They say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but as the first thing they see, the front entry of your home makes an important impression on visitors. While most homeowners focus on creating the perfect interior space, it's also essential to make sure that your home's entrance makes the right statement from the outside.Below are some really great ideas about how to welcome guests into your home with the perfect exterior entry.

The Walkway

Before you begin making plans for your front door and entrance, it's essential to make a great first impression with the walkway. From the street, your walkway should make a straight visual line leading right to your home's front door. Great ideas include landscaped bushes or other plants framing the walkway, and solar-powered garden lights. Make sure the pavement is straight, clean, and free of debris, cracks, toys, and other outdoor items.

If your front yard is overgrown or wild-looking, consider doing some creative touch-ups so that the eye is naturally led to the walkway and straight to your front door.

Front Door Colours

Even if you've chosen a relatively conservative decorating scheme on the inside of your home, one really great idea to create a fabulous first impression for guests is to choose a bright or unusual colour for your front door. Pastel colours are great for making your front door "pop" in contrast with the trim and other elements of the front exterior of your home.

Another great idea is to subtly use the colour themes of the grass, bushes, or plants growing in your front yard to decide the colour of your front door. Pastel greens, yellows, and pinks can blend nicely with the scenery and still draw the eye to your front door.

Exterior Colour Combinations

To get the maximum effect for the exterior entry of your home, it's best to match all of the colours in a pleasing way. Following the Rule of Threes, contrast the principle building material of your home's exterior (stone, slate, brick, etc.) with two harmonious colours used on the trim and accents. For example, a home with a light grey concrete or stone exterior can be perfectly paired with bright white trim and periwinkle blue colour accents on planters, handrails, and even the front door.

If you're not sure where to start, begin by choosing two colours that match with your home's exterior. Contrast dark colours with light ones, using the boldest choices for your front door and light colours for the trim, walkway borders, and other accessories.

Awesome Accents

There are great ways to subtly use colour throughout the exterior of your home. Everything from handrails to the text on your mailbox can be carefully colour-coordinated to create a pleasing visual effect. Planters, lawn decorations, and even flower colours can be chosen to create a lovely colour scheme that subtly draws the eye without looking too wild.

Door Decorations

Another great option is to use different decorations on your front door. Consider seasonal decorations like straw wreaths in autumn, green wreaths in spring, and festive holiday decorations during the winter to add a personal touch to your front door. There are many great DIY door decoration ideas that allow anyone to come up with a unique accent to their front door.

Verandahs and Patios

If your home has a verandah or patio in front, you have lots of great options for decorating. Consider the space both in the horizontal and vertical dimension to create subtle visual cues that lead the eye naturally to your front door. Pair light shades of one colour with dark shades of the same colour for a nice contrast, and consider hanging planters, wind chimes, light sconces, mailboxes, and other vertical elements to create a harmonious whole.

Pro tip: For benches, furniture, and even the doormat, soften the angles with lovely floral patterns that play off the same colour scheme you're using elsewhere at the front of your home.

Architectural Flourishes

For the ultimate effect, use architectural elements such as columns and roofed entrance ways to make a truly stunning entrance to your home. These may be hard to pull off if your home is already built, but anyone can take advantage of their existing home design to pull the eye towards a warm and welcoming front entrance. Consider adding dimension to an otherwise flat entrance with sidelights. 

Light and Openness

Guests won't feel welcome if the exterior of your home has a closed, cut-off feeling to it. In addition to a lush landscape, keep bushes and exterior plants short enough that the eye can easily follow the street straight to your front door. Don't block off windows with shutters, overgrown vegetation, or too much visual clutter. Visitors shouldn't feel like they're navigating a trench to enter your home but gracefully crossing a warm and inviting meadow into your cozy abode.

High Gloss Paint

Another great tip that's easy to implement is choosing a high-gloss paint for one of your three principle exterior colours. Dark colours like black, especially, look great with a natural shine, especially in contrast to more muted tones like brick, wood, and stone.

Pro tip: Wrought iron railings and other accent pieces look fabulous with high-gloss black paint.

Use Lighting Wisely

Guests navigating from their cars up to your front door should feel relaxed and drawn to the warm light emanating from the front of your home. Use decorative sconces, chandeliers, or other exterior lighting to create a pleasant ambience. If your home looks too dark at nighttime, consider upping the wattage on the bulbs you use.

Whether you're looking to make some inexpensive changes to your home's exterior or it's time for a professional remodelling, there are lots of great ways to make visitors feel welcome. If you're building new, your builder can work with you to ensure the architecture of your exterior entrance is prominent and alluring. Remember to follow basic colour schemes and use visual cues to draw eyes straight to your stunning front door.

Photo credits: stone pillars, red door, brown door