First impressions. The first impression of your home is not just important for visitors and potential buyers, but to you the person living there. Would you rather come home to a well lit cozy feeling and well designed front door, or a dark ratty tatty front door. Welcome yourself home everyday by sprucing up your front door.
A Grand Entrance
The larger you can make your entry way the better. It will look grander, and create the look of a luxurious house. This can be done with double doors. Or just with one door but have side panels on both sides of the door and even have a panel above. And create a thick frame around the door way, that includes a door frieze and cornice (this is a decorate frame that goes above the door just like in picture (7)).
These side panels can be purely decorative. Or if you get panels with windows in them, they can help bring natural light into the house during the day. A glass panel on the side of the door also allows you to see who is at the door.
Lighting Your Home
Front door lighting plays an important role for 2 reasons. First, having a light on at night deters intruders. And second, it makes it easier for you to see your keys and getting inisde when you come home at night. Plus it makes your house look good.
The most common way to light the front door is to use a wall. See if you can create symmetry for a more uniform design – so have one wall light on each side of the door. Wall lights tend not to be too bright, so having an added ceiling light can be a bonus.
Door and Side Panel Design
When it comes to the door design, and the side panels, you have two design options: 1) trim, and 2) glass panels. You can get doors covered in decorative trim that creates patterns, just like the green door in picture (5). The door in picture (3) shows a different style of trim work.
The second design feature is the glass and windows. As mentioned above, glasswork helps bring in light and helps you see who is at the door. Different door designs provide different levels of privacy. The door in picture (5) has a small beveled and frosted glass window. While the doors in picture (1) and (2) have huge glass panels with less privacy, but bring in more light.
You can get quite decorative with glass and window panels, either for your door or side panels. Some design options include:
- beveled glass (decorative glass panels)
- decorative metal grill inserts (2)
- frosted or stained glass (6)
- curved wooden screens
- you can even get decorative and decorate glass doors with decals or use a white board marker for different holidays (4)
Make It Feel Good
You want to have a solid and heavy door. And also look for a solid door handle (and door knocker), made out of a premium material like brass. You will definitely feel the difference when you open the door, and it adds a nice luxurious touch to your home.
See if you can add plants to your front door area, and try and create symmetry. So have matching large potted plants on both sides of the door. Or for a more bohemian, green flavor, why not add hanging plants.
Decorative Elements
Try and create symmetry for your front door area. That means having a panel on both sides if you can. The same goes for light fixtures and decor pieces such as plants. Here are a few design and decor ideas that you could add to your front door:
- The style of the house number you put up will say a lot about the style of the house. You’ve got more modern house numbers, like the ones seen in picture (4), and then there are more traditional styles such as the numbers on the door in picture (2). And if you want to keep symmetry, then stick the numbers in the center of your door.
- How about fitting a brass handle plate, or footplate, just like the door in picture (1)
Playing With Color Ideas
More modern homes will have tall front doors, probably without glass panels and trim, and will be in a neutral color such as black, grey or white.
When it comes to choosing the color for your front door, you will need to take into consideration the color of your house. If your house is made up of a lot of different colors, then it might be best to go with a neutral toned down color (white, black, grey, cream) for your front door so it won’t clash with the colors of the house.
But if you have a neutral and uniformed colored house, just like the one in picture (1), you could go with a bold color for the front door. Since the house is neutral in color, the front door will really stand out and be a design feature.
You can also play with the colors within the door, see how the side panels in picture (3) are painted black but have touches of cream paint on the frames.
Here are some other posts to get more ideas from:
- Driveway Lighting Ideas: From The Road To The Front Door
- Home Style And Safety With Outdoor Security Lighting
- Search all of my outdoor posts for more ideas
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