Front door decor: Make a grand first impression with these easy-to-achieve entryway ideas
Steven Sabados shows how to set the tone for your home before anyone steps inside.
First impressions are everything, and the same goes for your home. Your front door is the first thing guests see and it also sets the tone for the whole house. Thankfully it's also super easy to amp up the impact of this space and a few accessories and decor pieces can easily make it its most welcoming. If you're not sure whether to go more contemporary or country, Steven Sabados pulled together both! Here are two different — and entirely wonderful ways — to transform a standard front entry into a unique feature for the front of your house.
Country casual
Focus on the front door
Wisteria cascading over the door is quintessential casual country. This is not always possible in Canadian climates, but hanging a planter over the front door is a pretty alternative that draws the eye directly to the space. You can attach it with really sturdy plant hangers to avoid having the drill into your home, which also allows you to easily take it down when needed. Opt for trailing plants and vines that will provide a similar effect to wisteria. This simple addition is incredibly transformative and creates a sort of gazebo effect around the door. A word of caution though — for drainage, you may want to close up the holes in the planter and create a small drainage hole down one side of it. And to keep guests happy, make the hole on the side opposite to where the door handle is to avoid any drips. If you want to worry a little less about maintenance, then try a mix of good quality faux and real plants.
Mimic a contemporary English garden
Steven wanted to create an English garden vibe so he found a way to achieve that at the front of the house. To get the look at home, gather planters that are a variety of shapes, but similar in colour. Metal pieces are great because they weather the elements in a way that results in a gorgeous natural patina. Avoid mixing materials — no terracotta with metal or ceramic — and stick to one type of plant per pot, otherwise your entryway will start to look like a garden centre very quickly. Perfectly symmetrical arrangements can be fine, but in this case Steven says asymmetry makes it more casual and less stiff-upper-lip.
Choose standout accents
To keep with the country feel of the space, opt for natural and antique finishes. This sisal doormat and brass door knocker are great additions to a front entrance like this, lend a bit of texture and help pull the whole look together. Plus, the door knocker functions as a stunning pièce de resistance.
Contemporary cool
Modernize
If you're trying to modernize your home, changing up the architecture of your front entryway isn't always an option, but creating a new focus is. Steven created cedar planters on wheels to place on either side of the front door for immediate impact and to help pull the focus away from the house itself.
The secret is to fill the boxes with grasses for a low-maintenance landscape feature with a modern aesthetic. They're also the chicest and most stress-free foliage you can opt for.
Simple, matte pot lights are also a wonderful way to incorporate additional lighting at your front door and Steven particularly loves these black ones with a down light on them. Just a heads up though — you may need to hire an electrician if you want to add in some more lighting, as damp-rated and wet-rated electrical is required for outdoor use.
Think outside the box
To draw additional focus to your door, spell out your house number or family name on top of your planter. This is a contemporary twist on the traditional and will immediately make your door stand out.
Similarly, a doormat with stripes leading toward the entry will draw people in, and if you can't find one, it's a super simple, cost-effective DIY. Use one of those black outdoor rubber mats that are found everywhere and then tape out a barcode pattern and paint with a rubber spray. Graphic elements like this are an easy way to draw in focus in a very modern way.
Resource guide:
Country casual
- Trees
-
Faux greens (above door)
- Door knocker
- Planter (oval with rings)
Contemporary cool
- Grass
- House letters