It's the first thing to greet visitors, yet often the last thing we pay attention to. You may not have the cash to splurge on a new front door, but you can spruce it up and instantly alter that first impression of your home.
Bring in some color
If the front door itself is in need of sprucing up, paint it. Bright. For a change from the usual cobalt blues and pillar-box reds, try a new up-and-coming hue like aubergine, gray or sea-foam green. (For tips on painting see box.)
Attaching tile around your doorway is an inexpensive color punch. Paige and Brian Winkle were lucky to have the original Mexican-style green patterned tile around their front door when they bought their 1950s midtown home 10 years ago. They have since painted the front and screen doors green to tie in with the tile.
Added to that, there is metal art on the walls - done by Paige's brother, Richard Eiting - and lots of flower pots. "It was beautifully done when we bought the house, and we just put stuff on the front porch that means something," says Paige, who also uses her grandfather's wheelbarrow as a plant pot.
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How to paint your front door
• Start early in the day so the temperature is between 50 and 90 degrees, and try to avoid direct sunlight.
• Keep the door open throughout the process.
• Remove weather stripping and protect adjacent areas in case of a spill.
• Make sure the door is clean, dry and free from dirt, dust, rust and grease. (If painting over existing paint, you may want to prime first.)
• Using a 3-inch latex paint brush, apply first coat of quality, exterior acrylic paint.
• Start at top of door, working down with the grain of wood. Recoat after two hours.
• Four to six hours after the second coat is applied, replace weather stripping and close door.
• Avoid using any abrasive cleaning solutions on door for one week
Source: The Paint Kings
The mailbox
If you happen to have a mailbox at your front door, it might be time to switch things up. And for added security, get one that's lockable. Before you buy one, though, make sure it's approved by the United States Postal Service, and check out their guidelines for proper mailbox placement at www.usps.com/receive/ mailboxstandards.htm
Did you know
You can't simply switch your mode of mail delivery at will, warns the United States Postal Service.
"If it's currently by the street, they can't just arbitrarily put a box up by the door," says Rob Soler, USPS spokesman in Tucson. "We would only move it up to the door if there were extreme physical hardship involved," and proof of that would have to come from a doctor, he says.
House numbers
They needn't be anything elaborate. For a bigger splash, try something alternative.
Tired of seeing the same old wrought-iron, rubbed bronze and Mexican tile-set house numbers, Nicola Freegard came up with a funkier version for the outside of her midtown home. She bought these cut-up Arizona license plate numbers for $3 each from Paris Flea Market on East Grant Road and nailed them to a piece of wood. "I thought it was such a great idea - and so different from the usual house numbers you see," says Freegard.
Or try this: Buy some plain, colored tile and have your kids decorate them with numbers, adding color and info at once.
The doorbell
Whoever knew that so much fun could be had - or money made - accessorizing a doorbell? But that's how Tucsonan Sheila Wolf began her company.
"I had paid so much attention to all the other details - my front door color and art fixtures and landscaping," she says of her Foothills home.
So she tried her hand at making a ceramic doorbell surround. After selling some designs at the Fourth Avenue Street Fair, Wolf ventured to trade shows and secured some sales representatives.
Six years later, she sells tens of thousands of products worldwide, and has 46 different doorbell cover designs, selling at $15 to $20 a pop. Wolf's firm, Company's Coming, also sells outside clocks, thermometers, peephole surrounds and magnets that can be attached to door numbers. "So for under $20 or $30, you can do something fun at your entryway," she says.
Or try this: The iChime digital doorbell includes dozens of built-in songs and sounds, and also records from your CD or MP3 player. The makers say the two-wire installation is easy, and it can be mounted vertically or horizontally. Retails for around $90, available from several online retailers. For details visit www.iChime.com
Lighting
For instant curb appeal, not to mention better security, install a wall light. This one from the National Geographic Society is a hybrid: a combination of solar-powered LED lights and hard wiring, with a light-sensitive switch that turns the LED lights on automatically when the sun falls. National Geographic Solaris, 9 3/4 inches high, $100 from Lamps Plus, www.lampsplus.com
Blog may help
Visit my blog at www.homeisafourletterword.com
Photos from around world provide entryway ideas
Being a little bit obsessed herself by front entryways, it wasn't surprising that Sally Giancola gave her own some extra attention.
"When I travel, I take photos of front doors," says Giancola, a former writer, stringer and calligrapher. "I like to look at things that are unique regionally and one of these things is mailboxes, front doors and doorknobs."
She has photographed them in France, England, Italy, Australia and Rio de Janeiro.
Her own front door in the Foothills - cedar with stains of red and green through it - was made by local artisan Mark Butler, whose company now operates as Architectural Traditions. Her gecko doorbell cover is from Company's Coming, there's Southwestern art and a toy 1948 Oldsmobile bought from a secondhand store in Indiana.
Resources
• Company's Coming sells at Ace Hardware stores and Mesquite Valley Growers nursery in Tucson, and by mail order. www.companyscominginc.com
• Architectural Traditions, 574-7374 or www.architecturaltraditions.com
• Paris Flea Market, 2855 E. Grant Road, or www.parisfleamarketaz.com Note: this business will be closing this fall, but owner Amy Jesionowski will be taking the Arizona license plate numbers with her to her new clothing boutique, Collette, due to open on University Boulevard at Main Gate Square in January.
• The Paint Kings, 322-5181