8 Accents To Give Your Front Door Personality

Curb appeal.

It’s a term homeowners around the world wrestle with because what does it really mean? Is curb appeal just about a finely manicured lawn and a few strategically placed garden gnomes? Does curb appeal involve repainting the entire front side of your home to make it more visually appealing to anyone that passes by?

Enhancing the curb appeal of your house can involve a large number of home improvement projects, but one thing remains clear. Curb appeal starts at the front door.

According to the door specialists at ETO Doors, their clients put as much thought into the appearance of their front door as the functionality. Making a positive first impression should matter for homeowners. Your front door is the wordless welcome mat that can increase the value of your home based on first impressions alone.

Let’s review eight accents to give your front door personality. 

Color Sets the Tone

When you want to make a room inside your house pop, the first idea that comes to mind involves repainting the room. The same principle should apply to the front door.

When it comes to giving the front door a boost in personality, the first idea that comes to mind is to use a bold color that sets your home apart from other homes in the neighborhood. What exactly does a bold color mean?

It means repainting the front door with a color that turns heads for all the right reasons.

You do not want to use a color that contrasts poorly with the color scheme used for the rest of your home’s exterior. For example, painting the front door yellow when your house exudes the calm beauty of a deep beige will make your home stand out in the neighborhood for all the wrong reasons.

Select a color that pops, without bursting the design bubble of your home.

Hang a Wreath

During the winter holidays, many front doors are adorned with decorative wreaths. When the first of the year rolls around, the wreaths find their way back into dusty storage boxes. For the rest of the year, the front doors add nothing to the décor of a home.

You can change that by thinking outside the home design box. You can hang a different wreath several times a year to give your front door more personality. Make seasonal changes or hang a different wreath at the start of each month. A wreath is an affordable way to improve the appearance of your front door, while also acting as a comforting welcome mat that is hung, not stood on. 

Handle with Care

Door handles are touched about as often as packages going through the scanning system at Federal Express. We typically think of them as more of a functional addition to the front door than a decorative element that can give the front door personality.

The time has come to rethink the effect a door handle has on the design of a front door.

Choosing a door handle that is constructed with a durable metal is a good idea, but make sure the durable metal sparkles under the midday sun to give the front door more visual appeal. Even a rusted look works well if it blends in seamlessly with a nautical design scheme for the front door.

Doesn’t Have to Be Just the Door

When you think front door accents, you probably think about ways to make the door itself more visually appealing. Well, it also matters what you place near the door. Flowers set in deep pots that either complement or contrast with the design of the front door can improve the appearance of it.

You can also place flower pots of different sizes and design scheme next to the front door to make a bolder statement that gives your front door more personality.

Install a Dutch Door

If you want to accentuate the look of your front door, you can replace it with a stylish Dutch door that gives your home a unique personality that is the talk of the neighborhood. Most front doors are constructed with solid wood that includes a screen door to welcome in the fresh air. You can get the best of both front door design worlds by opting for a Dutch door that swings open at the top half, with exuding a stylish design for the more stable bottom half. 

Dutch doors are the ideal type of door to add rustic accents that present a backcountry charm.

Vintage is Always in Style

Adding vintage accents to the front door is a great way to highlight the architecture of your house, as well as develop a unique design that gives your home more personality. Implementing a technique that ages the appearance of the front door and surrounding shutters represents a common method for “Vintagizing” your home. Using a stencil to add characters on the door is another way to make your front door present a vintage appearance. Consider attaching vintage artifacts to the front door, as well as the frame that surrounds it.

Knock It Out of the Park

Like a handle, a knocker can add panache to the front door. Unlike a handle, the design key is to add a knocker that complements the appearance of the front door. For example, if the front door exudes rural charm, then the knocker should do the same. One of the most effective ways to give your front door more personality is to add a knocker made of stained wood.

Sidelights Make Excellent Design Highlights

Narrow, vertical windows, otherwise known as sidelights, can be stationary or fully operational to allow a wide variety of light angles to dazzle the guests that visit your home. A common installing strategy is to add sidelights with transom windows, which are long, horizontal windows installed just above the front door. Natural light enhances the warmth of your home, while at the same time creating a more open and inviting look.

Take the design of your front door to the next level by adding accents that increase the curb appeal of your home.