I would paint the porch, matching most of it to the trim of the house, using 1 or 2 accent colors. Pick out the spindles of the bannister, or maybe the edge of each step, in a very noticeable accent color. Then, if possible, add a light to the porch. Hang some pretty planters - looks like you've already got hooks.

The photo doesn't show the ground in front of the steps - is it different than the surrounding ground (looks to be a driveway)? Can you change that area? That would be a good deal more work than painting, but if you can take up what looks to be asphalt, and put in a brick pathway or something like that, it will help to call attention to that entrance.

Also, you could try to put the house number so that it is oriented to the side the steps come up from - either on the porch post, the bottom post of the railing, or perhaps hanging just below the gutter from the porch roof.

Just a little bit of paint will make a huge difference. Paint the front door brick red and paint the whole front porch white (the steps, lattice, railings, etc). I love the scooped railing in front of the door so attach a couple of flower box to the front of the porch above the lattice which is just about eye level or arrange a few potted plants in different size containers near the steps instead of the flower boxes. The color will draw attention and make this space feel much more welcoming. I love the wreath on the door too, keep that.

Paint the wood and add colorful plants in pots in front of the lattice.

Tear out the staircase and landing and replace it with a wide set of stairs that come up to the door head on, instead of from the side.

House numbers by the door would help make it look like a real entry.

Ditto anything you can do to add some decor oomph -- plants, a colorful mat, maybe even a mobile or artwork.

My first thought was to get a new (bit more open) staircase, but that would probably be a big expense and take up some precious driveway space.

Can you paint the stairs white? For some reason I think that would help. Or maybe something as simple as address numbers or a hung mailbox next to your door would help point visitors in the right direction. Flowers and a welcome mat never hurt, either!

Your wreath is already a nice start. I'd suggest painting the door an eye-catching color -- red is always a nice choice for a front door (though your choice would depend on the color scheme of the entire structure, of course). (You could even figure out a paint scheme for the entire entrance structure to tie it all together.) You could also install a wall-mounted lantern next to the door to make the entrance seem more official. Finding a clear way to display your address, with mounted numbers or a plaque or sign, would be another way to announce that this is a separate home. Finally, you could "landscape" the entrance with a small container garden at the base of the landing/stairs, and some hanging baskets up above. I'm also wondering about replacing the front door with one with more glass and/or a storm door so that it would look less like a side door and more like an official entryway.

Good luck!

Paint the porch, hang some house numbers, place two or three pots of plants near the porch, add a doormat, and replace the wreath with something more inviting (maybe place the house numbers there).

I second mileErica's suggestion to change the orientation of the stairs. I think that the current orientation of the stairs is what screams "side entrance" the most. Painting the porch, adding house numbers, and adding a few very large pots with flowers on the ground to the side or in front of the porch would also help quite a bit.

Oh, lots of things!
1. Containers with plants on the ground.
2. An outdoor runner going up the stairs
3. Paint the door
4. House numbers

I'd love to see the stairs/banister/lattice work in a bright red or blue (maybe with white stairs). Since the door is not head on to the stairs/street, try hanging a neat Welcome sign at the top of the stairs.

I'd recommend a light on a timer - either hanging beneath the covered entryway or mounted on the post of the entryway closest to the 'front' or way that people will be approaching the door.

I agree house numbers would help.

Re-orienting the stairs would be nice, but I'm not sure that's an opetion.

Yeah the orientation of the staircase would change the setting. However, since we don't have a picture of the rest of the driveway, it is hard to see. Definitely adding house numbers and foliage is going to help a lot.

Good luck!

Laura
http://www.grafxnerd.net

Re-route the downspouts so you have just one and it's coming down the side of the house (not the side of the entry porch) and it should be painted the same color as the base of the house so it blends in (yours isn't like this but I never understand houses where the downspouts are painted as though they are 'architectural details').

If you can switch the stairs to come face on, off the door, it'll be a more welcoming entry. Your site may not permit or suit that so, if you're keeping them to the side as-is, I suggest:

* replace the lattice with horizontal slats that mimic the siding on the house
* place a park bench in front of the lattice area, amass some potted plants, a few tall plantings would be lovely and would break up the height of the porch (shrubs, potted clumping bamboo, or rose standards are some that offer height and manage being potted very well). Trailing those pots over to the start of the first step would showcase your entry (not lined up like dancers, think motion, make it a swirling undulating mass of pots). Painting? I think you could bring in color more effectively with plants, just group your plants in single containers for maximum effect rather than mixed plantings in a single container, for instance: hot pink petunias in one pot, silvery sage in another, ruby grass in a taller pot, lavender in another (as opposed to a pot that contains all four of those plants in one pot).

