First impressions are important, so how can you be sure your front door makes a good one?
Front doors are going through something of a style revolution, with memorable paint colours, striking door knockers, pretty wreaths and clever lighting increasingly on display.
Here are some simple ways to boost your curb appeal.
1 Support act
Frame your front door with white or lilac wisteria, trailing ivy or a fragrant rose, and fill pots and planters with pretty flowers and lavender to stand on the step or line the path. Make a statement in a town house by standing a pair of box topiary balls, bay or olive trees in large pots either side of a glossy black front door.
2 Colour it beautiful
Choose an attention-grabbing colour like pillar-box red or racing green – who could forget the house with blue door in Notting Hill? - or keep it soft with pastel pink, white or sage for a more country look. Your paint choice should suit the house: red brick works with well with black, teal blue and sea green, while natural stone looks great with natural timber and almost any paint colour. If painting your door isn’t an option, consider adding patterned film to glass panels.
3 Knock, knock
Give your door a smart new look with well-chosen door furniture. Wrought iron looks good on country properties, as do charming brass bee, hare or heart door knockers. For a modern house, look for sleek, simple designs in steel and brushed aluminium.
4 Welcome signs
Doormats come in all shapes, colours and sizes – have an all-weather one on the step outside and another, more decorative one as you step inside.
5 Light fantastic
A good outside light is both welcoming and reassuring and is a practical way to highlight your doorbell and the name or number of the house. A hanging lantern is great for ambience, and spotlights or uplighters can be used to highlight architectural features or planting.
6 Wreathed in smiles
A decorative door wreath will certainly boost your curb appeal and can be changed with each season. Whether you opt for silk flowers or dried, classic boxwood, fresh florals, Christmas holly and dried fruits, or grasses and grains, a front door wreath will add style to your front door all year round.
