How to Transform Your Doorway & Entrance Inside & Out

We’d all like to say we don’t judge a book by its cover, but the truth is, we do! First impressions count, and that means that your home’s curbside appeal matters, as does that first step through the front door into your entryway. Even if you don’t welcome in visitors all that often, a beautiful home will lighten your spirits as you come and go.

Fortunately, you don’t need to have a huge budget to give your home a makeover, inside or out. Simply read on for a ton of simple and easy ways (as well as a few ideas that require a little more effort but for a lot of payoff) to make over your doorway, inside and out.

14 Simple Ways to Enhance Your Front Door

Update Your House Numbers

For a striking entrance, replace your house number by the door. Most homes have a cheap number stuck on the wall, often bought from Amazon or a garden centre, but a little more effort can seriously up-level the look of your home. With a little DIY or a few pounds spent, you can make your home stand out. Here are a few ideas:

• Printed slate sign
• Led sign
• Stand-off and/or backlit house numbers free standing from the wall
• Acrylic house number printed standing out from a metal backing
• Numbers fixed to wooden backing
• Numbers standing out from an artificial green wall panel
• Numbers fixed to a wooden panel with a planter box and the bottom, full of artificial plants (make sure this drains if it’s not covered by a porch
• Painted directly onto the wall or door
• Printed in the frosted glass above or beside the door

Change the Colour of Your Front Door

Your front door is the easiest way to add a splash of colour to your home, and painting is by far the most cost-effective and immediate way to do this. Sticking with a neutral colour is always a good idea if you plan to sell the home soon, but bright colours can really wow. A bright red, blue, turquoise, green, or yellow door will make your home the focal point on your street.

If you don’t want to paint the entire door, consider painting the trim instead, especially if you have an older property with decorative trim.

Lighten Things Up

Installing lights by your front door can make a huge impact on how it looks from the pavement. When you think of ways to improve how your front door looks, don’t just focus on how it looks when you see it – such as throughout the day, or at 6pm when you get home from work. Think about how it looks throughout the day and when you get back late at night.

Can you see the path to the door? If you love spending time in more than you do out, you may not think about the fact that you can’t approach your front door without a torch at night, at least, not until those dark winter evenings roll around. Sure, flood lights work, but are they pretty? No. And we’ve all been there on a windy night when the light keeps coming on and off, and you’re pretty sure you’re about to be a victim in a horror film.

Instead, think about how you can make your lighting look good. If you have a fence, consider hanging solar lanterns from the fence posts. Add solar lights (or powered lights, if you have the budget) up the side of the path, and think about those dark areas like the area around your car where you end up walking through the bushes or into your car because you can’t see. This is a great opportunity to create something practical and beautiful.

Install a Brand New Front Door

If you own your home, have a little money to spend on improvements, and want to improve your home’s value, then upgrading to a brand new front door may be the right move, especially if yours is looking a little lacklustre. A new door will set you back between £600 and £2,500 on average, depending on how big it needs to be, plus installation, but the returns can be much better.

Not only will you love coming in and out of your home, but your home’s value will increase, likely a lot more than the cost of the new door and a few other improvements you make on this list.

Add Planters

Almost all of us have a little space on either side of our door, and adding a couple of planters is one of the fastest and most effective ways to improve your front door (even if you live in a flat!). Grab a couple of planters, choose a couple of artificial topiary plants, and stand them in the pots with a little soil or pebbles. In ten minutes flat, your front door will look ten times better.

Tackle the Overgrowth

If you’ve got any kind of front garden, you’ve likely got some weeds. Even paved areas can become home to a few dandelions, so grab a bucket and spend a few minutes pulling up those weeds. If it’s going to take you a lot more time than 10 minutes, then it may be time to consider making over your front garden so it’s lower maintenance. Putting down a membrane with pebbles and using planters with artificial plants will ensure the front of your home looks beautiful year-round. See our 13+ Top Tips to Landscape a Low-Maintenance Garden for more guidance. 

You should also think about overgrowth around your path, even if you are happy with your live plants, try to keep them from encroaching over the path. In an ideal world, your path should be at least 90cm wide, though some old Victorian homes have beautiful old, tiled paths that are narrower. If this is the case, make sure there’s nothing above knee height so you and your guests can walk up and down freely.  

