Feng Shui Room By Room - The Foyer

By Erica Sofrina

Welcome to the wonderful world of Feng Shui and my series on Feng Shui Room By Room. Over the next month, we will cover Feng Shui tips for all of the key areas of your home, room by room. Today, we will focus on the foyer, an area that’s especially important for welcoming opportunity into your life.

Whether you live in a house, a condo, an apartment or a one-room studio, hopefully you will find something helpful to take with you and apply to your own space.

The ancient art of Feng Shui is a wonderful study that brings together an eclectic mix of good interior design practices, the Chinese five element theory, Taoist principles of yin and yang based on the I Ching, and folk wisdom passed down from generation to generation in China.

At the foundation of Feng Shui is the belief that everything on the planet is imbued with life-source energy or chi and embodies consciousness, whether animate or inanimate objects. We, as humans are continuously interacting with everything we encounter. We are either being fed and inspired, expanding our chi, or our chi is being depleted by objects that bring us down.

Feng Shui acknowledges our profound connection to everything that surrounds us. Since we spend so much time in our homes, they are considered to have a powerful influence on our lives affecting our relationships, careers, prosperity and health, and are given utmost consideration. Creating a home that supports, uplifts and nurtures is considered tantamount to creating a balanced, healthy and happy life.

The Entryway – the Mouth of Chi

In Feng Shui we always begin at the front door, which is considered the mouth of chi where all of our opportunities come to us. My earlier article on How to Welcome Opportunities addresses the front door and entrance to the home, so I will move on to Feng Shui principles for the foyer of the home once we enter.

The Foyer

This is the transition area where we come in from the outer to the inner world. We want to make it ‘entrancing’ no matter what kind of foyer we have.

Homes and apartments have a myriad of different entrances areas. Some encounter a wall as soon as they enter, some have no foyer and we literally fall into the living space, some have elaborate entrances with room to create an ‘entrancing’ area.

What ever your situation, think about creating breaks and accelerators, stopping the chi before it rushes into the home, and creating a positive first impression. You can do this by creating a beautiful area that allows us to pause and reflect, lifting our chi and inspiring us as we enter.

The foyer is considered our most public area and not a place to display personal items such as family photos or religious artifacts. Save these for the more private areas such family rooms.

This is the place to hang your most lovely artwork, put a graceful table beneath it. Arrange an attractive floral arrangement (silk is fine) with ornamental objects that are pleasing. If there is no room for any furniture, you can hang a shallow shelf on the entry wall and put your arrangements there. No matter what kind of entry way you have to work with, make sure it inspires and uplifts.

Putting an attractive mirror at the entry way is a gracious way to welcome in the chi. Just make sure it is not placed directly across from the front door or it will send the chi (often interpreted as money) right back out!

Insure that the door can open fully, without encumbrances behind it. Front doors are considered very important in Feng Shui allowing in our opportunities and hence, money. We want to make sure there are no blockages here.

Clearly mark where people are to go if it is confusing.  As creatures of comfort, we never like to feel confused when entering any space. You can use directional art, which will cause the eye to go in the direction you want guests to go.

Stay tuned for later posts on the living room, family room, and more.