Feng shui front doors

How to Pick a Front Door Color With Feng Shui

In feng shui, your front door is one of the most important areas of your home and represents the face you show to the world. Feng shui colors for a front door have practical, aesthetic, and potentially energetic implications. On a practical level, it is how you come in and out of your home. Your front door sets the tone for you and your visitors entering your home. It’s also the last thing you see when leaving your home to go out into the world.

On an energetic level, your front door also represents how energy and opportunities come into your life. Just like you want your guests to feel welcome when they enter through your front door, you also want opportunities to be attracted to enter your life. Your front door is the main portal for people and energy to enter your home. In feng shui, we call it the mouth of qi, or universal life force energy.

Your Front Door Color and Feng Shui

A feng shui practitioner looks at the colors and facing direction of your home to assess how the qi (life force energy) flows to your property. These factors offer information on how the qi is received inside the building.

North-facing home: To activate the energy of your north-facing home, you can enhance the water or metal elements in your home's north sector. Water is related to the color black and dark charcoal gray. Metal element colors are white, gray, and metallics like copper and bronze.
West-facing home: A west-facing home is enhanced by metal or earth element colors. Metal element colors are white, gray, and metallics, and yellow, brown, and earthy tones are all expressions of earth.
South-facing home: The South is connected to fire, the summer season, fame, reputation, passion, illumination, and inspiration. It is related to red, purple, fiery orange, and yellow.
East-facing home: Work with wood or water element colors to support the East direction. Wood is related to greens, mid-tone blues, and teals. Water is connected to black, dark charcoal gray, and deep navy blue.

One easy way to feng shui your front door is with paint. Look at things from a feng shui perspective based on your home's facing direction and work with the colors you are attracted to. Also, pay attention to what colors will work well with the house's exterior and your neighborhood as a whole.

How to Pick the Perfect Front Door Color

Red to Get Noticed

Red is the most auspicious color in feng shui, as well as a powerful color for protection and the transformation of negative energy. Red is also connected to the fire element, which represents warmth, passion, and inspiration. If you want your front door to be clearly visible from the street so that energy and opportunities can find you, a coat of red paint can be an effective way to do this. In the feng shui energy map, red is related to the recognition area. Red makes a bold statement, and it’s a great color to use if you want to get noticed.

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Black to Attract Good Energy

Black absorbs, attracts, and brings in positive energy, which makes it a great choice for a front door color. It’s connected to the water element, which represents wisdom and depth. The north direction is also tied to this element. Water is also connected to your social connections and network, so black can be a supportive color for building friendships and relationships.

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Brown for Support

In feng shui, brown and other earthy neutral colors are connected to the earth element and used to balance, stabilize, and nurture the inhabitants in the home. A brown door is perfect for connecting you and your family to the stability of Mother Earth.

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Yellow to Brighten

Yellow is a bright, fun color for a front door. In feng shui, yellow is connected to the earth element. Earth represents stability and grounding, so yellow is an excellent choice if you or your family could use more of that.

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Green for Growth

Green is connected to the wood element in feng shui, which is related to new beginnings and growth. If you intend to invite in new opportunities to help you grow and expand, you may want to paint your door green.

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White for Joy

Connected to the metal element in feng shui, white represents cleanliness and purity. The west direction is also tied to this element. The metal element is related to precision, communication, and joy. Try painting your door white to invite more of these metal element qualities into your life.

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Blue for Knowledge

Like green, blue also represents the wood element, which supports growth and new beginnings. Deeper shades of blue are also connected to the "gen" area of the feng shui bagua map. Gen represents knowledge and self-cultivation, so dark blue can help support an intention to deepen your skillfulness.

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Gray for Helpful People

Gray also represents the metal element, so it is a supportive color for inviting more metal element qualities into your life. In addition, it’s the color associated with the "qian" area of the feng shui bagua. Qian is all about helping people and travel, so a gray front door can support your intention to invite helpful people and benefactors into your life or to travel more.

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After you've chosen a color for your front door, make sure you use it. Many people don't use their formal front doors. It's essential to activate energy flow by opening and walking through them regularly. Even if it's not the entrance you use most often, try going out your front door when you go out to get the mail, for example.

Finally, don't forget to keep your freshly painted door clean. Part of having an inviting entryway is having a clean entry. When cleaning your home, take some time to wash your front door, including the hinges, knobs, and frame.

