Set the theme for your home with welcoming entrances

First impressions last, and your home is not an exception. The way you design your entrance space influences how the rest of your home, office or property will be perceived.

A good hello effect sets the right mood and creates an inviting perception of style that sticks in the mind long after your visitors leaves. It’s therefore worth putting in some extra effort to design an inspiring entrance space.

A good strategy is to create an experience for the visitor as they walk up to the front door. Look at it as a chance to showcase the best of your ideas for guests who may otherwise not get a chance to appreciate the rest of your garden.

The longer the walk up to the door step, the more comprehensive the experience can be. Here is how to create a truly memorable entrance space.

Complement the architecture

A great entrance begins from the architecture of your house. Pay attention to the form of the house and let it guide you in articulating your design. For instance, broad and round trees are suitable for balancing a tall house with many vertical lines.

Similarly a short, horizontal structure can be given a bit of verticality by planting tall narrow trees on either side of the entrance. Paving materials used on the walkway that leads up to the front door should match the exterior finishes of the house to enhance unity.

Entrance enhancing structures such as porticos, arbours and arches should also be fitted to blend into the house; otherwise they tend to look forced and out of tune. The form and shape of such structures should be consistent with the house’s architectural concepts.

Design principals

Balance is one of the most important principals when designing an entrance. The walkway that leads up to the front door is an important element in the composition.

It forms the axis that is used to balance elements on either side of the door. Many people take balance to mean symmetry. Symmetry is actually just one type of balance.

The other type is asymmetrical balance, which means making the two sides different while still maintaining a balance of interests and visual weights on either side of the axis.

When landscaping entrances, the door forms the most important focal point. Other elements such as plantings and garden decor are arranged to frame and enhance it.

Brightly-coloured plants can be placed on either side of the door to draw attention to it. A distinct change of height for plants and other elements near the door also helps the door to stand out, as do changes in form and texture.

Decor

The entrance landscape design is never complete without a few décor items to give it character. The best approach is to add a bit of your personal touch. Common decor items include planters, statues, bird baths, water features and bollards.

Identity is an important part of your entrance so choose your décor to bring out your unique tastes. Some décor items can also be creatively integrated into outdoor lighting fixtures and the houses’ structural members.

Take care not to go overboard with decor items though. Too many steal the show from the centre of attention — the entrance.