Holiday greetings start with your front door
Your front door is the first things guests see when they come to your home, so you want to dress it up with a display that offers warm holiday greetings, a hint of what they will find inside. I asked Bev, our seasonal floral designer, to share some of her secrets for creating beautiful holiday doors. BRING THE INSIDE OUT Bev suggests that the decor on your front door be an extension of the look you’ve created inside your home. How have you decorated your tree and fireplace mantel? Maybe your tree reflects a snowman or Santa theme. Or your garland is dotted with pinecones. Maybe plaid ribbons twist their way down your banister and through the garland on your mantel. If so, Bev says to pick three elements from your displays, like ornaments, floral picks, colors or ribbons, and use them to create your door display. In the photo above, Bev dressed my door in a upsidedown bouquet made from tying together a bare twig, some pine cones and evergreen picks, then finish it off with a plaid bow.
SYNC WITH THE STYLE OF YOUR HOME
The decor on your door should be in keeping with the style of your home. When I lived in my formal Greek revival historical home, my door displays needed to be a lot grander than they do now that I live in my snug little cottage. To match my little home’s personality, I’m opting for smaller, simpler, more casual treatments.
PAY ATTENTION TO PROPORTIONS
When creating a floorplan for your home, it’s essential you pay attention to proportions, making sure everything in the space is on the same scale. The same goes for your front door design. If you have a small door, like I do at my cottage, you need a smaller, simpler door treatment Those of you who have large doors and dramatic entries will need to ramp up the size of your wreath or swag. Just make sure to leave plenty of the door showing. Do you have a glass outer door? Bev suggests placing your display next to the door instead of squishing it between the door and storm door. This year, bells are super popular. Bev used a trio of different-sized bells to adorn a large pine pick on my front door. She finished it off with a double layer of ribbons in burlap and plaid. COORDINATE YOUR PORCH DECOR
One mistake Bev sees folks make when they decorate their doors and front porches is to mix together too many dissimilar objects. The elements may be adorable individually, but they lack enough connection to work together as a group, and end up looking chaotic. She suggests that your door decor set the theme. Then, any other items on your porch should reflect the colors, theme and objects used on your door. For example, if you were to decorate your door with a basket full of greens, you might want to put a Christmas tree in an urn by your door and decorate the tree with the same ribbons, pinecones and berry picks.