FAQ

Feng shui is based on Taoism, a Chinese philosophy, and since red is the most auspicious color in Chinese culture, it is the most favored color for a door in feng shui. It represents good luck, protection, and the fire element. Fire is related to exciting energy, such as passion, inspiration, and expression.
Some of the most common colors in feng shui for a door include red, green, blue, and brown. Red is related to power and energy, green brings growth, blue brings abundance, and brown brings earthly grounding.
Fire element red may be the most promising for attracting all good things. However, purple is also associated with wealth and royalty and can attract abundance and luxury into your life. Like red, purple is also associated with the fire element, attracting attention and change.

Feng Shui Tips for a Strong Front Door

The main entry is the portal of energy for the home

Anjie Cho

Anjie Cho is a certified feng shui consultant, professional architect, and author with over 20 years of experience designing spaces. She co-founded the Mindful Design Feng Shui School and wrote "Holistic Spaces: 108 Ways to Create a Mindful and Peaceful Home."

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Updated on 11/04/20

The Spruce / Krystal Slagle

In feng shui, one of the first places to look at in your home is the front door. You want to have a strong front door so that you can welcome positive energy. When qi can flow easily into your home, this energy brings along abundance and ease.

The front door refers to the official, formal front door of the home. It’s also referred to as the mouth of qi, the portal of energy. Some homes may have secondary doors that are used on a daily basis. This is okay, however, the mouth of qi is your formal front door. If you never use it, you are blocking out energy and opportunities. Therefore, it’s essential to activate your front door regularly. You can do this by simply opening and walking through it at least once every nine days. Daily is better. Make it part of your routine, like when you go for the mail, always walk through the front door.

01 of 05
De-clutter and Clean
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Of all the areas in your home, the front door area is probably one of the more neglected when it comes to clutter and regular cleaning.
When is the last time you wiped down your front door, including the interior side, the exterior side, and the edge? Incredible amounts of debris accumulate at the front door. Giving this area more attention ensures that positive energy can come into your home.
The entry area also tends to be a place where all sorts of clutter accumulate. There are shoes and coats, bags of items ready to go off to donation, bags of rubbish, mail and packages, the list goes on and on. This creates stagnation and closes off your portal for good qi from entering your home. Also, your unconscious mind sees this clutter every time you enter your home. It’s not relaxing and it creates stress.
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Brighten the Entry
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Lighting is important in the front door area because it brings in the fire element which is recognition and how you’re seen in the world. We want to see and be seen with clarity and brightness like the sun.
To brighten your entry, clean the light fixtures as dust prevents the light from shining through. The same goes for any glass in or around the door. Clean it to allow the most daylight through. Paint the ceiling with a bright flat white color. You can also change the bulb to a higher wattage dimmable bulb, or add additional light fixtures if possible.
The front door area doesn’t have to have light fixtures on the highest setting. It’s more about the potential for brightness and clear seeing.
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Open the Flow of Qi
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Don't overlook the path to your front door. Take a few minutes and walk outside your front door all the way to the street. Imagine a friend is visiting you for the first time. Walk the steps your friend would make to your front door from the street to see what they would see. Is the path to the front door clear and can you see the house or apartment number clearly? Is the front door hidden or are there any obstacles along the path? Does your doorbell function properly and is it easy to find and use?
Is there confusion? Would your friend get lost? If your friend can’t find your front door, good energy, prosperity, and opportunities will also have a challenging time reaching you. Do what you can to create a clear path to the front door so you have all the abundant qi heading your way.
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Care For Your Front Door

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The hardware on the front door is another area that is often neglected. When you have a moment, open your front door from both inside and outside. Do you notice any difficulties opening the door, such as the door or lock sticking? Do the hinges squeak like they are in need of lubricant? Maybe the hardware needs polishing? Make sure everything is in working order, including the doorbell.
All these little obstacles affect you in your everyday life. Just like a stone can be worn away by tiny drops of water over time, these difficulties add up and affect your well-being. We speed and rush through so many things in our life nowadays, we may not consciously notice. But paying attention to these details provides ease and relaxation.
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Front Door Challenges
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Remove any sharp or pointed objects directed toward the front door and watch out for some architectural details that create feng shui challenges. If your front door is aligned directly with another exterior door or window, place a feng shui faceted crystal ball or a piece of furniture halfway in between the two.
A wall or staircase that is directly aligned with the front door and is less than five feet away creates a block in energy. You can open up the energy by directing the eye to the right or left of the wall or stairs with a captivating object like colorful fresh flowers or a dazzling piece of art.