Upgrade Your Doormat

Okay, so this is a super simple but will make a big difference. Most of us buy a doormat and leave it there until it’s worn out, but upgrading your doormat regularly can help your home look better put together and brighten a dull day in the winter. Look for doormats that have a fun or positive slogan on, or a pretty design. In October, put out a Halloween-themed doormat, and in winter, one with snowflakes.

Upgrade Your Path

If you have a path that leaves a lot to be desired, and often gets muddy in the winter, think about upgrading it ASAP. You’d be surprised how quickly and cost effectively you can put in a stone walkway. Better Homes & Gardens has 3 simple ideas and steps to follow for a stone path, so you can find that here if you want to upgrade your path. 

Add Front Door Smart Tech

Smart technology isn’t limited to the temperamental Alexa in your living room, so consider adding smart tech to your front door to make your home more secure and easier to live with. You can use smart lighting outside and on the porch, use a keyless entry keypad for the door, and a smart doorbell so you can keep control no matter where you are.

Paint Your Front Entry Steps

If you have boring concrete steps leading up to your home, you can spruce them up with a little paint and some masking tape. Start by painting your concrete stairs a solid colour with non-slip concrete paint, after using a concrete sealer primer. White looks pretty, but it doesn’t work well in the UK unless the stairs are covered. Stick to darker colours (like grey or muted blue). For the stairs directly up to your door, you can even paint a faux stair-runner in a brighter or darker colour.

Add Architectural Details

Live in an old home? If so, look at the architecture and consider if anyone (typically in the 60s, 70s, or 80s) hid or covered up some of the original detailing. If so, you may be able to uncover it (such as a beautiful archway covered with a wooden porch) or add those details back onto your property with moulding, columns, or brackets.

Replace Old Hardware

If you have an old door, replace the hardware when you repaint it. A new doorhandle, door locks, and letterbox can make your door feel brand new. If that’s too expensive, why not spray paint them? Remove them if you can, or cover up the rest of your door with paper and masking tape and paint them with a waterproof paint.

Use Wreaths

Just like puppies, wreaths aren’t just for Christmas! Okay, so wreaths aren’t as serious or important as that, but wreaths are appearing on front doors at other times of year, and we’re here for it! In Easter, add a wreath with little eggs buried between the reeds, in autumn, add a wreath full of artificial fallen leaves, and in winter, use those wreaths of holly or beaded snowflakes. Not only does it look pretty, but they’re a good reminder to make sure the front of your home still looks in ship-shape.

Rotate the Plants in the Pots Outside Your Door

We talked about using artificial topiary trees in planters on either side of the front door, and that looks incredible year-round. But, if you have a single corner or like to switch things up, consider making a plant corner with a collection of three (or more, but odd numbers look best) planters and change up the plants every season or so. In summer, use artificial tropical plants, such as a snake plant, artificial monstera, and an artificial Boston fern.

What About Inside?

It’s surprising that so many people put their entryways at the bottom of their home decorating priorities, considering it’s the first thing they, and other people, see of their home. We often don’t think about how making this area more enjoyable will brighten our lives. In many cases, we ditch our shoes, bags, and dog leads and head into the cleaner areas of the home. Here are some quick tips to help you brighten your entryway:

• Keep It Simple – most entryways are limited on space, so keep it simple. Use a slim console table, a mirror and/or artwork, and a lamp are all simple options to add a homey feel right when you walk through the door.
• Use Smart Storage – we all need a place to leave our things, so look for smart solutions. Use a vertical shoe holder instead of a horizontal one, place a doormat beneath the shoe holder to collect debris.
• Add Greenery – it can often seem impossible to add greenery into an entryway, but it really is possible, if you think outside the box. Use artificial succulents on your console table, place a tall, thin artificial olive tree in the corner by the bench, or place a storage shelf overhead and place an artificial trailing plant up there. Adding a little life to your entryway will help smooth the transition from outside to inside.
• Try a Decorative Wall – if you’re short on space, try using a decorative wallpaper, art-print wall covering, or gallery wall to bring additional colour into your small entryway.
• Add a Mirror – adding a mirror is not only practical, but can help your entryway look lighter and feel bigger. You can also use a mirror outside by your door if you are lacking a window in that area – it will help balance the look of the exterior of your home.

If you do only one thing from this list, let it be adding artificial topiary trees or plants to either side of your front door. This one change can help your home look more loved and better put together. If you’re ready to add some greenery to your doorway, browse our range here.