Designing a Front Entrance: Ideas for Lighting & More

Not everyone realises it, but the front of your house is like a handshake. It welcomes visitors and offers the neighbours a first impression. So if you’re looking for front entrance ideas, then you’re on the right track. Because your home should look as welcoming on the outside as it does on the inside! To achieve this, we’re going to look at how it looks during the day and at night.

Front entrance design ideas for daytime

Daytime is the time when your front entrance gets most of its exposure. There are various front entrance design ideas that work with colour, arrangement and texture to make the area look welcoming and stylish. Of course, every front entry or porch is different. So whatever you do, first of all take a step back. Quite few steps, actually, until you have a good look of your front entrance from the street side. Take these front entrance ideas and imagine if they will work. If in doubt, you can always sketch it out:

• Paint the front door. A contrasting colour can do so much for the overall look of your home! However, be sure to pick one that fits your taste AND the character of the house.
• Change your house number sign. It may seem like a small change, but if done right it can work really well.
• Add a door knocker for some vintage flair.
• Hang some outdoor art canvas on, above or next to the door. If you have seating against the wall, it could also look nice above that.
• If you have (more than one piece of) seating furniture, arrange it wisely. Ideally, the largest piece of furniture (such as a sofa) should face outwards, with smaller seats grouped like in a living room.
• Choose an outdoor rug that makes your entry look and feel comfortable and stylish.
• Add pillows to your seats for comfort and colour. Consider pillows of the same colour as your door if you’ve decided to go for that contrasting colour.
• Twin vases, urns or pots on either side of the steps, filled with plants and flowers. Consider using seasonal plants or flowers with colours that complement the rest of the front entrance design.

Entrance lighting ideas for night time

How your front entrance looks during night time depends almost wholly on lights. That’s why we want to give you some entrance lighting ideas, as well. Various types of outdoor lighting are suitable for various types of front entrances. In general, the idea is to have a warm, wide pool of light that light up the whole entry, including corners.

• If your front entrance is quite calm and basic, don’t be afraid to choose a more edgy outdoor light. If it already features quite a lot of details, go for a more basic looking light.
• An outdoor pendant light is a good idea for a high-ceiling entry – except if it’s windy. Its height should be roughly 1/5 of the height of the door, about 220 cm of the ground.
• Single or double outdoor wall sconces on a door’s side are good when the front entrance isn’t that big. That way, you make most use out of your available vertical space. Your wall sconces should be about a quarter of the doors’ length high, placed 15 to 30 cm from the door casing, and 170 cm of the ground.
• If you go for one wall sconce, hang it on the door knob’s side. That way, you can open the door easily enough and see visitors’ faces well!
• An outdoor flush mount light is a good idea if your front entry has a low ceiling. A good width is about one quarter of the height of the door.

We hope these creative front entrance design ideas for daytime and more practical entrance lighting ideas for night time have helped you shape an image if what you want your front entrance to look like. Be sure to let us know in the comments how your make-over project went!