Welcome, and please come right in
Sometimes it starts out as just a little bit of assistance and before you know it, the complexities grow and what started out as changing the door bell, turns into altering the entire front entrance.
When I was a youngster, the back door and the front door of someone’s home had sociological differences. Tradespeople and the neighbourhood kids always used the back door (it would never occur to me to knock on the front door). But now, it’s not common for people to allow access to their backyard and rarely does anyone use the back entrance.
The entrance to a house can say a lot about the people that live there. Tis is the area of the house that is going to set the tone for what is to
come. When we work on the en- trance and porch details with a client, we want to make sure that it is a reflection of them.
For instance, if the front door mat says “Welcome,” which is pretty standard, you might imagine that the people that live there are welcoming folks. On the other hand, if the front door mat says “Go Away” or “Enter at Your Own Risk,” you can assume that the homeowner is either a curmudgeon or has a wry sense of humour. Personally, I don’t think the mat needs to be a bumper sticker for your home, although sometime I appreciate the humour.
Start the process by stepping back to see what’s going on. Now imagine that you were arriving to your home for the first time. Have a look at the walkway, the plantings, the porch, the door and the colour palette in general.
Sprucing it up may be a small project or it can be a more involved one.
Start with the porch and the walkway. It may need to be refreshed with a a good power wash- ing. There are also a number of stains that are appropriate for wood porches and concrete. A new colour may create the change you desire. If you have to change the wood on your porch, find out how long you need to wait before you can stain it. Pressure-treated wood requires you to wait awhile and it isn’t the most eco-friendly choice you can make. Cedar is a better choice, although it can be a few more dollars to buy.
Be careful when you select the stain colour — it will have to deal with the rain and mud and dust that is part of normal wear and tear. Seeing footprints leading to the door because the colour is too dark or too light can be irritating.
Next, have a look at the front door itself. The days of the screen door have sadly gone. With the dawn of air conditioning and our increased need for security, the screen door is just not all that practical. Some people like to have a fully wooden door with no glass at all while, others like the idea of a fully glass door. That is a matter of preference, however I would suggest that a door with full glazing needs to have some iron work for added security. And I also think it is important that you frost the door so that visitors aren’t able to see right into the house when they arrive. But it is great to have the additional light in the front entranceway even while the door is closed.
Changing the door completely requires a bit more planning. You may want to increase the size of the opening to add side lights, which will require you to cut the bricks back. It can be well worth the effort, but it is a much bigger job than simply replacing one door with another.
If you are going to have a door made, as we have often done, select the paint colour in advance so that it can be painted in the factory for a clean smooth and durable finish. Whether you buy custom or go to a big box store and install it on your own — you should budget in the area of $3,000 to $5,000 for a door change.
Now you will want to decide if there is room enough on the porch for some furniture. The front porch has made a comeback in new building sites, often for aesthetic impact.
Place urns on either side of the door and use them for plantings. It’s OK to spend a bit of money here as these are the same urns that you use at all year round.
The mat has both a practical as well as an aesthetic reason as it helps you to keep the house a little cleaner. I like the idea of either a rug if you have the room or just a simple broom matt if you don’t. The message is entirely up to you.
Add some furniture to the area even if it is just a simple chair and small table.
Once it is all done, you will feel like you are going to a different house and you will be impressed with yourself.
One of the upsides of not using the back door is that moms no longer have to yell from the kitchen for all the kids to “stop slamming that back door!” But for me, that was just one of the sounds of summer.
But if everyone is going to use the front door, at least it will be a grand event!