The front door: the gateway to your abode.
It’s the place your visitors will get the most time to assess you while they wait for you to let them in. Of course, no one’s suggesting you need an OTT door like the one in King Kong (1933), but it could give your house a more inviting exterior. This wouldn’t just be appreciated by guests, but by you too, every time you come home and, when the time comes, it makes a great first impression for any prospective buyers coming to view your property. We’re here to offer you some easy ways to enhance the entrance to your home!
First things first, make sure your front door is easy to get to! There are several factors to consider here (that drawbridge and moat probably seemed like a good idea in B&Q), but a visible door should be top of the list. During the winter months, in particular, a dark exterior to your home can be confusing and even intimidate. Some strategic lighting will direct visitors to your front door and can make your property look great. If possible, light up a pathway to the front door – solar powered stake lights can be an attractive way to do this. Make sure that the front door is bathed in the most light, though, as this should be the main point of focus.
Also, consider what colour lights you want. Powerfully bright lights with high colour temperatures (blue) at night will brighten up your property front very well, but can be jarring and tough on eyes that are already accustomed to the night. Lower colour temperature lights (tungsten) generate a softer effect that is generally more relaxing but doesn’t provide as much light.
Still on the subject of making sure guests can find their way to your door, make the route obvious! Unless your house is a stately manor with the front gate three minutes’ drive away (to level with you, this blog probably isn’t targeted at you), getting to your front door shouldn’t exactly be the Grail temple from The Last Crusade. But a garden that offers a pathway specifically to your front door gives an inviting impression of your property and lets people know that you want them there.
A pathway also gives you new and interesting design opportunities – you can turn the pathway into a garden ‘hallway’, with various design ideas from the aforementioned lights, to flower arrangements to even some flowered archways above a tiled path.
Once your visitors are actually at your front door, that’s where they’ll be waiting for you to open up and let them in, giving them plenty of time to absorb the environment. It’s not very inviting to have a naked entrance to the house – people might start to feel like they’re waiting for a lift to arrive in the house from The Shining. So why not spruce it up a bit and make it feel like it’s been shown some love and attention by the people who live there?
You can also make your guests more comfortable when they’re visiting you at home by making the entrance to your property a transition into the indoors. Give your door a shelter (if anything, no one wants to be left in the rain waiting for you to answer the door) and perhaps set up a bench outside. This can give the impression that your home is lived in, another subconsciously comforting thought. You could put some pot plants or baskets around the door too, welcoming guests and introducing a bit of colour to the scene.
Welcome mats asking for a warrant, flamboyant house numbers on the door, a door-knocker shaped like body parts – give your guests a taste of your personality! Of course, it doesn’t have to be novelty comedy items because we’re not all reincarnations of Tommy Cooper, but you can still make your front door represent you with attractive design and decorations. We would say that you shouldn’t overdo it with the accessories though because, like anything with too many accessories, an overloaded entrance can end up looking like a confused version of Buckaroo.
It’s not like it’s difficult to get to your front door, so you don’t need to be too direct when guiding your visitors. Neon light arrows need not apply. But a gentle push towards your entrance is comforting and inviting, putting anyone coming to your door at ease. Remember that your front door is where your house begins for guests, not the interior. If you channel all your aesthetic polish into your house interior, then you’re neglecting the first and last impression they will have of your home. So make approaching your house part of the welcome!