It’s Summer in Ohio, and with it comes the warm weather, outdoor gatherings, and lots of people enjoying their time outside. That also means more people will be walking, driving, running, and biking past your house. You may also be hosting more guests, either for outdoor cookouts or indoor hangouts. All of this is to say — people will be seeing the front of your house! Your landscaping, lawn, and front door will be viewed by many throughout this season, and it’s time to spruce up your Summer front door decor to up your curbside appeal!

Your Front Door is One Part of the Whole

When people pass by your house, and when you come home from running errands, work, or any excursion, you want the front of your house to look presentable and with a high curb appeal. That is a tall order! A lot of maintenance goes into keeping your home looking well-kept and well decorated. Later in this article, we will focus on how you can turn your front door into the best one in the entire neighborhood, but before we get to that, we will talk about the other major parts of your curb appeal. These are your landscaping, your front porch, and your lawn. 

Landscaping

Landscaping is a crucial aspect of your curb appeal. Fortunately, there are loads of different ways to keep your landscaping fresh and looking good. One is to hire a landscaping company. With the right landscaping company, your yard will be polished to a metaphorical shine in no time at all. It all depends on what your starting point is. If you already have an awesome yard, all you may need is a bit of a touch-up (weeding, pruning overly ambitious bushes, and picking up fallen leaves and branches), perfect for a weekend project. 

Your goal for landscaping is to have a beautiful front yard. The specifics vary from house to house, but what you want to avoid is something that draws the eye in a bad way. We recommend thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of your landscaping and then playing to your strengths while obscuring whatever your weaknesses may be.  

Lawn

Alongside your landscaping is your lawn. Lawns are an integral part of your curbside appeal. Unfortunately, lawns are not designed to catch the eye. A beautifully manicured lawn is often passed over to focus on the landscaping and the front porch. The main time a lawn will be eye-catching is, alas, when it is spotty, overly long, or dying. 

We recommend working to keep your lawn looking nice so all of your neighborhood can focus their attention on the star of the show — your front door! Whenever a guest walks the path (or through your lawn) to your front door that is where they will be focused. Well, your front door and also your front porch.

Front Porch

Front porches come in all shapes and sizes. Some are large, impressive structures with columns and a roof while others are a set of steps or a small landing. Those two, and everything in between. But regardless of how big your front porch is you can always decorate it to provide an exquisite frame for your front door. With these three aspects of your curbside appeal in mind, let’s talk about front door decor. 

Front Door and Porch Decor 

Of the various parts of your curbside appeal, working on creating a lovely and well-decorated front door is a must. There are a lot of different ways to spruce up your front door decor this Summer season, from adding a wreath to a new coat of paint, and let’s not forget about the decor items on your porch!

Add Summer’s Touch With a Wreath

Wreaths are a great place to start when it comes to figuring out your Summer front door decor. While most common during Winter, there are wreaths for every season! Some you can make yourself, while others are best left to the pros. 

Plants

One of the most common summer wreaths is a plant wreath. These come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from flowers you’ve picked from your own garden to ones made by a florist or even a bunch of faux flowers! Making a flower (or another plant!) wreath is much like making a flower arrangement, and could be a fun summer project! There are wreaths that use live plants and need watering to keep them alive, and others that are a bit less permanent. 

If you choose to add a plant wreath you can figure out what style of plants fit best in your view from the curb and view from the front porch. If you are feeling bold, you could even construct a wreath out of succulents all in their own little pots! Water them regularly and make sure they have sufficient drainage and they could last all summer long.

Metal

There are a lot of beautifully wrought metal wreaths for sale. There are, certainly, a bit more challenging to make on your own! There are so many different styles using different metals and different flairs. Etsy is an amazing place to look for that perfect metal wreath, as there are a lot of different makes and styles, and you are supporting a small business! Another plus with getting a metal wreath is that you certainly don’t have to water it or make sure it isn’t wilting! Rust may become an issue, but with proper care, your wreath could last you many years. 

