You’re looking for front door ideas that can boost your home’s curb appeal? There are plenty of ways to achieve this effect. You can create front door decor by adding planters, lights, awning, trim, garden, curtain, sign, or even a bench.
You can also change your house’s entryway a bit every season to make it welcoming for Christmas, Halloween, fall, summer, winter, or spring. It requires a little work, but with a proper plan, it can be easy as ABC.
Add Planters to Your Front Door
This may be the easiest way to instantly improve your home’s curb appeal. Turn a space near the entrance into an inspiring spot by adding a planter. You can fill it with a lot of different plants: flowers, succulents, grasses, ferns, lavender, arbs. Options are endless.
What is crucial here is choosing the height and width of the plant properly. The key is choosing options that are going to complement your doors (narrow entryway – small plants, wide entryway – high plants). There are also alternative planters styles that can be used, like wall planters (you’ll find them below).
Create the entryway with planters
It may sound strange at the beginning that adding more planters can create an entryway, but it works. Take a look at the picture. Planters direct you inside, don’t they?
The key to achieving this look is having at least 4, preferably 6 planters, and placing them in three rows when the widest will be the one most distant from doors. Planters closest to doors need to be placed as close to the trim as possible. The highest plants should be the closest to the doors, the more distant they’re the lower they can be.
Add trees to your front door
Planters with trees accent the vertical lines of your entryway and are superbly elegant. Just take a look at these pictures!
In the picture, you can see bay trees which are an excellent choice for this location. The wow effect can be achieved by the look of their trunks, often twisted or shaped in the other way. At the same time, they have trees only at the top, so they do not shrink the space and rather put visual stress on height.
If you live in a cooler climate look for arbs, which are cold-hardy and low maintenance evergreens.
If you don’t know yet which option works best for you take a look at these doors in Dublin – which side do you like more?
Add wall planters to your front door
Take a look at these lovely Italian doors covered with an awning and surrounded by wall planters with petunia. With ceramic house number, it screams Tuscany (the width of the doors and a doorknob are pretty significant too :).
Adding wall planters is especially good when your house has an entryway at the walkway. You do not want to block it in any way, but as seen above, it can be beautified and personalized.
Choose a climbing plant for your front door
Speaking of Italy, take a look at these doors framed by a climbing plant. It looks so unique, and marvelous! And you can recreate this door framing with multiple plants. A country look can be easily achieved with climbing roses. Other classic options are wisteria, jasmine (oh the smell is just amazing!), clematis, and Virginia Creeper (the last one is a winner for me).
Trim Your Front Door
As you can see in the picture above, trimming your front door will have a dramatic effect on how your house looks from the street. You can leave this front trim work to the pros, or you can do it yourself and save some money in the process. If you decide to do it yourself, you can get the materials from your local hardware store for a very reasonable price.
The trim in the picture for sure emanates its grandness to the front of the building. It is not only pretty massive but also in a contrasting color.
Change your front door lights
Lighting can totally transform your entryway. A proper fixture can easily transform the entrance. Here you can see classical lamps, that are massive. Changing them to modern would transform the space in a minute.
As I look at them I think about Andersen’s tales, and there is a reason for that, as the photo was made in the Netherlands. Planters with heathers and Christmassy wreath show it was made in December. Wouldn’t you like to come in?
If outdoor lights are the element you can get to know a lot about them from my blog post about outdoor lighting design. You can learn from this article which fixture type is going to work best for you.
Add a lantern to your entryway
If you’re lucky enough to have a space in front of your doors adding a lantern (or 2, 3, 4 of them) can be an excellent way to decorate the space. What a pleasure it has to be to visit the house from the picture after the sunset!
A hint: some people are afraid to leave a lit candle unattended. Instead of a real fire, you can use LED pillar candles or battery-operated fairy lights.
Add some color to your front door
There is no doubt a color splash can add a wow factor to the front of your house. Just take a look at these pictures! With white front doors, these entrances would be nice and welcoming, but not so interesting! The color of the door can transform the front of the house in one day (or even 6 hours, if you paint fast).
Going with one color is safer (as in the second picture), but adding white elements makes the door pop even more.
Change your front doors’ knob
Surprisingly changing a doorknob can make a difference in the way an entrance is perceived by people. Especially if you just did a refresh of the front of your house. Adding an up-to-date finish to your doors can make them look new.
There are so many styles of doorknobs one has to figure a color scheme for specific doors. Dark colors work very well with gold and silver, while intense colors doors often look better with black doorknobs.
Get creative with your doorbell
I’m all for little details, the type of person who simply cannot stop looking at items made in the times when people cared for beauty. But can you blame me? Just look at these lovely doorbells!
Your doorbell can actually be something to remember, like this one below, that you have to pull instead of press:
For a person who enjoys having fun with the design, a real bell might be the option. Kids absolutely love them, you may not love the way they use them though.