Watch Now: How to Give Your Front Door Good Feng Shui

Feng Shui Tips - what the front door can tell you.

1. Feng Shui and the harmony of life
2. What is a Feng Shui door?
3. Entrance door and sides of the world
4. Color of the entrance door
5. Shape of the entrance door
6. And if the door is not according to Feng Shui
7. Correction of incorrect location
8. Mirror in the hallway
9. Staircase and entrance door
10. Tips and Recommendations

West and East interpret the principles of harmony and human happiness in different ways. Western culture focuses on functionality, practicality and external beauty. The East is trying to get to the bottom of things. Feng Shui, with its oriental aesthetics, offers us, people of a different culture, a fresh look at familiar interior solutions. One has only to plunge into his philosophy and see how the world around us is changing.

1. Feng Shui and the harmony of life

How do well-being, prosperity and good luck come to the house? Just like the people living in the house, they enter through the front doors. According to the laws of Feng Shui, space, people and everything that surrounds us consists of energy, in China it is also called Qi. The human body and soul cannot live without constant replenishment of Qi, as well as plants and animals. Qi is invested in us from birth, it comes to us in the form of food and water. It enters our homes with air currents. In order to feel strong and happy, we must not hinder its free penetration. From the point of view of Western culture, the door is only a necessary element of a human dwelling. Its dimensions, color, opening side, location relative to the cardinal points - these are just small nuances that can be neglected for the sake of comfort, beauty, functionality. But if you think about it, a door is what connects two different worlds. It is the link between the inner and outer life of man.

2. What is a Feng Shui door?

According to Feng Shui, the front door should be of medium size. It is believed that too large an entrance to the premises can create financial difficulties, a small one leads to family quarrels. The door itself should be of a regular rectangular shape, open and close easily and freely, and have a beautiful appearance. The color is chosen depending on the direction of the world - the north, east, south or west direction in which the door is facing. In the hallway, as well as in the outer corridor, if it is an apartment, there should be no extra things, untidy shoes and clothes. Clutter, blockage of a direct passage to the dwelling block the flow of energy. But in order to understand this, it is not necessary to be a follower of Feng Shui. Aesthetics, purity and freedom of space make our thoughts and feelings cleaner, more consistent and clearer.

Feng Shui consultants advise to install the front door in the form of a solid sheet without glass inserts. Also, an absolutely glass version will be undesirable. The entrance to the house must be reliably protected and hidden, which is why it is not recommended to make a door from fragile delicate materials. For free penetration of energy into the dwelling, the door leaf is hung so that it opens into the room. It is believed that the opening outward allows the dissipation of Qi, its loss. If there are windows on both sides of the front door, it is necessary to decorate the window sills with pots of live plants or beautiful curtains, so the energy will remain in the house.

3. Entrance door and cardinal directions

If your entrance door faces north, this contributes to a calm, measured and stable life. To dilute the regularity with bright events and interesting meetings, it is recommended to paint the door brown.
The Northwest direction favors men as masters in the house, contributes to a sense of respect for them by other family members, as well as their career success.
Successful learning, education helps the northeast direction of the front door. Active external forces bring changes to the house and the desire for new horizons.
The door of the south direction gives its owners an activity and a rich social life. According to Chinese tradition, the entrance to the house should be facing south. This contributes to gaining recognition and honor, helps to establish the necessary connections. Fire, as the main element of the southern direction, gives the inhabitants of such a house energy. On the advice of Feng Shui consultants, a painting depicting water will help soften the fiery character of the apartment.
The southwestern direction helps to strengthen family and marital ties. And also, in general, it has a beneficial effect on relationships between people, friends, neighbors, colleagues. Good luck will surely look through such a door.
If the door faces southeast, it means that the planned plans will be carried out slowly. But the house will always be accompanied by material well-being. According to Feng Shui, the Earth element, the most conservative, reliable and restrained, is responsible for the southeast direction. Adherents of the doctrine recommend decorating such houses with living plants so that stability does not turn into dullness.
The east direction of the door promises a career take-off and success in your endeavors. It also contributes to the health and prosperity of all the inhabitants of the house.
Feng Shui West is responsible for the younger generation, their success in education and knowledge of this world. For a young family, the western direction promises a big strong family. And if talented people live in the house, new creative opportunities will open before them.

