catching item to her outside railing to call the Ch’i and guests to her door.
A good friend with a second story entrance created an enhanced path for the Ch’i by adding a Feng Shui Greeter at the base of the exterior stairs. A welcome sign was inserted into the ground to bring attention to the ascent.
She continued to entice the Ch’i upstairs and delight guests as well by adding other eye-catchers items at a few other points in the climb. A healthy plant, engraved rock, string of lights or garden gnome are small additions that anyone can add to make a big impact.
The photo above demonstrates how three engraved stones can inspire visitors and lead them and Ch’i up these entry stairs.
As with any Feng Shui enhancements, be sure to personalize your choices. Living only with what you love is an important part of Feng Shui. Successfully “energize” a front door by choosing color, accessories, signage and other embellishments that express your true essence.
The Feng Shui Front Door of a House
The Ideal Location of your Feng Shui Front Door is on the side of the house that faces the street. This allows for the easiest and most direct path for the Ch’i to flow into the structure.
There have been so many times that a Client has had a door that is on the side of the home or one that cannot be seen at all. Townhomes in Florida are notorious for having the garage door in front then putting the architectural front door way over on the side façade. This greatly diminishes the smooth and steady Ch’i rejuvenation in the structure.
If this is your situation, it is extremely important to focus on encouraging Ch’i to get all the way to Feng Shui Front Door.
It is best that a free standing home have an actual path. Even when it is a lengthy distance from the driveway to the door consider adding a path. Make it interesting with curves, landscaping, pebbles or hardscape and even lighting. You will be rewarded with a steady, strong Ch’i flow.
The ideal scenario is to have the path wide enough to accommodate two people walking side by side. This encourages more visitors and more Ch’i to approach and enhance your home.
If you already have a path, take notice of how it looks. Is it well maintained? Do you need to cut back overgrown shrubbery, restore a deteriorated walkway surface or repair any other obstructions?
If there is any hesitation about where the door is, continue to direct Ch’i. Use landscaping or add other items that can lead the visitor directly to the door similar to the tips given for the exterior entrance to a condo.
The diagram at right shows an example of how to use shrubbery and lighting to guide Ch’i to your door.
Art: Statues, weather resistant artwork on side of home if door is around a corner
Signage: Welcome, holiday, team or other
Lighting: solar lights, lamp posts, strings of lights
Plants: shrubs, flower gardens, potted plants
Wind Dancers: flags, whirligigs, banners
Wind Chimes: hang in a tree along the route or from a sheperd’s hook
You can use any combination of these elements that suits you. The important point is that you define the path and call the Ch’i to your Feng Shui Front Door with items you love.
My Feng Shui Front Door is well placed on my home, but I still use many of the items described above along my path and in my adjoining garden. They are all Feng Shui Energy Boosts, and I love the feeling they add.
Is it time to direct a bit of additional Ch’i to your front door? Paying attention to having that path clearly defined can really help to uplift and improve the energy that comes into your home.
A new infusion of Ch’i can then uplift and improve your personal energy. Now that’s inspiration to get outside and evaluate and improve your Feng Shui Front Door!
Let me know what you discover and how you move to create a Feng Shui Front Door that welcomes all good things.
Have fun,
Carol
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