Feng Shui Remedies for Front and Back Door Alignment
A home with a transparent view between front and rear doors — particularly if the rear door is clear, like a patio door — may seem spacious and airy. But in accordance with feng shui, this alignment creates problems in the flow of chi, the vital life force energy. Ideally, chi should enter the front door and circulate throughout the home before departing the rear door. When the doors have been aligned, nevertheless, chi flows straight in from the front and out through the rear door, so parts of the home never receive good chi. This can cause various adverse effects for the home’s occupants, like having a bank account that “leaks” money. Fortunately, you can harmonize this adverse alignment with easy remedies and ordinary home furnishings.
Placement Remedies
If your floor plan allows, arrange your furniture to break up the right line of chi between your front and rear doors. By way of example, if the right alignment goes together a hall or stairway, put a thin table or credenza against the wall and generate a tabletop vignette that contains plants. If the rear door is visible from the front but not directly in line, then break up the space with room dividers, bookcases, or a countertop or kitchen island. Your arrangements shouldn’t interfere with reasonable traffic flow from the space. If this occurs, utilize different treatments like curtains, crystals or plants.
Curtains and Screens
Whenever you have an archway or “empty doorway” along the line between the front and rear doors, then a curtain hanging at the archway can redress the alignment. You don’t have to completely cover the archway; for example, a beaded curtain is an effective cure that also provides your decor a retro or boho vibe. In more formal settings, use draperies that are pulled to the sides with tiebacks. Sheer, gauzy curtains are another choice. Otherwise, put a folding screen across the archway, then adjust it to abandon an opening wide enough to walk through.
Plants and Foliage
Green, leafy plants, particularly those potted in ceramic containers, can redress the alignment by pulling and holding chi, thus slowing it down and redirecting it throughout the house. Place a massive plant, preferably one that can be set on the ground, along the alignment line and nearer to the rear door compared to the front. To steer clear of tripping hazards, place the container near a wall or from traffic stream. At a large area, you can use up to 3 plants spaced along the alignment. Make sure to water and maintain the plant so it remains healthy and green. If you do not have a green thumb, realistic silk plants are equally as powerful.
Crystal Reflections
Hanging a round, faceted crystal, 1 1/4 to 2 inches in diameter, by the rear door is another way to remedy the alignment. The glowing crystal attracts chi and reveals it in all directions to improve the energy circulation. For correct placement, find the middle of the door frame and measure over the ceiling 18 inches in from the wall. Install a cosmetic ceiling hook at this time, using an appropriate anchor. Thread a length of monofilament through the crystal’s hanging holes or bonding and tie a loop so the crystal hangs down 9 inches from the hook. If the crystal hits the doorway when opened, then shorten the hanging length to 3 or 6 inches, as needed for clearance.