Feng Shui Remedies: The Pathway to a Home

If there is no pathway to your front door . . .

Having no pathway to an entrance door can make you feel unwanted or unwelcomed. Whether it is hand-cut slate or grass trampled by use, a guide to the front door welcomes you home.

Although we think of a path as a walkway that tra­verses a physical distance, the transition between the outside world and inside home can be achieved in other ways. A pathway can be created when the eye is halted and impelled to look at an object before moving on. Even apartment dwellers who live with long featureless hallways can pay attention to small details along the way. Even glancing at a few favorite doormats in front of neighbors' doors can help distinguish your pathway home. If you do nothing else, hang an ornament on your door to frame a greeting.

If you often enter your home from the garage . . .

Entering a home from a garage can make you feel as if you are going through a work area. Utility rooms and kitchens, often accessed through the garage, will remind you of things you need to do or that you left undone. It is far better to enter a space that cheers and relaxes.

If it seems unlikely that you will start entering your home through its designated front entrance, hang a pic­ture on a garage wall near the door leading in. Mount a string of lights leading to the door. Block a water heater or a pile of boxes with a screen. Clean up the garage and conceal utility items behind a curtain or a cabinet. Treat the garage entrance no differently than you would a front foyer by hanging paintings or posters, placing a vase of flowers, painting the walls a color coordinated with the rest of the home or selecting an area carpet adjacent to the door that does not reek of utility. Make sure the light­ing is bright and keep it tidy. Simply painting a garage door a bright, cheerful color could suggest more of a welcome home.

If your pathway is perfectly straight. . .
Who needs to rush home or feel rushed? Science tells us that the straighter and narrower a river’s bed, the faster the water will flow. Curved lines lead us gently, while straight lines make us rush.

Sometimes the easiest way to bend a straight path is to adjust its surroundings. For example, if you have a straight cement or brick pathway through a lawn, carve out additional lawn to restructure the path's over­all shape. It can be filled with the same material as existing pathway or decorated with plants or objects. In any case, the redistribution of materials will give a straight path the look of a curved one.

When the path itself cannot be physically al­tered, objects on the path can force a person to move in a slower curved direc­tion. Place a birdbath, a potted plant, or any decorative object on it. It fills in the straight line and forces a person to change direction.

If there are no visual diversions along the path…
The space in front of a home is its first impression. Its style, care, and adornments are initial personal indica­tors of the family or families inside. Put a piece of your­self into this setting. Plant flowers that reflect your favorite color, cultivate a seedling into a mature speci­men, or find an object that expresses your individuality.

Even apartment dwellers, who may not have the authority to make changes in their lobby, would do well to adorn their hallway with some distinctive features. If you do no more than mount a particularly pleasing ornament on your door, you will have created a better tran­sition into your personal world.

If you cannot see an entrance door from the beginning of the approach to a home . . .

Although trails through parks and forests are intriguing in part because where they lead is often unknown, the pathway to a home needs both to feel familiar and to reveal its destination. In Stephen R. Covey's bestselling book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the first rules for success is to visualize the goal and then take steps to reach it. Without the end in sight, we are not as focused and may feel more adrift. Seeing our home's entrance door revealed at the end of a pathway gives us the comfort of knowing we have reached our haven.

When I lived in New Jersey, the front door of my home faced the best direction, but not the entrance path. I positioned a mirror on a wall outside to reflect the door as I approached. The mirror served a dual purpose because when I was inside it reflected those who were walking up the path. When I looked out the door, I saw their image as they saw mine.

If a mirror is not a viable solution, position an object that indicates that a door may be nearby A light, a bas­ket of flowers, an old-fashioned shoe scraper, or even a strategically positioned wind chime could be the har­binger of the path's end.

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Feng Shui Remedies

• If Your Work Space Is In An Inappropriate Or Out-Of-The-Way Location

• If You Feel Isolated And Unconnected While At Your Work Station

• If You Work In A Windowless Office

• If You Feel Uncomfortable Because Of The Number Of People In The Same Space

• If You Are Unable To See An Entrance Door While Working

• If You Have A Workroom Contiguous To A Kitchen Or Bathroom

• If A Heating Or Air-Conditioning Duct Is Directly Over A Workstation

• If You Cannot See The Door While On The Telephone

• If Light Falls Across Your Dominant Hand

• If You Have a Workstation Next To the Room's Exit Door