Words

Another common decorative Summer wreath idea are wreaths with words in their center. Something as simple as “hello” or “come on it” adds a lot of fun flair to your front door and adds a lot of curbside appeal. These can also be multi-part wreaths and are a lot of fun to DIY. You can purchase an already made wreath and get the perfect word or phrase to mount inside, or you could go full DIY! If that’s not your style, you can always shop online or at your local decor store to find one that you love. 

There are a lot of different makes and models of wreaths just waiting to be explored! Wreaths are an excellent way to spruce up your Summer front door decor, and, unless you get something extraordinary, will look great for a long time. 

Frame Your Door With Fresh Decor

Whether you want to add a wreath to your front door or you’d rather leave it as it is, you don’t want your front door to be all alone in the middle of your house. Finding the right items to frame it is a great way to freshen up your Summer front door decor. There are a lot of excellent ways to give your door the space it needs while making it a part of the whole front-of-home decorative combo. 

Add a Plant or Two

Flowers, and other plants, are a great way to frame your front door. Potted plants or plants in your landscaping can help support your door and make a really beautiful combination. 

A Fresh Coat of Paint

A fresh coat of paint, in a new color or keeping the same color, is an excellent way to spruce up your summer front door decor. It is easy to do, and can turn into a fun weekend project. The big question is — what color to choose? There are a lot of factors that go into choosing the right decor for your front door, and getting all of those figured out is crucial to ensure that you don’t regret the new color on your door! 

It is the Center of Attention

Your front door should catch the eye of those looking at your home from the curb — in a good way! An eye-catching front door should be welcoming and fit in with the rest of the style you’ve chosen for the front of your home. There are a lot of styles you can choose when decorating the front of your home for the summer, and we recommend staying consistent with the way you decorate the different parts of your home. Having a consistent theme is a great way to play to the strengths of your home.

 As to what that theme is, exactly — the sky’s the limit! You can do something simple like a color palette and tasteful shrubs in your landscaping or something crazy with a pastel door, lots of ribbon, and big flowers. The theme is all up to you.

In the midst of your theme is the front door. Your front door decor is the focal point of your curbside appeal, since it’s the major artery of guests in and out of your home. Whenever someone comes to visit, they come face to face with your front door and its immediate surroundings. Even if your landscaping is immaculate, if your front door isn’t up to par then there’s that moment where your guest is standing on your porch and can only really see your front door. You want that moment to be the culmination of your yard, where it looks lovely from the curb and lovely from the porch. 

What Colors are Allowed? 

Alas, not all colors are allowed on front doors. Before locking in a new paint for your front door, check your homeowners association or the local guidelines to what you are allowed to do with your front door. They can be surprisingly strict! And, trust us, they will find out if you surreptitiously put a color on your door that isn’t allowed. 

There is a lot to consider when it comes to picking the right color for your front door. When you are preparing the project to up your Summer front door decor, think about how much you want to change. For instance, if you paint your front door, that might open up more steps in finding the right flowers or changing the pots in order to match them with the new color. So, before you take any steps like buying paint or buying other items we recommend getting a read on the scope of this project. 

Scope of Your Project

It could be as easy as buying a wreath and hanging it from your door. You might find the perfect wreath, pick it up and that small change is perfect to compliment what you already have going on. It all depends on your starting point and your ending point, which differ from person to person. That being said, no matter where you are starting it is important to know where you are ending. Projects have a habit of expanding after we start them, which you may have some experience with. A day project turns into a weekend project turns into a month-long project sort of idea. 

In order to avoid that, outlining the various steps of your project and the planned changes is a great way to keep that in check and come out with a home that you love.

Consider Your Home From the Curb

What changes do you have for your lovely abode? Perhaps it is a plant-forward look you are going for, just like the one above. In that case, plants from all angles are appropriate. Plants in pots, plants hanging from the roof, and plants in wreaths combine to provide an excellent frame for your front door decor. There are so many different ways to take this project, and it can be a lot of fun to plan out the different steps and brainstorm what you want your front door to look like and what decor is right for you. Are you as excited for this project as we are? Let us know in the comments!