Whether you want to paint, add hardware or something else, Oklahoma City designer Ivy Pierce with Ivy Pierce Designs has some great ways to refresh your front door and make the gateway to your home picture perfect. Read on for ideas about giving your front door a new look.
Years ago, when Ivy Pierce was a design intern for prominent Oklahoma decorator Charles Faudree, she heard him tell the story about how his mother used to let him repaint the family’s front door every year. One year their door was cornflower blue, the next apple green, other years glossy black, and pink, and orange.
She loved the idea that Faudree’s mother encouraged his design creativity with that simple act. Such an easy act can also give anyone’s outdoor front entryway a facelift, said Pierce, who now runs her own design business in Oklahoma City, Ivy Pierce Interiors.
“Not all of us are going to repaint our front door every year, but if you want to change it every five or 10 years, it’s an easy little fix,” Pierce said.
In addition to painting, you can refresh the look of your front door in other ways, she said. These include:
- Change the outdoor lights. Pick lights that go with the architecture of your home. Gas lanterns are nice with more traditional homes, Pierce said, and structured sconces work well with more modern homes. She’s also excited that Oklahoma City appears to be getting a showroom from one of her favorite lighting retail outlets — Circa Lighting — so people looking for a front door refresh can see what they’re picking out.
- Swap out the hardware. “That’s an easy way to modernize or kind of jazz it up a bit,” Pierce said. Visit a showroom like MOTIF Fine Home Hardware or Expressions Home Gallery in Oklahoma City for ideas. Match your hardware finish to your sconces. And while you’re at it, update your address numbers and your mailbox.
- Change out pots and plants by the front door.
- Preserve the mystery. Although a glossy black color works on many home styles, Pierce has a warning about picking out all-glass doors, which are in style now with black iron trims: “A lot of what people don’t anticipate is the lack of privacy,” Pierce said. “I know it’s a beautiful look, but I think you have to think through your own privacy before picking glass.”
- Hire a designer to help. Whatever people decide, Pierce likes helping them select the items that will make a good impression as people walk up to the front door.
“Your front door is the portal to your home,” she said.
