If you have been following our series on feng shui in HDB flats, you will know that we absolutely recommend making it optimum right at the source.
This refers to the almighty door, for which all prosperity and luck flows in from! From a typical HDB flat’s perspective, the door might fly nonchalant off the homeowners’ mind because they tend to come as a package deal.
If nothing comes out from this article, we can only plead for you to heed this advice, “Do not ignore the pivotal role of your door!” And if you have not checked out our series, do head over to (https://honeycombdesign.sg/category/new-home-owners/).
This week we will discuss the dos and don’t when it comes to doors, and how you should prioritise certain flat layouts, as well as how you accessories and decorate them.
When it comes to picking the right home, essentially we are telling you to pick a door that faces the optimum direction and layout. This means internal front as well as external front.
If you have read our article on feng shui for every single room of the home (https://honeycombdesign.sg/bto-feng-shui/), you will realise that we mentioned how entryways can affect your lifestyle.
This is because entryways signify a flow of qi and we are constantly bombarded with a regulation of said natural energy on a day to day basis. Do take some time to read that article before you follow up with this to have a better understanding.
With that said, having your front door facing the kitchen would bring absolute bad luck to the home because a constant flow of disruptive energy is flowing directly into the kitchen- an area where you will be preparing food that will feed your family.
This in feng shui terms means cultivating a sense of nervous energy that might spell trouble, as you prepare food while the door is back facing the homeowners.
It is said that by having your door facing the kitchen, you are likely to pollute familial relations, as well as bring trouble to health and finances!
You might think that having a window right at the entryway of your door would create an airy environment, and that is partially true because you are allowing air to constantly regulate.
This is perfect for weather that is humid because you don’t want your linen or fabric material to mold.
However, a door facing window in feng shui terms means “扯水”, which essentially draws reference to how energy comes in from one end and leaves out the other.
With that, you are unlikely to be able to gain momentum with accumulating wealth, a constant flow of financial gains and losses like your door and window.
Apart from that, you have to take a look outside the windows and door as the location of your home will bring about the energy that you want to retain in your lifes.
Negative beget negative, while positive beget positive.
You might be thinking that it would be nice to face your neighbours because you get to build the kampung spirit of just being neighbourly.
However, it can potential become a 门 对 门 situation where the influx of qi is circulated between you and your neighbour.
This can create a situation where you build resentful and hostile relationships with them, it could even purely be from a lack of privacy to your entryway that might incur that! It is really common for Singapore HDBs to have the doors facing one another out of the fact that
buildings tend to be symmetrical, but it only becomes quite anxious when your neighbours are feng shui practitioners.
If your neighbours procure feng shui relics outside their doors as a way to ward off certain elements, such as bagua or silver plates, their bad luck might flow right into your home albeit unintentionally.
Another type of door you might miss out on is the lift door, whose constant movement might create an irregular flow of qi into your home.
With the noise and traffic pollution of a lift door on a densely populated level, the constant influx of foot traffic might create a sense of nervous energy that will flow into your home. This is also a big minus on privacy as well.
However, certain practitioners mention how the constant flow of energy gained by a lift door could be a good thing in situations where the home is facing a prosperous direction, for which an aggravated flow of good qi might not sound so bad.
When it comes to decorating your hallway, it is very sensitive as the environment requires a well balanced fusion of elements. This requires a tightrope standard of balancing act.
When it comes to display of artefacts, many homeowners choose to place family photos right adjacent to the door as an appreciation of memories.
However, it's highly debated as to how helpful it is in the feng shui front, comparing the display of artworks to family photos.
Entryways being the most public space of any home, should be conserved with non-private artefacts as it draws unwanted energy into the home.
Artworks, on the other hand, bring personality and class instantly.
For example, choose pieces that have the desired effect that you would like, such as a breath of elegance with a reupholstered Victorian chair, or a pop of vibrance with a Pop Art painting.
However, do avoid any artwork that portrays intense scenarios of chaotic energy, such as taxidermy or paintings of shipwrecks.
Instead of animals, opt for floral or greeneries instead as they bring a sense of tranquility into the entryway.
Furthermore, they provide a strong factor into the consideration of the five elements.
As far as possible, do include the five elements to bring about a balance of environment. (Water, Fire, Earth, Metal and Wood)
This might seem arbitrary but the five elements are much more commonplace than you would think.
Water is feasible in the form of tiny water sculptures or features, even in the shape of crystal structures that flow in a wave-like pattern as long as it is not too harsh.
Fire is probably the most chaotic element and therefore should be handled with care, be it in the form of any red or orange decor, or even a few scented candles by the console.
Wood and Earth will be the floral you choose to display, or if you require a functional decor, maybe even a teak chair or shoe rack.
Metal could be alternate accessories you choose to display along your corridor.
With that said, this means that a relatively fair amount of space is required to allow the housing of all these items. Remove all unnecessary blockages that don't belong!
The mirror is embedded deep in the lore of feng shui and it is one of the most debated pieces of artefact.
Mirror by its basic function reflects, and with feng shui, it inherently bounces back good luck and bad luck without prejudice.
Hence, we don’t hang a mirror directly facing the entrance as we are bouncing away good luck that might flow into the home.
We would also not hang a mirror facing a sharp corner of a home as it directs the bad energy of a sharp point all over the environment.
You should not have a mirror at the end of a hallway as well because it will slow down the flow of energy through the home.
It's presumably difficult to find a location to hang a mirror, but spots like the side of a staircase or panel or wall is an excellent choice.
It helps to brighten up the space and expands the positivity within the home.
As with all interior design tips, lighting is one of the best elements to include within this list. With good lighting, a small space can be perceived as large while poor lighting can make a big space seem feeble.
In search of a perfect doorway, do look out for one where you can apply good overhead lighting as you would want to brighten up your walkway.
This also means that there should be enough wall space to apply a secondary light source, which means no alternate storage rooms that are based right beside the door.
Natural light is definitely the best choice when lighting is in question.
Hence, this briefly transcends back to the direction which the door is facing.
We have to take a look at the direction to which the sun rises, sun sets, as well as availability of night light around the region of the doorway.
As the proverb goes, “入屋看门口，祸福知八九”, a door can determine the fortune and prosperity of a home and it is an easy tell just by looking at the door of a home.
Throughout this article, we have described bits and pieces of a perfect door to ensure optimum fortune, and it is a quick and simple visual guide to find one. By now, our imagination of said door is briefly formulating piece by piece, and the quest to a blessed homeliving starts from right now!
