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photo : compliments of mountainviewhse.comIt's just my opinion, but I really believe that your front porch should be welcoming to guests. Some people may even make an assessment about "you" when they reach your front door. Not fair.....but it happens.
Hypothetical:
You go to someone's front door. The molding around the door is rotting away, there are no flowers, the wrought iron railing is rusted, the front door needs painting and there is no welcome mat.
Now you go to another front door. The porch is clean, there is a welcome mat, several urns with blooming flowers, all wood work is freshly painted and perhaps a decorated bench to sit on.
Let's face it, the difference is amazing. Do you draw conclusions about "who" lives in the house? Well, we shouldn't, but most of us just might do it anyway.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit several homes that are currently on the market. The owners did such a nice job of presenting there homes by making their front door area so inviting. Ok.....so maybe it's "I want to sell my home, so I'll make it look great", but it should be something we all do. First impressions or maybe curb appeal?
My family and I all enter the house through the garage so I really don't pay much attention to the front porch. After going out and looking at all the beautiful front porches of the "for sale" homes, I came home to more closely scrutinize my own. OMG-what a mess!!! All of those things I mentioned before, applied to me. Rotted wood, dead flowers, stains on the cement, dirty windows and a rusted railing. What was I thinking or not thinking about?
Needless to say, I've been working on completely re-doing that porch. I have before and after photographs to show you but I have to finish it all up. It's a big job. In the mean time, I have found some wonderful photos of front door areas.
Nothing like a fresh coat of paint to lighten and brighten the front door.
A typically southern entrance, beautifully decorated with flowers and wicker furniture. Even the porch is painted blue which just adds to the colorful arrangement of items.
A red door on a coloniel style white home. The Chinese believe that a red door brings good luck to it's owners. Look at the Wisteria vine that hovers around the front door. I can't tell if it's real or silk, but it looks wonderful.
I especially like the red wreath with the matching planters. Interesting.......cactus growing? It looks really nice though.
Here again we see the red door. I love the brass accents and the decorative windows.
How do you like the color of the floor? I love it!
Here are all the changes I'm working on right now.
- priming and painting my railing-black, high gloss
- replaced aging, ugly outdoor lanterns with black one (much nicer)
- cut out and replaced all rotten wood
- purchased 2 large urns and potted flowers in them
- I'm doing something to my bricks. They look sad and faded. Still working on that.
- Adding decorative molding around my front door. They are currently flat and uninteresting.
- power washed the cement and bricks
- re-paint the front door. It's black with a stained glass piece and will be re-painted black.
That's it! But that's a lot of work. Stay tuned for the transformation.
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Oh boy. It's a good thing you can't see my front entry. I better get to work.... :)
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I live in an apartment, well mine is a townhouse but its just plain old brick. I am not at all talented with planting things, they all die on me. But for fall I put out some scarecrows and some pumpkins. I cant believe how much more cheery it looks. Now I have to get a welcome mat.
ReplyDeleteJenny
I like pumpkins and scarecrows, they look so good in the fall. Once my porch is all finished, I'll be doing some fall decorating too.
ReplyDeleteBlue Castle-your porch can't be as bad as mine was! No way-mine was really, really bad. It's now looking a lot better.
I just painted my old wooden front door a light blue and polished all the original hardware and I have to say it looks awesome. A great color on your door can do a lot for entry appeal, plus nice accessories such as lighting, mat and doorbell (still working on the doorbell)...
ReplyDeleteFunny you mentioned front porches, I am currently working on mine, I put it off all summer,until my sil almost fell through.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what happened to me. I ignored the front porch all summer and then...........ugh. Now I have so much work.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I do if my townhome have the front door black and I can't change that color!
ReplyDeleteThe wooden door with the red wreath and the cacti out front......Do you know where I can purchase this exact door?? I love it!
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't. But if you like it enough, you can make it. It's only a solid wood door. Add the trim, paint it red, make the wreath and plant the cactus.
ReplyDeleteIt actually could be done, if you like it enough.