Front enters needs wow factor!

13 years ago

I have a raised ranch which is on two half lots in Chicago. Our home is situated on the corner with all of the doors into the house on the same side. Guess don't always pick the front door which is to the right to ring the door bell having to quickly go to the back to open the door. We receive double flyers and ads because many people think its a duplex. How can we make the front entry to the house stand out?

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Carolyn Choi

13 years ago

The simpliest solution as mentioned above is to remove the left sidewalk. To hide the steps and entrance I would carve a flower bed in front of it and plant a small blooming tree or one with colorful leaves such as a Japanese maple or Forest Pansy Redbud. Fill the bed with medium sized ornamental grasses, perennials and annuals. The flower bed near your right side entrance needs some overhaul - remove the overgrown trees/shrubs and plant azaleas or boxwood that don't get too tall and need constant trimming. To jazz up your exterior I would paint the trim a chocolate brown, add window box filled with colorful flowers and finally, simple but effective , a welcome flag above the entrance. My 2 cents below.

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Comments (7)

westmanmarine
13 years ago
last modified: 13 years ago
Don't know how you feel about removing the walkway from the sidewalk to that door, but that would help make it pretty clear. I would also soften it up a bit on the left with plants to hide the staircase some. You could also change the color of the door (or metal door) so that it blends in more with the brick. And find ways to make the front door pop more. If you wanted to spend more $$, you could hire someone to build a more prominent roof line/door cover by the front door, so it's very obvious.
nwduck
13 years ago
The easiest course would indeed be to take out the small walkway from the main sidewalk leading up to the two left doors, and plant grass in its place. I think also if you extended the raised stone planter bed all the way to the corner of the house, (and new plantings) that would effectively create the visual cue to the main door. For more, you could consider doing entirely new landscaping in the expanded bed along the front, as the current plantings may have come to the end of their life as a cohesive, harmonious whole. You have some nice black pots on the left, so if there is room, you could put those at the base of the stairs of the main entry with matching plants and seasonal annuals around the bottom.
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Dee A
13 years ago
Do you use the other doors? What do they open to?
Elba Maisonet
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you for your suggestions. I agree that the landscaping could use a more contemporary look. The problem with removing the sidewalk to the left is we would be walking on the grass every time we come out of the back door and from the basement. I would love to have a whole new design that included sort of like a Prairie Style entrance, but once again how do you balance the back with that?
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Carolyn Choi
13 years ago
The solution to that would be to add square shaped pavers around the left garden bed so that you would avoid walking on the grass.
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DMH DESIGN
13 years ago
Elba, Great ideas so far. Yes, create some hierarchy in terms of the paths. camouflage the stairs, and if the City with big shoulders allows, create a free standing pergola in front of the entry door to identify, along with the path and landscape ideas. Good Houzzing.