Your home is a sanctuary away from the chaos of the outside world. Whenever you return from a long day at work, it’s only natural that you want to feel embraced and nurtured by your space. The same goes for those who are visiting you — it’s important that they feel welcomed into the safe environment of your home.
Your entryways are tools in ensuring this can happen. When you take the time to cultivate a positive environment here, you are helping to create the best first impression of your living space. It also helps to act as a transition from the world outside to the relaxed coziness of your home. If you have a backyard, the rear entryway can also serve as a gateway into a pleasant area beyond.
So, what can you do to make the most of your entryways? We’re going to run down 7 tips that can help turn these elements into seamless transition points.
1) Consider Your Door
Aside from your yard, your door is the first impression you and visitors get of your home upon each arrival. Indeed, your front door is one of the elements that realtors consider gives a property curb appeal. Think about what you want it to communicate about the home and the people who live there. If you want to immediately project a sense of relaxation, consider painting it in a cool tone — lighter blues and greens can be good here. A door knocker can be a nice decorative touch, but it can seem rather formal — it’s often best to go for a gentle doorbell.
2) Practical Flooring
Flooring is an important element of your entryway, and also one of the most difficult to decide upon. This often stems from the sense that you need to make compromises — you want something hard-wearing, but you also don’t want it to look cheap and industrial.
Indeed, making the right entry flooring choice can even raise the value of your home. As such, when selecting a material for your floor, it’s often wise to consider what your priorities are. If your entryway is likely to see a lot of traffic from children and visitors, you can still get the aesthetic appeal with hardwoods like hickory or oak. Carpet can give an air of luxury, but it will also require significant upkeep. Don’t forget that your entryway is a transitional area, so be sure to keep the flooring consistent with adjoining rooms — avoid abrupt shifts from wood in the entryway to tiles in the kitchen.
3) Consider Minimalism
While it can be tempting to make your entryway bright and expressive, having a lot of elements can be overwhelming both to first-time visitors and to yourself after a hard day at work. As such, it can be wise to go for a minimalist approach. Neutral colours on the walls, a simple welcome mat, perhaps a rack for some shoes can create a sense of calm that will be pleasant for everyone. It’s also a less permanent approach if you’re a renter and don’t want to risk losing your deposit with extensive remodelling. Aside from anything else, you can make gains here with some simple decluttering.
4) Easing the Transition
Remember that your entryways are transitional tools. As such, you don’t want them to represent a sudden bump from the aspects of the outside world to the domestic environment. This can be disruptive and can make your home seem less welcoming. As such, it can be wise to treat your entryway as the best of both worlds. Include elements that also feature in your front yard — bamboo furnishings, some floral prints as small accents — alongside the colours and themes that are used elsewhere in your home.
5) Prioritize Accessibility
One of the key priorities of your entryway is to make it accessible to everyone. You may find that you’ll have visitors that live with mobility challenges, there might be times in your life that your own mobility could change. You want those you welcome into your home to have equal and easy access to the building, as well as the patio and backyard areas. Rather than having steps that are leading to and from the yard, consider a small ramp instead. Even a change as simple as ensuring there is sufficient lighting both in the hallways and on the patio can help those with limited visibility. These are just small adjustments, but they demonstrate consideration for those you welcome into your home.
6) Make the Most of Glass
Don’t underestimate how important smart use of glass can be to your entryways. Particularly in the rear of your home, choosing french doors instead of solid wood can give a sense of space. There’s also the impression of seamless flow from the indoor areas toward the outdoors. Not to mention that these large window panes also let natural light into your home.
If you have a panel in the center of the front door, you can change the look of the area by inserting a coloured or stained-glass pane. It adds a gentle flare of joy to the entryway. This is especially effective if you can use glass that reflects the shapes and tones that you have in your front yard.
7) Seasonal Soft Furnishings
The entryway of your home isn’t the ideal space for a lot of clutter, but that doesn’t mean to say that it can’t benefit from a few soft touches here and there. Indeed, this can help to make it not just a transition into your home but also through the year. Utilize a few light decorative touches that you can change up each season — an orange, red, and brown rug for fall, rustic farmhouse picture frames for spring, knitted cushions on a door side seat for coziness in winter.
Conclusion
The entryways of your home are opportunities to welcome your family and your visitors into the space that you live in. As such, it’s worth taking the time to consider aspects that ease the transition from outdoors to inside and making it an accessible gateway to a nurturing, positive environment. You don’t need to break the bank to be successful here; just a few touches can make all the difference.