Ensure the front of your property lifts your spirits, and makes the right impression, with these tips for sprucing it up

With all the effort we spend on creating beautiful interiors, the outside of our homes can often be overlooked. Check out these easy ideas for making sure the front of your property gives the kind of welcome you – and your guests – will love.

1. Perk up your path

Create an inviting entrance that extends all the way to your door with a striking footpath. Period properties look great with original antique tiles or, for more contemporary buildings, arrange your own path with modern geometric designs.

Monochrome looks are easy to achieve: just pick a light tile and a dark tile in the same hue and devise an interesting layout. Alternatively, opt for a splash of colour to brighten the look.

There are plenty of other options.

2. Give your door a lick of paint

The easiest way to give your exterior a design boost is simply to paint your front door. It’s a relatively easy job and shouldn’t take a professional long if you’re lucky with the weather.

Classic black or soft greys are always going to look smart, but if you’re not one for the safe option, then this is a perfect chance to experiment. A vibrant shade can be a pleasant surprise and make a real statement. When you fancy a change, you can simply paint over it with a new shade.

3. Replace the front door

If you’re looking to make a bigger impact, consider replacing the door entirely.

It’s a chance to introduce new textures and surfaces.

This option is easier and less expensive than adding new windows, or cladding a whole section of a property’s exterior, but it still makes a significant visual difference and hints at the style of the interior.

4. Paint the exterior walls

It’s common practice to keep exterior walls light and neutral and to choose a brighter or darker shade for your doors and window frames, but the opposite can also work really well. Exterior walls look super stylish in darker shades and, because they’re bathed in natural light, you can be much more daring with colours than you might be inside your home.

5. Pop in some plants

A little greenery instantly adds a natural element and creates an inviting entrance to your home.

If you don’t have the space for a front garden with a full lawn and flowerbeds, simple potted plants can do the trick. Also consider window boxes, hanging baskets, wall-mounted plant pots or climbing plants if space is tight.

6. Discover the beauty of symmetry

There’s something about a perfectly symmetrical doorway that adds instant grandeur. A pair of matching lights, plants or accessories flanking the door create a look that’s refined and preened to perfection.

7. Brighten up with lighting

Aside from the obvious practical advantage, exterior lighting is a brilliant way to add interest to the front of your home. There’s an array of options, including intricate traditional fittings, Art Deco pieces, and contemporary and industrial styles.

Not only will they look decorative during the day, the light emitted in the evening will add an architectural feel to the building.

8. Decorate with new hardware

Replacing door knockers, numbers and letterboxes is a great way to spruce up your front door and enhance the style of your property. Choose from classic brass, contemporary metal finishes and colours, or traditional black wrought iron.

Antiques shops are great for unusual door knockers and knobs, or you could even have something unique made for you.

9. Name that house

Research has shown that giving your house a good name, as in this project by Holly Christian, can increase its value. As long as your house number is still visible, you can pretty much choose whatever you like, providing the name is not already in use in your local area.

If your house is already named but you want to change it to something more desirable, then it’s a little more complicated, but still not difficult. First contact your local council to check whether the new name is already being used locally. Then register the change with all the relevant parties, such as your utility companies, the Land Registry, your mortgage lender and the electoral roll.

10. Smarten up the driveway

A driveway serves a practical purpose, but can often be overlooked as an attractive feature in itself. However, putting a little thought into its design can be an excellent way to improve your home’s kerb appeal.

Try using curved borders or patterned paving slab designs to offset the utilitarian nature of your driveway and turn it into a design feature.

Article from Houzz (July 2023) - written by Jennifer Chong (Interior Designer)