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Change your front door color or replace your house numbers in a different style.
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Adding planters is a terrific way to highlight your entrance.
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Blue porch ceilings are a long-standing tradition in the south.
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Adding furnishings will make your front porch welcoming to guests.
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Upgrading lighting fixtures is an effective way to illuminate your front entrance.
The old adage that you never get a second chance to make a first impression is just as true for your front porch as it is for anything else. If your entryway is looking frumpy or tired, consider some fun and easy ways to change it up.
Change your front door color. Nothing beats the punch of a sassy new color greeting your guests at the front door. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to make a big impact and introduce a different hue into your daily life.
Add planters to flank your front door to create symmetry. It’s a terrific way to highlight that new door color or refresh it with a complementary one. Or, if you already have planters, try some new blooming flowers added into your pots or even taller palm trees for a fun look. If you don’t know majestic palms, look them up because they’re perfect for this.
Wall sconces and overhead lighting can make or break an entrance. Consider adding some if your porch is without, or changing older fixtures out to new ones as an effective way to illuminate your door and make it more inviting when friends come calling.
Replace house numbers in a different style. While this may seem like a small thing, new house numbers, especially stylish ones, can completely change the look of an entranceway. With so many unique styles available in ceramic tiles, metal and other interesting materials, this is an easy, artful way to freshen things up.
Add or replace your door knocker to add a personal touch. If you’ve never gone looking, you may have no idea of the myriad styles available indoor knockers, everything from traditional pineapples to monograms to cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny. An amusing door-knocker all but guarantees that your guests will be smiling when you open the front door.
Paint the ceiling. Blue porch ceilings as a way to ward off evil spirits are a long-standing tradition in the south, so a coat of blue is a fabulous way to be historically accurate while also discouraging wasps and other insects from building their nests up there.
Be creative with your furnishings. Plenty of porches have swings, so why not try a bed swing instead of a traditional porch swing? With an array of colorful pillows, it will make your front porch practically irresistible for guests as well as yourself.
Brandeis Short and Adrianne Bugg are Pillar & Peacock, an interior design firm with offices in Irvington andRichmond, focusing on design that reflects your story. Located in: The Shops at Trick Dog, 4353 Irvington Road and at 411 Libbie Avenue, Suite 2, Richmond.
10 am-5 pm, Monday-Friday or by appointment. pillarandpeacock.com
