The front steps, railing, walkway and patio are all places where you have the opportunity to bring color-inspiration to your home! An even more exciting prospect is that you have time to do this for the late fall/beginning of winter.
Just because the cold weather sets in doesn’t mean you need to give up on enjoying outdoor spaces. It would be a wasted opportunity to neglect areas of our home or outdoor spaces that have so much potential for color-inspired beauty!
In this article, I’m going to discuss some simple decor’ choices you can make to spruce up your home’s front entrance and make it something special and exciting for those who live in the home, and even those who drop by for a visit!
Your Front Door Color Tells Its Own Story
The front door of your home arguably makes the most essential statement about your home. If the colors are right, this can be the memorable first impression people will get when they see your home for the first time.
The overall color palette and exterior paint colors of the home can create year-long curb appeal. The right color choice for your front door will create the mood and sentiment you want to share right here and now. It’s the first place you get the chance to say something about those who live inside.
For instance, you may want to create a warm and inviting statement. This could be attained with no paint at all but emphasized the beauty of the natural wood with a top-coat stain.
If you’re looking for something a little more bright and colorful, you can make a loud statement by choosing fun, animated colors. A bright red, tangerine or even yellow can be an effective way to set a positive tone upon entering the home. Another color approach would be to choose a lime green or teal blue. A pop or splash of color reaches out with a youthful appeal that can make your home irresistible for the young at heart.
Another direction to go would be to make a softer statement with your front door. Quiet and understated this is a whole other approach that can tell the story of a low key, elegant design. Subtle colors can be very effective against a more saturated body color, and often a softer color for the front door can be a comforting and soothing approach.
Learn How to Use Stress Relieving Colors To Improve Your Life!
Spruce Up Those Front Steps
It’s easy to overlook the front steps leading up to your home. Once you give it more thought, your home’s front steps play a significant role in drawing you into the home, setting it apart from the outside world. Family life begins where the front steps start, and the outside world no longer follows you once you enter the front steps.
If you have wooden front steps, you have the option to paint them or expose the beauty of natural wood. Use mahogany as an elegant way of adding the richness of wood and making it look like you have furniture out on your front porch. If your wooden steps are healthy, beautiful hardwood, I would suggest sanding them and putting a fresh weather-proof stain on to enhance the natural vibrancy of the wood.
Painting your wooden steps in two-tone can add some dynamic style and contrast to your home’s front entrance. Traditionally the risers are what your toe hits as you place your foot on the stairs and the treads are what your food steps down on. The riser is traditionally the trim color, and the treads generally match the surface of your front porch. Want to mix things up a bit? Add an accent to the risers to add a little life to your front entrance!
If painting or staining is not currently an option for you, try invigorating your front steps with some plant life!
Pottery, Planters and Window Boxes, Oh My!
There are many other ways of adding life to your front porch. Adding fresh plants can add color, texture and make their own style statement. Think about the difference brilliant colored pottery can make the front of your home. Red clay pots, navy blue pottery or even concrete planters, each makes a statement and is ready for you to add your personal touch with flowers you love!
Window boxes are another way of adding color to your facade. Whether they are on the second floor or simply hanging over the railing on the front porch, they are an opportunity to add texture and color to your exterior color palette.
Looking for small trees that can lead to the front entrance of your home? The Arborvitae tree is an excellent plant to line your front steps. They start small but can grow to fifteen feet or taller. They’re simultaneously regal and inviting – a fantastic addition to your front entrance.
Bring New Life to Old Features
Many of us have concrete front steps, patios and walkways. Not to mention, many homes also feature iron railings and handrails. Both the concrete and metal materials used in front entrance construction can weather, wear and rust.
Iron railing handrails can look fantastic when power-washed and painted with a deep rich color. Try using an emerald green, rich burgundy or matte black. Repeat the color you are using for your shutters to pull your whole color palette together and give your iron elements that designers touch!
Concrete that is stained and tired looking can receive new life from professional power washing and a new paint job. Muted grays or even the natural stone look of concrete can provide a distinguished look for a front entrance.
Start Small, But Think Big
A very important message I try and convey to all my clients and friends is that even small changes and alterations can have a dramatically positive impact on the color-inspiration of your home. The weakest decision you can make in regards to decorating or remodeling your front entrance is to do nothing at all.
Nothing feels more drab and dreary than entering a house that feels like the front entrance doesn’t matter to those that live inside. Inaction speaks volumes to how people residing in their home feel about it. It also makes the statement to those entering the home that if the entrance is uninviting, the home is not a place meant to entertain or welcome guests.
We often think about decorating the outside of our homes in the spring and summer. Guess what? Now’s the perfect time to add warmth, decor, and curb appeal to your front entrance!
Think Outside the…Front Door!
There are even more ways to add life to the entrance to your home. Decorate your porch overhang with tea lights, add a winter-themed wreath to your front door, or even adding pine branches and pine cones into a beautiful potted arrangement. Add color to your house number or find a new potted plant that sings with life and shares its beauty.
Inspiration is everywhere! You just have to take a little time to look for it and incorporate it into your home.
To learn more about ways to spruce your front entrance and add more color to your home, please reach out! As a color consultant, I love to hear your thoughts and learn more about the ways you add color to your homes!
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These are perfect ways to make an entrance welcoming and reflect the personality of the people who live there! Great suggestions!
Thanks Janet, I am so glad you found this blog post inspiring!
Great ideas for making an appealing front entry without starting from scratch.
Thanks Lisa, yes, sometimes sprucing our home up in new ways is all it needs!
Great ideas, you inspired me to spruce up my planters in the front now that winter is here with something and paint my risers on my steps a contrasting color this spring!
I am so glad you are inspired Mary Ann, we often forget that we can continue to decorate in the colder winter months!
Beautiful post Amy. with as always, your foundational advice that stems from your expertise and from your vast experience in color designing. where we live now, one of my sacrifices was that any thing done on the exterior must have board approval…I know for a designer, right?? But, there are always give and take entities regardless so I get my designer fill by your beautiful posts.
Your point on stress free effects and options is enlightening!
I love your comment Mitzi and I appreciate the angst of letting others make the creative decisions! More and More I am focusing on what we can do to improve our lives even if they are only modest improvements. Whatever we can do to bring inspiration into our lives, it’s worth it!
I love this, Amy. A lot of times, most people will only think of the front door. It’s interesting that you bring in the idea of front steps. This past summer, we have our backyard fully re-designed. That morphed into a new sidewalk leading to the backyard – which morphed into including the front walkway and steps. Out of all of the work we did, our front steps garner the most compliments!
Sheri I love your story about your exterior improvements of walkways, your backyard, your front steps etc. Fixing up our outside spaces can be so rewarding, it sounds like you did a great job with your front steps.