The front door is a very important space for any home. Even if the primary entry way is through a garage or from the back, the front entry of a home is the face that we present to the world. This front door space needs to reflect who you are and what message you want to relate to the outside world. You may want your entry way to say “come on in.” Or, you may be a bit more hesitant and want to make it a bit more difficult for outsiders to get to the front door. Each of these design concepts is appropriate depending on the homeowner.
In general, think of the area from the street to your front door as a series of spaces with “landing pads,” beginning at the street and ending at your front door. The landing pads are areas for people to stop, unload a car, ring the door bell, step outside and discuss solicitations, and on and on. The space between two landing pads can encourage people to move quickly from the street to the front door by being just a straight sidewalk. Alternatively, you can create interest and slow down the flow by introducing a different paving pattern from the public walk, designing a curve or change the width of the walkway to the front door.
