The front door on a feng shui home is considered the mouth of chi through which you invite auspicious energy into your home. The choice of door color can enhance the flow of beneficial chi to your doorstep, so it can move into your home. Red front doors are stylish and common, but as it relates to chi energy, what does a red door mean?
Red Door Meaning and Symbolism
A red front door meaning is one of yang energy. It is a highly energized color and attracts and invites high energy to enter your home and front porch. The value of a red front door in feng shui is based on what the color red symbolizes. In feng shui, the color red symbolizes the fire element and is considered lucky, but too much fire energy can cause discord and disagreement in a home. However, you can easily temper the fire energy with help from other elements. To balance the fire energy for your home's entry, you can plant woody shrubbery near the front door and place non-pointed leaf plants at your home's entrance. Displaying a few planters in a water element color, like blue or black, can soften the fire energy at your front door.
Is a Red Front Door Good Feng Shui?
A red front door is considered to be lucky and auspicious, especially when used on a south-facing entry. In traditional feng shui, the direction your door faces has a big influence on the most auspicious front door color. A feng shui red door symbolizes the energy of new opportunities, good luck, and protection. While south-facing red front doors are considered especially lucky, there are auspicious colors for front doors facing other directions.
What Does a Red Door Mean Spiritually?
Red front doors have a presence in The Bible, symbolizing protection from the Angel of Death. It was written that smearing the blood of a sacrificed lamb would protect the children in the home. Since the Middle Ages, churches have painted their doors red as a symbol of Christ's blood, and the entry to salvation. The tradition of red church doors continues today.
What if You Can't Paint Your Door Red?
You may live in a community that has rules about what colors you can paint your door. Or, you already have a beautiful door that you're not ready to paint. To activate good feng shui luck on your south-facing door, you can display lucky elements instead. A beautiful red floral wreath, wind chimes, or planters and flowers in red, can bring some of the auspicious power of red in feng shui.
The Best Red for Your Front Door
Red comes in many shades, from bright red to dark burgundy. The prominent feng shui color for a red front door is Chinese red, often called bright cherry red. You aren't limited to one specific shade of red for a feng shui front door, so you can have more flexibility in choosing the color that works best with your home's color palette.
Red Front Door Feng Shui Traditions
On Chinese New Year's Eve, the cracks around the front door are sealed by stuffing them with red paper. It's believed the last bits of bad luck of the current year will attempt to seep into the house if the cracks aren't sealed. This negative chi (sha chi) tries to hide inside the house and take up residence so the auspicious chi energies of the New Year can't replace it.
Another feng shui tradition is to cover the front door with red paper. This paper often features various writings, such as mantras and sayings that offer protection for the family inside. The mantras may also contain good luck wishes and/or symbols. The value of a red front door in feng shui is based on what the color red symbolizes.
The color red is the most favorable color in feng shui, and is significant in the tradition of red envelopes, which are given as gifts and also believed to bring abundance in your home or business.
Inviting Good Energy Into Your Home
With an understanding of the most auspicious color for your front door, you can invite chi into your home. Choosing the right front door color for your feng shui home is a positive step in creating a harmonious space filled with balanced energy.
