As we transition from season to season, I’ve always found it a good rule of thumb to use the quarterly change as an opportunity to refresh your home’s exterior entry. After all, your front porch is the first impression guests have when they arrive to your home, and an infrequently touched porch can often present the impression of an unkempt home. The design tips below are easy and effective ways to ensure your front porch offers all who stand before it a fresh and inviting feeling.

Add Greenery
Greenery can be a simple way to create an inviting impression at the entrance of your home. Consider adding a wreath to your front door, or topiaries positioned to frame your entry way. If your thumb is as black as mine, or you just don’t want the maintenance of live plants, consider utilizing artificial outdoor rated flora, or as we like to call them “fauxpiaries”. If the thought of changing out a wreath for holidays or seasons doesn’t sit well with you, choose a faux green wreath such as faux eucalyptus, boxwood, or magnolia, then simply wire in your favorite faux flowers (sparingly) for a touch of color and seasonality. Keep the wreath up all year (please make sure to take down and dust or wash every other month) and simply change out the color of the flowers inserted.

Paint Your Front Door
Spring is all about nature’s reawakening and during this season our outdoor surroundings come alive with vivid color, so think about the very thing that gives your home curb appeal (or any appeal): your front door! Add additional visual interest to your front elevation by painting your entry door a warm shade similar to that of sunshine yellow, robin’s egg blue, or geranium red. These happy and welcoming bursts of color will create a lively focal point to the front of your house. Our favorite spring paint selections include the Sherwin Williams colors below. Remember this: it’s only paint, so get ready for our other front door color recommendations soon!

When picking your final paint selection, remember to compare any color you choose against the body color of your home to ensure they coordinate well. Paint colors can appear to change in color/tone depending on the other colors they are surrounded by. Lastly, be sure you choose an exterior rated paint even if your front door is covered.

Update Your Exterior Lighting
There’s nothing worse than walking up to a poorly lit home in the dark. Exterior entryway lighting serves the function of ensuring you guests safely make it your front door but can also act as a warm and welcoming design feature as they are introduced to your space. Swap out your sconces or pendant for an updated bit of bling that will help light their way and also enhance the beauty of your porch. Exterior lighting has come a long way over the years with many options having much of the same beauty as your interior lights, but with outdoor durability. Be a bit bold: add some brass, bronze, or even crystal! (Yes, there are exterior crystal light options now)! The easiest exterior change in lighting can be done with pathway or shrubbery lighting. The advancements in the industry have made solar lighting a much more viable option these days. Once upon a time, solar lighting was only available in bright white that produced a sterile, non-attractive light temperature. Now, you can choose the color temperature with solar lighting and achieve the exact color of hard-wired lighting. The downside: some of the lights will not last until the morning, so check reviews and choose accordingly. I still prefer to hardwire the exterior accent lighting, if possible, but do check out the solar options – I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Add Furniture
There’s no better time to enjoy the beautiful outdoors than when the warmth of spring has come – especially before the high temperatures of summer. Enjoy time among the birds and the bees by incorporating furniture pieces such as rocking chairs, benches, and lounge chairs that allow you and your guest to relax on your porch. For low maintenance options, consider selecting pieces made of marine grade polymer that will hold up in the harshest weather and can be hosed down periodically for easy cleaning. Remember, think spring! Find some colors that make you smile and will last through to the fall. We don’t always have to choose the traditional brown/bronze combo for exterior furniture. There are lots of inexpensive chair options available in colors that will make even the spring-timiest bird sing louder.

I hope these tips have spurred the springtime lover in you to add some life to your own front porch! Now, grab a lemonade (or vodka lemonade if it’s after 5pm) and I’ll meet you in those new canary yellow chairs.

Till Next Time,

Happy Designs!