Front Entry Improvements

After we built our house, we were happy with the front facade of the house, inititally.

        I especially love the front door.

When we were building our home, the choice of what kind of front door I wanted was a no brainer ... because I LOVE hand-forged wrought iron doors. Now picking out the design, dimensions, transom or not, shape of transom, finish and type and color of glass was a little more time consuming, but fun. I ended up going with an 8.5 foot double door unit with a 2 foot elliptical transom in a finish called Gunmetal Bronze. This door unit is seriously heavy. I think my builder said the whole unit weighs something like 750 pounds. Scary... I could not watch it being installed.

Cleaning it is super easy as the glass panels are hinged on the steel frame. To clean the glass, all I have to do is undo a few latches and open the panels. If you look closely, you can see dried drips of something on the inside of the glass.  That would be Doberman snot marks… my dogs think they can’t see out of glass unless they press their snouts directly against the glass and blow.  I clean most of my main floor windows and the front door glass at least three times a day, no kidding.

After living in the home a while, we decided we wanted something a little more special than just plain concrete for the porch.  Here is a picture of the front entry with plain concrete.

We decided to do a stamped and stained concrete finish. I think it added a lot to the entrance of our home. As decisions are always an issue for me, picking out the pattern and stain color took probably twice as long as it would have take a normal, balanced person, but I like the way it turned out. In fact, we ended up doing the same treatment on our back patio and sidewalks. Here are some pictures of the stamped  concrete in front.

We also decided we needed something a little more than just the landscaping we had already done to the right of the porch. We did not want to plant a tree because of potential light obstruction to the window behind the area, so we decided to add a simple urn water feature. The urn was a rusty muted terra-cotta color when installed. It has changed in appearance because I have not been good at adding the algae control liquid. I need to give it a good scrub.

Although, I think the front entry with the stained concrete and the water urn have been good additions, I still feel like the space could use something else.  I know I could do a nice fall wreath a little later in the season to add some color and interest.  If anyone has any ideas what else might look nice, I would love to hear them.

Linking to:  Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

               Chic On a Shoestring Decorating Flaunt It Friday

             My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday

                Between Naps On the Porch's Metamophosis Monday

            The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday

Thrifty Decor Chic's Before and After Party