Agree that the most substantial way to achieve the official front door look is to have the stairs end at the front door. If there isn't room to reorient them 90-degrees because of a driveway, you could also achieve it by having the stairs take a turn.

That said, those stairs look practically brand new, so I bet you aren't looking to replace perfectly good stairs. I like the idea of painting the raw wood white, maybe have the stairs be a dark grey, and even have the door be a look-at-me color. Make things look more permanent. I also wonder if you extended the trellis up the back of the landing (facing the stairs) might lend more of an impression of solidity to the area - and you could hang a wreath and/or house number there.

The posts holding up the roof could be more pronounced. Make them wider. And. the other paint suggestions are terrific. The numbers don't have to go on the front door. they could be on the railing.

paint the door red. Nothing's more welcoming imo, and you really can't miss it

I also live in Chicago, and an unfinished wooden deck says fire escape/back porch. Definitely paint or stain it. A brightly colored door will also draw attention.

Find a way to make some kind of path (anything that screams "walk here"). Could you tear up a swatch of blacktop adjacent to the stairs just a couple of feet wide and lay some bricks? It can just circle around and start at the back end of the steps.

I agree with most of the comments. However changing the orientation of the stairs and adding decorative columns could be costly but if you can swing it great!

I would go with what alyrae stated. Painting the door, adding house numbers and containers with a couple evergreens and colorful flowers in front of the lattice would make the entrance stand out. Adding a small outdoor bench in front of the lattice between the containers would create another use for the space.

If your house number is not 3 or 4 digits long you could paint a very large number on the door. I agree,with the others, that painting the door and wood work a more vibrant colour would be better.

Changing out the stairs is probably not practical. Painting them white would help, as would a stronger color on the door.

Is that a tiny little light fixture tucked under the roof? A larger one (or even just lower one) with a house number on the side of the door would make this more of an entrance than side door.

I agree with what most comments have already said.

1.Spruce up the porch with White paint and a red door (I'd personally hang the wreath you have a little lower, under the windows).
2.Hang house numbers alongside the door, either veritcally or diagonally, parallel to the stairs.
3.Add large potted plants at the base of the stairs, perhaps flanked by a couple of taller, pretty topiaries for height.
4.If you can swing it without it getting snatched, I liked the park bench idea in front of the latticework, with potted plants nestled next to it. If not, I think planters would look great too.
5.I'd also add one or two hanging plants from that far side of the porch.
6.The porch light would look better and more official if it were moved down next to the door. IMO.

Good luck!!

There are lots of things you could do:
1. Paint the door (only - not the trim) a strong color you love: black, red, deep purple, yellow. Add a brass kick plate at the bottom of the door.
2. Put good-looking house numbers next to the door.
3. Get rid of the lattice, & add potted plants, garden statuary, a fountain, or whatever in the space under the porch. Make it a picture - you already have the frame.
4. Paint the railings, porch, etc. Black porch? White banister with spindles painted in the same color as the door?
5. Lose the vertical gutters and substitute rain chains. Smith & Hawkins for Target has a fun one - looks like tulips, kind of. S&H also sells regular copper loop rain chains. (I love rain chains - have one myself). You'll need a little gravel under it, or something similar, to drain the water away from the house - simple.
6. Add a great-looking porch light - black maybe.
7. Hanging baskets from the porch roof, but don't block your new door.

Carpenters recommend sealing raw wood with stain instead of using paint on an outdoor deck or porch. The paint traps moisture underneath it, leading to rot, mildew, mold and other horrors. You can get wonderful stains in great colors, if you're looking for color.
A good use of paint in this case might be to paint a path to the stairs on that pesky asphalt. I don't know anything about prepping the asphalt, but I bet the information is easily available. The design of the path pattern gives you a real opportunity to establish a style, which you can then carry out in the mailbox, numbers, doormat, and planters. Perhaps you know a local artist or have a friend who can help.
Of course, the painted path won't last forever, but that could be a good thing. When it's time to repaint, you can refresh or completely change your style!

