This Weekend, Do One Thing to Get Your Front Door Ready for Spring

Apartment Therapy Weekend Projects is a guided program designed to help you get the happy, healthy home you’ve always wanted, one weekend at a time. Sign up now for email updates so you never miss a lesson.

A front door is a little bit like a book cover: You can’t possibly know for sure what’s inside, but a pretty cover will get you excited to discover what’s behind it.

As the first thing people see when they come to your house, your front door is a large part of people’s first impressions of your space, setting the tone for their visit with you. And if you use the front door to get into your own house (in the South especially, as I learned when I moved to Atlanta, many people use their back doors), your front door greets you every time you come home.

This weekend we’re going to make sure your front door offers a happy greeting and a warm welcome for you and anybody else before the threshold’s crossed.

Whether you have a wraparound porch framing a carved wood double front door or your front door is one of many just like it in an apartment building, your front door is yours and you can express that. Taking the time to add a little something to your front door can serve joy to everyone who sees it.

Here are some ideas:

• Clean the door, the frame, the doorbell, the hardware, and the lighting
• Add a new welcome mat—go bigger than you think and layer with another mat on top for interest and color
• Set out an umbrella stand
• Hang a seasonal wreath—like this swoon-worthy French spring wreath
• Put planters on either side of the door and fill with faux or real plants
• Hang ferns
• Get a statement sconce for lighting
• Re-paint your door
• Hang your initial
• Add some seating, if space allows
• Switch out a standard one with a whimsical door knocker
• Incorporate twinkle lights on a timer

What will you do?

You can catch up with weekend projects right here. Share your progress with us and others by posting updates and photos on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #atweekendproject.

Remember: This is about improvement, not perfection. Each week you can either choose to work on the assignment we’ve sent you, or tackle another project you’ve been meaning to get to. It’s also completely okay to skip a weekend if you’re busy or not feeling the assignment.