What do doors mean in our lives?
Well, in one very important case for a recent client, a door was blocking her ability to “see” business opportunities that were coming her way. It was cutting her off from the rest of her life and blocking the flow of energy.
She was planning to renovate her Greenwich Village duplex, so I conducted a complete feng shui analysis to find some solutions she could include in her new design. I suggested that we change the direction of how the door opened to her home office/guest bedroom. It was a simple redesign with the purpose of clearing some of the blockages in her professional life. Who knew that one change would become such a challenge? Sometimes the most rewarding solutions are the hardest to accomplish.
The dilemma actually began before my client owned the home. The prior owner had installed beautiful, dramatic teak paneling and custom doors on the upstairs landing that led into the home office. When my client bought the apartment, she installed a custom, built-in desk for the office, where she intended to run her business (a yoga studio). But the door swing opened right into the desk, blocking the view of the landing and stairs up to it, in turn blocking her ability to “see” new business.
She could never settle into her new home office and found that in order to concentrate she had to move downstairs to the dining table. Now she had two dilemmas: a home office she couldn’t use, and the chore of constantly having to move her work throughout the house.
When I made this simple suggestion during the course of our consultation, my client immediately jumped with enthusiasm; she loved the idea. Then, of course, I had to make it happen. The contractor renovating the duplex was completely flummoxed by the custom paneling and door hardware, so he refused to do the job (Designer’s Note: Contractors can’t do everything. Sometimes you need a specialist). Thankfully, I was having custom built-in cabinetry done in the home as part of the project, so eventually the cabinet maker, Scott Hohl (@ScottHohl) of Hohl Home Furnishings, came to our rescue and tackled the project. After four hours of work, he and his assistant finally changed the door swing, opened up the home office, and greatly changed the energy in the room.
My client has since made major changes in her business (it is no longer just a yoga studio). She and her husband are now in the new business together and success is right around the corner for them.
I LOVE MY JOB!