It might look kind of cool to suspend the house numbers from the roof over the stairs. Am I assuming correctly that the entrance is along the side of the maine structure? Like the street front is facing the entrance to the stairs so you don't actually see the door when approaching your unit? Then take some numbers and suspend them from wires over the stair so that's the first thing you see. Then I agree about painting the stairs and replacing or coving up that lattice with plants.

Rain chains into pots or an area with some hardscaping would make the front of the porch look more inviting and garden like. Good luck!
http://www.rainchainsdirect.com/

Have you people suggesting reorienting the stairs looked at them? They would have to jut out at least six feet into the driveway, which runs tightly against the proch and so probably has zero room to spare. That's WHY this porch is alongside the house. Be real, here!

I'd paint the porch posts and railing and lattice white, paint or stain the stairs a darker color, maybe add some stencils or tiles to the stair risers in bright colors, paint the door one of these colors, and add a hanging plant with color coordinating flowers. A door mat would be good, if you don't already have one. A bigger light fixture (but keep it flat enough against the house that it doesn't become an obstacle.) No junk on the porch. If there is room, maybe a few large pots of flowers on the walkway leading to the porch, but only if you can walk around them without incident.

Keep it simple and striking, and keep it tidy.

What a terrific AT project! (if you're looking for a challenge) Nothing will ever make this your "front" door; I had a similar problem. My main entrance is on the side by the carport. C'est la vie!
Everyone suggests you get some color happening. I agree, I also would paint the front triangular part of that overhang (above the hook) a complimentary shade to make it stand out as well.
Since you have all that attractive asphalt (eek!) invest in shrubs and install an attractive container garden. There are plenty of evergreens which would look elegant and grow vertically as well as bushy. Lots of luck!

Assuming major construction is out of the question, I would:
1. Change the trim around the door- what you have now blends into the siding too well and makes your door look like a literal hole-in-the-wall, a slightly larger trim, painted white, will offset your door nicely- regardless of what color you decide to paint it.
2. The gutters could stay or go to rain chains, but I would try to find a large, not-too-wide rectangular container, fill it with stones, and use that as a water recycling system for a container garden- not only ecologically sound, but it will also anchor the garden, and make it look less like a scattered assortment of pots on a driveway.
3. Get rid of the plants on the porch and build in some windowboxes off the rails, plant the living crap out of them.
4. Get rid of the lightbulb to the right of the stairs and sink a larger fixture into the center of the "ceiling" above the door.
5. The hook is nice- I don't think you can go wrong with hanging plants- just make sure you don't camouflage the door- I would hang plants along the back edge instead- will block the view of the garage and give the entrance more visual appeal.

I am guessing that the driveway and this wall of the house are perpendicular to the road? It looks to me that if you were looking in from the street, there's nothing to stop your eye from looking right past the entrance. I agree with the paint/color and house number suggestions. I wonder if hanging plants from the rear edge of the porch (by the garage) or maybe even a trellis there might also help separate the entrance from the wall and the garage.

You could turn the current outside landing into a 3-season mudroom so that the first front door actually was at the top of the stairs.

I doubt they can paint if this is a townhouse! I'd focus on landscaping and hardscaping! Make a path to the front door from the street, and put a bunch of flowers and bushes all around the front.

It's possible that what is throwing this off as looking like an entrance is the lattice work. It would look better if that lattice matched the upper wood slats. Since you are renting and can't change that aspect, all you can do is camouflage the trellis with plants, painted wood numbers and anything else you find interesting.

Thank you for all of your comments. My husband and I have a lot to think about and I'll be sure to post a picture of our new entrance!

I'd place large topiaries or just evergreen shrubs in attractive containers in front of the larger piece of latticework, and something smaller at the stair line. If there are no restrictions, maybe attach numbers, a mailbox, or a light fixture to the right of the door; painting the door would also help...but again...restrictions?

I agree with bailey b, take off the latice work and replace with siding to match the siding on the rest of the house. Paint the columns and all the boards perpendicular to ground white to match the front door and garage door, put a dark stain on all the boards that are parrellel to the ground (including their edges). I would photoshop the picture to look at those changes, and then also look at it without any railings. I think removing those would make it look more like a front porch and less like a side stairway. Finally, a hanging garden on each of the three sides of roof.