Whilst the Finnish architect and philospher Juhani Pallasmaa calls the door handle “the handshake of a building”, I feel it’s the front door that announces who you are through the experience of belonging and intimacy. I am always drawn to interesting and/or beautiful front doors and a colourful front door never fails to make me smile (as do all dogs – large or small).
Front doors are on the front line everyday. They’ve got to be tough enough to withstand wind, snow, rain, scorching sun (although not so often in England) and would-be intruders, yet still make a good first impression.
The front door should be an expression of you but also firmly represent the home someone will enter – reflecting its décor and atmosphere. You can set the tone for everyone who passes your door and all those who steps inside.
What color is your front door?
Fundamentally the front door represents the entry experience and transition from the public space of the street, to the private enclosure of your home.
Not everyone has a moat though to cross to enter their home. The above image is Keeling House in East London
It’s also amazing how colour can make such a huge impact on your house’s curb appeal.
Red apparently the most inviting colour for a front door in the Feng Shui philosophy. (from Creamy Life)
At the door of the house who will come knocking?
An open door, we enter
– – Quote by Pierre Albert Birot from The Poetics of Space
by Gaston Bachelard