Start at the front door
In feng shui the front door is called the mouth of chi. Chi is the old word for the energy that moves through a place, and the front door is where most of it comes in. Whatever is going on in your entrance sets the tone for every room behind it.
It is also the first thing you see when you come home, which is reason enough to get it right.
- Clear it. Shoes, umbrellas, coats, the mail, and whatever the grown children left there "just for now". If you cannot get through your own front door easily, good things will have the same trouble. A hall bench with storage, or a narrow bookcase, gives every item a place to live. If you can only manage one job today, this is the one.
- Light it. Bright light inside and outside the door is said to draw good chi toward the house. Replace the dead bulbs and leave the outside light on from dusk until bedtime. No fixture in the hall? A small lamp on a table will do. In the daytime, let the sun in.
- Guard it. You have seen houses with a pair of stone lions or fu dogs at the door. They are there to turn away bad energy. If lions are not your style, two potted plants do the same job, one on each side. A shiny metal kick plate or door knocker helps as well.
- Slow it down. If you can stand at your front door and see straight out the back, the tradition says good energy runs through the house and leaves again before it has done you any good. Put something in its path. A plant with round leaves, a piece of furniture against the hall wall, or a wind chime or crystal hung near the door will all make it wander.
- Know which way it faces. Take the compass on your phone to the hall. A hall in the north of the house likes plants. North east wants crystals and strong light. East, south east and south are the best places for a front door, and they are happy with wood floors and greenery. South west can feel sluggish and wakes up with warm, fiery colours. West and north west like metal: a bowl, a frame, a lamp.
Two things to avoid
A mirror in the hall is fine and makes a narrow space feel wider. Hang it anywhere except directly opposite the door, where it is said to send the good energy straight back out.
The same goes for a door that is mostly glass. Solid is best, with a small pane if you like the light.
The five blessings
There is an old Chinese blessing for a front door: wu fu lin men. May the five blessings approach the door. The five are health, wealth, longevity, an auspicious life and a natural death.
It is a sensible list, and the older you get the more sense the last one makes.
From the archive. First written for my journal years ago, and rewritten for life after 50.
