The entrance is often neglected in decoration, as it is not considered a room as every other rooms in the house. At the same time, in our modern homes this is usually the case. The time is long gone when the entrance was 10m2 and served as a hall. In our surface-optimised homes, it is generally considered that too large an entrance is nothing more than wasted space (according to Stéphane Plazza). However, just because space is limited does not mean that it should be neglected.
In feng shui, it is essential to take care of your entrance, it symbolically represents the mouth of your house. To nourish your house well is to bring it the right food, that is to say the best energy. Indeed, the front door is a privileged passage for the Chi, because it is the main opening of your house. Moreover, if you don’t use the “real” front door but, for example, one of the French windows on the front of your house, then the feng shui expert will consider the latter as the main entrance.
Feng shui tip 1: A clean entrance
To ensure that your home can accommodate energy in good conditions, make sure that your entrance is not too cluttered.
I’m talking about structural clutter, not the junk you might have left lying around (we’ll see about that later). The furniture should not be too massive, nothing in the layout should block the passage.
If you are in the way, so is the chi. Think of it as a friend: you want it to feel welcome, not to stumble over a sideboard or have to walk around a coat rack. In short, the space should be uncluttered, clear and uncluttered.
Feng shui tip 2: A tidy entrance
The entrance acts as a gateway between the outside and the inside. The space needs to be neat and functional.
Ideally, there should be a full-height cupboard in the entrance area, where coats, shoes and the many seasonal accessories such as scarves, hats, caps and sunglasses can be stored. The quantity of these small items is always underestimated, especially when each item is multiplied by the number of family members.
When all these items are in view, the general impression is one of clutter, even if you think that everything is in its proper place on shelves or racks.
Even in small spaces, you can provide closed storage, a screen or a curtain.
Feng shui tip 3: A bright entrance
The entrance is considered a yang room, it receives the strong energy from outside. It therefore needs to be well lit. A ceiling light is, for me, the best solution as it does not clutter up the floor space as a floor lamp would. A lamp on a storage unit is also a nice way to bring light into the entrance.
Sometimes you read that the door should not be glazed. I’m not so adamant: when it’s opaque glass, not translucent, I find it very pleasant to have an entrance with a door that lets in natural light. So much progress has been made in this area, these glasses are very secure and do not present any risk of poor protection.
Feng shui tip 4: A clean, fresh-smelling entrance
This may seem obvious to some, but it’s worth remembering: the entrance is the first room your visitors see, so it should be spotless: no dust on the shelves, vacuumed carpets and a clean floor.
That’s for the view. And let’s not forget the sense of smell. What a wonderful first impression when you enter someone’s home and are greeted by the floral notes of a room fragrance!
I recommend the use of diffusers with natural rattan stems. The fragrance in the bottle diffuses by capillary action, which gives a pleasant but subtle olfactory atmosphere.
You can also use a mist or nebuliser type essential oil diffuser from time to time, especially when you have persistent kitchen smells.
Imagine that the Chi, as it passes through the entrance, is impregnated with its atmosphere: you want it to carry with it a clean and delicately scented energy.
Feng shui tip 5: The right size front door
This advice is more difficult (if not impossible) to implement when you are in a flat. But as this tip is very important in feng shui, I have to mention it, especially for those who are building or thinking about replacing their door.
The size of the door is not neutral. Imagine walking into a kindergarten hut, when you have to bend over and lower your head. This is the feeling that the body retains (much less strongly of course) when the front door is too narrow, too small. The chi will find it difficult to enter the home.
In the same way, a door that is too large is not desirable either, it should be neither too high nor too wide. In short, as you can see, the door should be proportionate to an average-sized person.
Feng shui tip 6: an entrance can also be treated outside
Again, this advice applies more to a home. Ideally, access to the house should not be via a straight driveway. The top is to have a more curved path, so that the energy arrives smoothly.
It’s even better when a few steps raise the door above street level.
The door must be clean, including the outside, have a smooth opening, without squeaks, and if possible be under an awning or an awning in order to protect visitors.
It should not be exposed to a shar shi: the environment is always very important, check that there are no salient angles pointing towards the door or a post or a tree planted directly opposite.
Plants can be added along the aisle or on either side of the doorway to nourish the entrance with good yang energy. Of course, the exterior must be perfectly maintained. Again, imagine chi as a very dear friend coming to visit. You want to make a good impression!
Feng shui tip 7: a nourished entrance according to the sector
Inevitably, in feng shui, at some point, it is necessary to take out the compass! Yes, determining in which sector the front door is located is essential.
This first defines the type of energy received by the habitat. A door receiving, for example, the energy of the East is particularly conducive to good health. Mine is in the Southwest, which is favorable for friendly and romantic relationships.
Then at the level of decoration, we will choose the colors, materials and shapes that will allow the area in which the entrance is located to be nourished at best: red and triangles in the South, blue in the North, green and wood in the South-East, gray and metal in the West…
Feng shui tip 8: decorative objects to place (or not!) in the entrance
Traditional feng shui will recommend positioning a pair of lions to frame the door because lions are very powerful protectors, or putting representations of fierce animals on the wall to generate protective chi.
I admit that I do not use any of these decorative objects, quite simply because they do not correspond to my repository. I’m sorry, but I find these lions particularly ugly and the first impression that comes to me when I see them is not to feel protected but rather attacked by their lack of beauty.
Listen to your heart and place objects or paintings in your entrance that make you feel good, that make you happy. Beware, however, of the symbolism they carry within them: we avoid the gift vase from the ex-boyfriend or the painting of a lighthouse in the middle of a storm… As long as you do, surround yourself with objects or images that radiate positive energy.
Feng shui tip 9: pay attention to the staircase and the mirrors in the entrance
Ideally, the front door should not directly face a staircase. It is as if you were telling the chi to go upstairs right away and not linger on the ground floor. Moreover, the circulation of the chi would not be smooth and too violent a rhythm transforms a sheng shi into a shar chi. Likewise, the front door should not face the back door either: the message sent is then to say “you come in and you go out”.
It’s exactly the same message if a mirror is placed directly in front of the door: it’s a way to send the chi back where it came from and therefore deprive yourself of its good energies.
Feng shui tip 10: An entrance containing the prosperous water star
With further feng shui expertise, one uses the school of flying stars to determine where the dominant water star is (based on the current time period). It is the facade star, it governs prosperity, it represents the yang force.
The ideal place for this star is therefore on the facade, in the area where the front door is located. This analysis is particularly interesting if you are building and you therefore have the possibility of orienting your house and placing the front door in the most favorable sector for you.
As we have seen, it is essential to take care of your entry. As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. Feng shui or not, the entrance is the first and last room seen by your visitors, among whom is Mr. Chi. My advice is really to imagine him as a whole person and always pay attention to making him feel perfectly welcome in your home.
