What the tradition actually says about the front door, the fish tank, and the mirror.
Feng shui has precise answers for the four things people ask about most: the colour of the front door, the fish tank beside it, the mirrors in the home, and how far the rule book actually reaches. Here is what the source material says about each, read whole rather than compressed into the single line that usually travels.
1. The front door colour: what the tradition says
You'll often hear that a red front door brings wealth. The tradition's answer depends on which direction the door faces: south-facing doors traditionally work well in red because south is the fire direction. A red door facing north (a water direction) is fighting itself. The right colour is always the one that suits the door's direction.
The practical version: paint your door a colour you like, that suits the house, and that you can see clearly from the street.
2. The fish tank by the front door: what the tradition says
A fish tank is a traditional wealth cure. Whether it works in your home depends on six things: the direction the door faces, the size of the tank, where in the room it sits, how clean the water is, whether the fish are healthy, and whether you actually like having a fish tank.
Most people place one badly, neglect it, and end up with a dirty tank that drains every other quality of the room. The traditional cure becomes the new problem.
In practice: a fish tank is high-maintenance. If you do not love fishkeeping, skip it. A small healthy plant in the same spot does most of the job.
3. Mirrors and what they reflect: what the tradition says
Mirrors are powerful in feng shui because they reflect. They double whatever they point at, good or bad.
A mirror facing your front door reflects guests (and qi) straight back out. A mirror reflecting clutter doubles the clutter. A mirror behind your bed creates the bedroom most consistently flagged as a sleep problem in both the traditional and the modern reading.
Use mirrors where you actually want to amplify what they are pointing at, not as a default fix.
4. How far the rules reach: what the tradition says
You'll sometimes hear that there's a feng shui rule for everything. The tradition is more contained than that.
Classical feng shui has rules for the eight compass directions, for the front door, for the stove, for the bed, for the desk, for the centre of the home, and for some specific room functions. Beyond that, the tradition is much quieter than the magazine version of it.
A lot of "feng shui rules" you'll read about toilet seats, hallway colours, or the exact position of a houseplant are inventions of the last forty years. We mark them as such on every page.
Want the full twelve-item list? It is on the way as part of the Personal Feng Shui Compass line.
Free pages worth reading next: the methodology page, the five elements.