Impress Your Guests With Your Home Entrance

They say first impressions are everything. The same goes for your home. Whether entertaining guests or just having family over for a casual get-together, your entrance makes an instant impact. Here are some easy guidelines that pack a punch without a whole renovation.

Impressions Begin Outside

Before your guests even walk in the door, your home entrance is saying something, hopefully something good!

Front Door:
Does your front door need a bit of a facelift? A simple coat of durable outdoor paint and new hardware on your front door can make a world of difference. Not all doors need to be white. A color complimentary to the outside of your home with trim in another color can make it stand out and invite your guests in.

Lighting:
Nobody wants to walk up to a dark front porch or entrance. If you have a long walkway, one simple way is to install movable solar lights to welcome company. A warm, welcoming front porch light will let your guests know the front door is always open for them.

Decor:
Part of making your front entrance space welcoming is making sure that your guests have enough room to enter. A simple potted plant on each side of the front door along with a door decoration is all you need. Having too many items on the front porch can make it crowded and difficult for guests to enter comfortably.

Inside Your Home

When most of us get home, our first step is to throw your keys on the nearest convenient surface, plop down the mail, take off our shoes and coats and leave them wherever available at the time. This can lead to a cluttered, messy and uninviting entrance for guests. Use the tips below to make sure your guests (and your family) are excited every time they enter your home.

Declutter: Instead of just throwing your keys, sunglasses and wallet wherever you can, make designated spaces for everything. Try decorative boxes or baskets for your items that can be slid away keeping the entrance looking tidy. If you have a small entrance table, decorative boxes with lids are perfect.

Shoes are another eyesore (and tripping problem). Create a designated area for shoes, such as putting in a slim bench to sit down, take your shoes off, and set them underneath. Plastic trays with a lip around them can help catch dirt, rain and snow from your shoes during those Wisconsin fall and winter months so that you do not get your floors dirty, and helps keep them organized.

For small entrances were there is no room for a table or bench, a floating wall shelf with hooks on a rail installed underneath can give you a place to put a basket for gloves and sunglasses, while hanging your keys and other items underneath, keeping it organized and out of the way. For shoes in small spaces, install floating double-decker shoe racks to keep them off the floor.

Another option, if space permits, are built-in custom cabinets and bench for your space. This is especially great if you have children! Each kid can have his or her own cubby hole to store their jackets, backpacks and shoes when they get home from school, and you’ll never have to track down your children’s coats again on the way out the door. It works just as well for adults too.

Lighting: When entering your home, the space should be light and welcoming, not dark and foreboding. If you do not have a ceiling light in your front entrance, consider a small but airy table lamp. This will lighten up the space while making sure that the lamp itself does not take up too much room. If you do have a ceiling fixture, consider making it a hanging ceiling lamp. You’ll want to hang it about 6’8″ from the floor to ensure it still catches the eyes of your guests but is not too low to make the space feel cramped. You want your guests to want to continue in from the entrance to the rest of your home.

Decor: The best part of home entrances is that since they are typically small, you can use the space to make a bold statement without a lot of investment. These can be fun places to have an accent wall with a bright color or wallpaper, or a wall of arranged art or pictures. Another great idea for front entrances is hanging a mirror or mirrors. This not only will make the space seem larger and brighter, but your guests can check what they look like on the way in (and you on your way out). Mirrors with shelves can allow you to put small candles on them, and when lit the reflection will provide a warm glow to your entire entrance, making sure your guests feel right at home.

 

Use these simple ideas to upgrade your home’s entrance and make sure everyone feels welcome right from the start, yourself included.