Like it or not, first impressions do indeed make a difference!
As I can readily attest, it is numbingly easy to get used to one’s environment without really noticing it. So, it’s important to step back and take a look at just exactly how your house opens up to guests and welcomes YOU back home.
Your entry solution can be as simple as a pot of blooming geraniums or taking down that burglar bar era, storm door. Your doorway doesn’t have to be grand, but it should be welcoming. Provide a clear means of access to it. Unfortunately, many houses throughout our city have driveways that direct you around the side of the house and give little to no option for accessing the front door. The automobile became king and “heaven forbid” anyone should actually attempt to walk up to the house! A well-lit, defined walkway may be all that is needed. Stairs that aren’t buckling may be in order, too! Or maybe you do need to rethink your driveway?
How do you personally enter your home? Does everyone come through the garage or laundry room? Does it give you a sense of peace and welcoming, or do you have to navigate a minefield of dirty laundry, book bags and unexamined piles of mail? It’s ok if your back door is your front door; just be purposeful about it.
The back door entry doesn’t have to be an unpleasant experience! Have a defined place to put down your stuff. Where do your coats go? It can’t be too far away or else they won’t make it. Convenience will win every time. If the 12 inch wide counterspace by the stove is closest to the door and there isn’t a clear place to put the mail, guess where the mail piles up! If you are a neatnik, then open, easily accessed shelves in the right location might be the ticket. Otherwise, give yourself and your family a clear, defined and convenient place to put stuff with a door on it.
So, next time you come home, open up your eyes and see it for the first time, AGAIN. Are you impressed and glad to be home?