4. Entrance door color

The Feng Shui direction of the door must harmonize with its color.

North. Water patronizes this side of the world. A fast cold current, sobering the mind, contributing to career success. Choose cool and contrasting shades, such as black, white, blue, cyan. Warm earthy colors such as browns, yellows, greens and their shades should be avoided.
Northeast. Suitable beige, brown and yellow shades. Do not paint the door green.
Northwest. Good colors will be - silver, gold, copper. Avoid blue, red and black.
South. According to the principle of opposites, the patron saint of the south is fire. The door is chosen in red, green or brown shades. Accordingly, cold water colors should be avoided.
West. For western doors, all metallic shades are suitable: silver, bronze or gold.
Southwest. Desirable colors - yellow, pink, beige.
Southeast. Choose green and purple. White color is better not to use.
East. This direction is responsible for material wealth. The “correct” door should be green, but white shades should be avoided.

5. Front door shape

Feng Shui door shape is determined by the element that corresponds to each cardinal direction.

The elements of fire are usually pointed forms that are present in the decor of the canvas. It is good to decorate such a door with milling in the form of rails, stars and zigzag lines.
The elements of the earth - clear geometric correct forms. Squares, rectangles, restrained and calm, will complement the image of your door.
Water element - rounded shapes. The flow of water in the river - the smoothness and streamlining of the contours. You can use milling without sharp corners or decorate the door with wavy lines.
The element of wood is a symbol of upward movement. Elongated shapes, rectangles will be appropriate.
The element of metal - the expression of bizarre forms. The doorway can be made in the form of an arch. A combination of regular geometric shapes and smooth lines.

6. And if the door is not according to Feng Shui

Opposite the bathroom. It is recommended to install partition screens between the door and the toilet.
The door must not face the mirror. According to Feng Shui, mirrors have a powerful energy that can both positively and negatively affect the well-being in the house. The location against each other in this case can lead to financial difficulties in the family.
In front of the door itself, this applies to private houses, there should be no drains, forks, sharp protruding corners or roofs of neighboring buildings, as well as poles and antennas. It is good to illuminate the door with pendant lights.

7.

Correction of incorrect location

When buying a ready-made housing, we cannot make the front door where we want. But, if you still really want to observe the principles of harmonious home improvement, Feng Shui invites us to outwit the Qi energy.

Live plants. Lovingly arranged flowers in pots will have a positive effect on the atmosphere in the house and cheer up the household. The main thing to remember is that all plants should reach for the sun, and climbing creeping flowers should not be in the house.
Rugs with special ornaments in front of the entrance doors. If it was not possible to choose a door of the appropriate color, a rug purchased in the correct color scheme will partially correct the situation.
Folding partitions. It is good to fence off the door with them from the negative influence of other rooms or parts of the interior. For example, you can put such a partition between a toilet and a door, or a door and a staircase.
Talismans. These are crystals of various shapes, horseshoes, Chinese lanterns. They are placed in the hallway near the front door. If you doubt their effect, they can serve as a decoration.

8. Mirror in the hallway

You can not place a mirror in front of the door, and the best location will be the same wall on which the door is located. It is believed that in this way the Qi energy entering the house will not only not run out, but will also increase. In extreme cases, one of the side walls next to the door can be mirrored.

9. Stairs and entrance door

The location of the apartment opposite the entrance stairs is considered unfavorable. In private houses, you should also not place steps to the second floor opposite the entrance to the house. According to Feng Shui, this prevents the Qi energy from flowing freely. You can correct this problem by installing a barrier screen. If this does not work out, and in multi-storey buildings this is simply impossible, you need to qualitatively illuminate the area in front of the door and use Feng Shui talismans.

10. Tips and Tricks

1. Do not place paintings with battle scenes or collectible weapons in front of the front door. It is believed that such elements will bring discord between family members and the people around them.

2. The front door should open easily, silently, without creaking. And locks and hinges should be lubricated, serviceable and reliable.

3. Install the doorbell in a convenient position in the line of sight and make sure that it is in good working order. Pay attention to its sound. "Correct" sounds according to Feng Shui cannot be sharp, unpleasant, aggressive. Choose only melodic sound.