Your front door is what sets the tone for the rest of your home’s exterior, it’s also the first thing visitors see when they come to call. So, if you’re looking to create a good first impression making sure your front door looks its best is a great place to start. Here are five easy ways to dress up your front door to impress all who come to visit.
Lighting
There’s nothing more uninviting than arriving home to a dark house. Aside from the practical advantages, lighting the front of your home is a fantastic way to create interest and make your home feel welcoming. Wall lights on either side of a front door are a lovely way to create a welcoming entrance, choose fittings to complement the style of your home and front door. Add recessed lighting beneath the eaves or fit LED lights into a path. This will not only be an attractive feature but is also a great security measure. For a quick fix, add a couple of lanterns on either side of your front door with candles that you can light. This an especially lovely way to dress up a front door during the Christmas season.
Greenery
Pots on either side of your front door is a lovely way to make your entrance more appealing. Try going oversized here with very large pots and neatly trimmed Buxus for maximum impact. If your front door opens directly onto the street, try a window box. You can change the blooms each season to make sure you have a burst of colour all year round. Wreaths have become an all- year-round affair. Pretty up a modern front door with a seasonal wreath, there are lots of real and artificial varieties available to purchase or, better yet, have a go at making one yourself.
A fresh coat of paint
Make sure the rest of the house isn’t letting your front door down. There’s nothing like a fresh coat of paint to give your home a lift and choosing a colour to complement your front door will help to enhance it. When selecting a colour for the exterior of your home, it’s wise to stay away from yellows and peach tones. These don’t work well with the kind of light that we get in Ireland.
Instead, go for something that has an earthy hue or hint of green to it. Don’t be afraid of the darker shades; these can work well for specific styles of house. A detached home will be able to get away with more than a semi-detached or terrace house where it is best to stick to a similar palette to the rest of the houses on your street.
Path and front step
Make sure your front garden is looking its best too. Planting is a fantastic way to make any garden look more appealing. It will instantly soften hard landscaping and make the space feel more inviting on the approach up to your front door. Tidy up your flower beds and introduce some flowers. Consider replacing some of your lawn with some planting, or if you’re short of space, pots work well.
Tidy up
And finally, and most straightforward of all is to do some housekeeping. Clear out weeds and give paving and paths an excellent clean. Stone can discolour over time so use a power hose to get stone surfaces looking as good as new. Wash the windows, polish up your door handles and any other ironmongery like letterboxes or doorknobs etc. Ensure your doorstep is free from cracks, re-tile if necessary and most straightforward of all, invest in a welcoming new doormat.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Managing Director Optimise Design, B.Arch. RIAI RIBA
& Senator’s Expert Design Consultant
This blog post is sponsored, but the views expressed by the author are her own.