Make your doors interesting with a knocker
I love the experience of using a knocker! And, believe me, I’m not alone! If you enjoy the classic design of the doors adding a knocker can actually be a perfect solution for you.
A knocker can also add a zest. Just take a look at the hand knocker below. Wow!
Hang a “Welcome” sign
Hanging a welcome sign is such a simple move. You can easily make one, or buy one under $30. Combining it with a wreath is going to transform your front door and make it a lot more interesting.
If you’re not in on hanging a wood piece that can bang on your door you can also add a standing sign on your floor (you can view a standing “Welcome” sign DIY video here).
Add an outdoor rug or mat
It is amazing how an outdoor mat can change the overall look of the space. There are few rules though to follow.
First of all the mat shouldn’t be as wide or wider than the doors.
The rug is visually an additional vertical line, sort of a bottom frame part. You can use it to enlarge the area a little bit.
Add a bench to your front porch
A bench can add a lot of curb appeal to your entry, especially when it is decorated with outdoor pillows. It looks so welcoming!
In the picture above you can see a combination of front door decor ideas: not only a staged bench but also a floor vase arrangement, a summer wreath, a floor mat, and even a sun decor on the front wall.
Hang a wreath on your front door!
A wreath can be an excellent door decor not only for a specific season (these ideas you’ll find below) but also for any day of the year. Adding a wreath makes the front door area instantly warmer and more welcoming.
There are plenty of styles and materials to choose from. You can have some fun with it. Just take a look at the picture with a wreath made with feathers – can you see the knocker?
Christmas Front Door Decor Ideas
There are so many ways of decorating front doors for Christmas! I actually created a separate blog post for this subject, as it simply needs more attention. In the pictures above you’ll find a little bit of taste for it, but if you want to get the tone of front door Christmas ideas, click here. Below you’ll find a shortlist of possibilities.
The most basic way of decorating doors is by hanging a wreath. As you can see in the pictures you can also add Christmas hangers to the doorknob and lights.
The other thing you can do is add a garland. Either a basic one (like in the last picture) or one with ribbons, Christmas balls, and lights.
The next level can be adding decor to your front door – it can be a “Christmas” sign or a decorated sleigh.
You can also decorate your front door planters or add planters with Christmas trees.
I prepared a whole blog post about decorating the front door for Christmas. It is excellent to get inspired for coming Christmas and includes above-the-door decor, garlands, wreaths, lighting, and more!
Halloween Front Door Decor Ideas
The way you’re going to decorate your front door for Halloween depends mostly on your taste and the way you want to celebrate. In the pictures above you’ll find some inspiration.
A queen of Halloween decor is a pumpkin. A little one looks great in a wreath, bigger ones can decorate an entryway in a unique Halloweeny way. Bricks of fresh hay complement pumpkins very well. And there are so many pumpkin types a composition made out of them can be very interesting.
Fall Front Door Decor Ideas
Adding a fall flavor to an entryway can be a real pleasure. Warm colors, natural wood, flowers, plants, lanterns, fall fruits, can be used to create a composition that catches the eye and makes entering the house an adventure. You can choose non-standard plants for your compositions, like ornamental cabbage.
In the fall I enjoy accessories like baskets and lanterns. Without added colors, they’re usually not giving a wow effect, but they compose really well with a warm fall color scheme. Interestingly, an outdoor rug can add to the color composition (just take a look at the last picture with layered rugs).
Summer Front Door Decor Ideas
Summer is an amazing time of the year when the options are basically endless and nature in general looks amazing. Bringing it a little bit close to the entryway is basically everything you need to do.
The easiest way is to add a summer wreath. You can use flowers, grass. whatever you enjoy and works well with a color scheme of the exterior of the house (just take a look at the 3rd picture).
You can also add planters next to the door, or even decor (like a watering can with tulips in the last picture).
Winter Front Door Decor Ideas
The most important decoration time for winter is obviously Christmas, but you do not want to have a Christmassy look outside for several months. What is going to work well after Christmas is a simple wreath?
To me, lanterns are great for this season as well. I’d use them for parties and gatherings to guide guests from cold outdoors to the warm and illuminated interior of the house.
Spring Front Door Decor Ideas
Spring is an amazing time of year. Plants start to grow, flowers bloom. There is plenty of colors and life everywhere. And so can be at the front door. Placing planters with blooming flowers next to your door is the simplest, but in my opinion also the best idea, for summer front door decor. Even though plants are going to require watering it is so worth it to have them close!
A less engaging type of decor is a wreath. A spring wreath can be made out of developing twigs.
Now it’s your turn
I hope you find my outdoor Front door ideas interesting.
Now I’d like to hear from you: which front door decor did you like the most and would like to add to your entrance?
Was it the wreath, or maybe a lantern?
And did you already know everything about front door decor or did some of my ideas surprised you?
Either way, let me know by leaving a quick comment below.
