Hi Liz,
I am a bit confused as the northern and southern hemisphere, are the nine areas of the Bagua and the directions the same? is the southeast the Abundance, Blessing area and the South the Fame area or is the Career, Life path ? My books all go by the front door, which I cant use, we use the garage door next to it. Our living area is upstairs. Can you help? Thanks Anne. 

Answer
Dear Anne,
The feng shui you are referring to is usually referred to as “Black Hat” or “New Age” feng shui and is a very simple form of feng shui. It can however produce great results as it relies on “intention”. Therefore when you have intention your situation can change I do however find this is usually a short term fix, as soon as the intention fades so do the results.
Traditional Feng Shui does not focus on the front door but rather on the “facing direction” of the home and the front door is only one factor in determing this. In traditional feng shui a compass is actually used, floor plans are necessary in addition to the age of the house and birth date of the occupants therefore every home is different and what is recommeded for one home may be distraous for another.
As we use a compass in traditional feng shui there is no difference between northern and southern hemipshere feng shui - the sun rises in east and sets in the west no matter where you are on earth and the compass is based on magnetic north.
I hope this hasn’t confused you further!
Kind Regards