Front Door Opens Directly Into Stairs

For today s design dilemma i m talking about how to design a living room where the front door opens into it.

Front door opens directly into stairs.

In older homes it is not uncommon to have doors that open over the stairs to the basement. Having a front door open immediately to a stairway is going in the direction of financial failure whether you are a home builder or a homeowner. And then there s the problem that the rest of us face. When a staircase is facing the front door directly the feng shui energy rushes up quickly to either the lower or the higher floor thus leaving the main entry as well as the whole main floor without good feng shui energy nourishment.

This creates an awkward experience for guests and occupants alike. My house in atlanta is the perfect example of this dilemma. When you enter a home and the stairway is located directly across from the front door your attention is pulled straight upstairs exposing the most private area of the home to the public area of the home. In the 1 000 plus years of asian feng shui practices an internal staircase in a two story home that faces the front door creates an energy battle right where you don t want it.

You walk in the door and literally fall smack dab into the living room. No one wants to open the door for guests into a big mess. My front door opens on a corner of my living room one wall is entirely windows the other wall is the only place to have a living room. Here is the problem as it relates to feng shui.

There are two kinds of homes. At the same time keeping a house in pristine guest condition 24 7 is unrealistic. Front door in line with stair s this is a challenge as the front door is the home s primary source of chi. I have this same problem thanks for the post.

Interior doors do not require landings at both sides of the door like exterior doors do. I will probably do nothing until i give up the idea of turning the front porch into an entrance but a window partition could be a lovely solution. Chi will enter the home and rush up the stairs to the private more yin spaces of the home bedrooms and will not sufficiently energize the home with it s positive vital life force energy. The gravity force of chi energy coming down the stairs is greater than the incoming chi from the door.

My front door opens into the hallway and stairs. I put a piece of old wood with some vintage gym hooks on the wall and a rustic wine barrel mirror there for hanging backpacks and jackets and having some extra light via the mirror reflecting the light that comes through the glass in the door. The first one has an entryway a small hallway a nook near the front door or even a sharp turn that separates the front door from the rest of the home.