The front entry of your house should be a warm and welcoming platform to greet guests and reflect what’s on the inside. After spending a year working on the inside of my fixer-upper home, I decided to seriously tackle the front door and porch area. Here I share with you five of the things I’ve done to improve the front entry way of my house, that you can do, too!
1. Paint the Front Door
Of course! Paint! The ultimate tool for an easy transformation. My front door is original to the house and I considered replacing it, but the amount of work involved in taking off the door trim and completely redoing it myself (or paying someone a bunch of money) was one thing that prevented me from doing that. It’s protected not only by a storm door but also the porch, so the door, being 100 years old, is not in considerably bad shape. I’m also all for preserving the charm of the original parts of the house, so I elected to use paint to spruce things up in the front entry way. I painted the interior of the door and frame, exterior of the door, and the threshold.
Choosing Colors
I kept the outside a neutral tan color that matches the house. I used the same color as a couple of exterior doors on the upstairs unit. Additionally, I painted the frame part between the wood door and the storm door the same.
I painted the interior a color that would go well with the color scheme of my living room. It is called “Sailing Suzy”. I don’t think the photos do it justice; it complements the dark stain of the floor and trim quite well, calming to the living area, yet still makes a statement. Much better than the white it had been.
I would advise, if you paint a door two colors, that you paint the edge of the door what ever color it is on the side that it swings. I tried painting the edge the neutral tan color, thinking that it would look better when left open, but it left a little line of tan around the door when it was closed that I didn’t like. So I painted the edge blue. You can’t see the blue from outside, so it looks cleanly done.
Lastly, I painted the threshold dark brown to match the trim of my house. The old layers of paint had worn down to raw wood in some spots, and it was in desperate need of repainting.
I also replaced the cheap plexi-glass that had been put in the window space with a obscured, thicker acrylic sheet. I’ll write up a separate post for that project.
https://homekimprovements.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/entrydoorpaintHomeKimprovements.mp4
Check out the time lapse of my front door paint project!
2. New Mailbox
My mailbox was in pretty sad shape when I moved in. It was covered in rust, and the top was missing. In retrospect, I probably should have made sure my tetanus shot was up to date, since I risked getting gouged by the rusty, sharp edges of it every time I stuck my hand in to retrieve my mail.
The mailbox to the upstairs apartment looked a little better, if you don’t count the fact that it was falling off the house.
I finally invested in a couple of new, more modern but classic looking mailboxes from Home Depot. They really are not too difficult to install at all. I was a little worried about making a mistake and having an ugly hole in the siding, but I’ve found that they make some caulk the same color as my house. So if needed, I could use that to fill any unwanted holes. I think I replaced both of them in less than a half hour.
One more front entry improvement you could make is updating your house numbers. Where I live, there is a city-wide ordinance from the 1970s that specifies how house numbers must be in size and style, and I’m usually a rule-follower, so I’m not going to touch them. They look a little outdated, but so does everyone else (except for a few rebellious souls in the neighborhood who have dared to change them).
3. New Storm Door
The front entry storm door didn’t look too horrible from the outside, but if you looked closely, there was a couple-inch gap at the bottom on the handle side. A little too big for my comfort. I didn’t like keeping the wood door open because of that– I really didn’t want any visitors from the natural neighborhood ecosystem in my living room. The screen panel had also obviously been replaced, since it was a different color than the door, and remnants of the temporary duct tape fix were left behind on the inside.
It was a little intimidating replacing the screen door myself. The first one that I did for the upstairs apartment, I had my dad help me bring it home and upstairs. It took me about three afternoon/evening work times to get it installed by myself. And at one point, I nearly dropped it off the back of the airing porch trying to catch the hinge on the top hanging screw. You might want to consider looking for an extra hand if you’ve never hung one before.
One trick to me lifting it up a bit more easily on my own was taking out the glass window and screen. It lightened it, and also made it easier to grab. I hung the second one like a pro! I also wasn’t balancing on the edge of second story balcony on my ladder, so that probably helped, too.
If you’ve never installed a screen/storm door before, I would say the directions they give you with it are pretty straightforward. The door I bought was the Larson brand. I also watched a couple of Youtube videos to help me through a few of the steps, like how to install the handle.
Enjoy the install timelapse with my amateur videography skills.
https://homekimprovements.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/stormdoorinstallHomeKimprovements.mp4
4. New Light Fixture
The old fixture– well, what remained of it– was an eyesore. I’m guessing there was some sort of cover over the light bulb at some point, and either it broke, or they dropped the tiny screw that came with it between the porch floor boards while replacing a light bulb and just never bothered to get a replacement.
I picked up up a basic, but affordable fixture at Home Depot. The selection for exterior ceiling lights is fairly limited, but this one works perfectly. I was tempted to splurge, but reminded myself that whether I spent $20 or $80, it wouldn’t really have an impact on my home’s value, nor would I be spending much time looking at it.
5. Updated Front Entry Decor
I did a few things on the decor front: some potted plants, a new welcome mat, and a DIY grapevine wreath to complete my front entry area.
POTTED PLANTS
I had picked up a large pot on clearance at Home Depot last fall with the intention of putting it on my front porch. I had a huge dilemma about what to put in it, though. So, I didn’t actually get around to putting it out and filling it with plants until about July. I ended up putting some variegated pink impatiens in it. This gives my house a more “cared for” feel from the outside. Just don’t forget to water them!
I don’t have a picture of the pot, but if you check out my timelapse video of the storm door install, it inadvertently features the impatiens for about three seconds when the wind blew my makeshift camera tripod over.
WELCOME MAT
My old welcome mat had been in use for the past several apartments I’ve had. It had some cheesy saying about friends that I’m sure I had gotten on clearance because it was cheap and I needed an entry rug.
I picked up a super cute new mat at Menards for about $12. It’s made of recycled rubber, so it’s eco-friendly, which is great, too.
GRAPEVINE WREATH
I really enjoy making faux floral wreaths, and I think I have a bit of knack at it. I love going to Hobby Lobby and scanning the floral section, mixing and matching the flowers and greenery to see what works. I usually end up kneeling on the floor with my wreath and a pile of stems, trying to work out my design while dodging odd glances from the customers steering their carts around me. Maybe there’s a more conventional way to do it, but it’s how my artistic mind works best with this task.
I chose some dahlias with variegated blue/purple/green tones, some lightly greened eucalyptus, lavender and white flowering dogwood. All you need to do is cut the long stems off, leaving just enough stem to tuck between the grapevine branches. I use a hot glue gun to secure some parts, too, to help keep things in place. I just kind of slide things around until I like how it looks. A good pattern I follow is a larger central flower (such as dahlia or hydrangea), surrounded by greenery and a smaller flower or two. There are always so many flower options and you can check them out online here. Sometimes I’ll add a monogram to balance the other side of the wreath. I’ll add a little tutorial on a future post.
So that’s where things are at with my front entry! It’s looking a lot better, at least around the door area. I’d like to eventually build a small retaining wall along the edge by the sidewalk since my front yard is so steep going down. I’ve also got a few cement steps currently covered in ugly green exterior carpeting and are in desperate need of repair. I’m considering painting the porch brown, too. So I’ve still got my work cut out for me.
What other DIY ideas have helped you spruce up your front porch? I’d love to hear about them!
Top image: “Photo of Plants in Front of House” by Leah Kelly, via pexels.com.