Feng Shui Master Andrew Chan — Home Feng Shui: Case 15 Residential Front and Back Doors Must Be Complete

Whether it's a traditional courtyard house, a modern detached villa, or a self-built house in the countryside, any independent dwelling is considered a self-contained life energy field in architectural feng shui. For this energy field to remain healthy, the entry and exit of air and energy must follow the principle of “in and out, with proper intake and expulsion.” This requires a residence to not only have a front door to welcome qi, but also a back door to release stagnant qi.

• Independent Houses Must Have a Back Door (Auspicious)

  Hong Kong Feng Shui Master Andrew Chan points out that any independent house must have a back door. Without a back door, it can lead to marital discord. When qi enters through the front door, if there is no back door to receive and guide the qi flow, the qi will violently swirl and rebound within the residence. This prevents new qi from settling and old, stagnant qi from being expelled. Complete front and back doors ensure smooth qi flow, which is auspicious.

• Excessively Large Roof Skylights (Inauspicious)

  Many modern designers, in pursuit of natural light and avant-garde visual effects, like to install large glass skylights on the roofs of duplexes or bungalows. From a feng shui perspective, this constitutes a 'sky leakage sha qi'. An excessively large roof skylight causes wealth to leak out, leading to misfortune. The roof is the 'sky' of the home; a wide-open 'sky' means that the core cohesive force and wealth qi of the home will directly evaporate into the sky, unable to remain at the living level.

• Marital Relations and Family Atmosphere

  In independent residences lacking a back door, the internal qi field is constantly in a state of 'stifled qi'. Couples living there often feel inexplicably suppressed, easily erupting into intense arguments over trivial matters, making it difficult to maintain long-term harmony.

• Wealth Fluctuations, Even Misfortune

  Houses with excessively large skylights have extremely unstable financial fortunes. While there might be large sums of money coming in during the short term, due to the severe 'qi leakage' from the skylight, unexpected misfortunes often occur, leading to sudden outflows of wealth or even unprovoked disasters.

• Create a Back Door or Back Window

  For independent houses without a back door, if conditions permit, it is essential to create a back door at the rear of the first floor. If opening a door is truly impossible, a frequently opened window must be installed on the corresponding back wall to guide the qi flow and break the stagnant qi situation.

• Reduce Skylight Area

  For excessively large roof skylights, Hong Kong Feng Shui Master Andrew Chan suggests using opaque blackout blinds or applying dark, heat-insulating film to reduce the visible area of the skylight to a reasonable size. Alternatively, hanging natural crystal balls beneath the skylight can help to gather and stabilize the descending qi field.