How to Build a Front Entrance

Review House Formality

• Plan the entrance based on the formality of your home. A brick condo, for example, can accommodate a high-end mahogany door in certain neighborhoods. However, if your home is a cottage-style beach house, you might want to plan an entrance with a bright awning and a simple white door. A two-story colonial might look nice with double doors, a stately porch and formal plants and furnishings.

Fit Outside to Inside

• You will need to match the exterior and interior entrance areas. For instance, if your interior hallway has a high ceiling with a chandelier, your porch lighting and doors should complement the interior. A double front door system with glass side panels, for example, is stately and will reveal the matching interior to visitors rather quickly. Choose exterior doors that harmonize with interior furnishings and hallway architecture.

Choose Porch Design

• Determine the need for a porch and its style. The size of the porch is not necessarily a factor of how high-end or formal it should look. A simple, flat-roof design with formal square columns can enhance a well-made front door with glass panels. A larger porch can actually look much less formal, especially if it is a wrap-around porch with wooden posts.

Review Front Steps

• The design of the front steps and their construction materials will make a significant impact on the front of the house. For example, if you want formal, brick steps with iron handrails, this design will affect what porch building materials you select and the overall porch roof design. Sketch steps with wooden handrails, for instance, and a porch with railings. Review any design carefully before starting construction.

Build Porch Foundation

• Construct the porch base first. You will need to figure out if the porch will have an open foundation space or if you will enclose it. Plan the porch base to fit seamlessly with the home's foundation. For instance, if your house foundation is brick, you may want a brick porch foundation. The porch foundation will determine a lot about how your house entrance looks from the curb.

Construct Appropriate Porch

• The porch roof should blend harmoniously with the house roof lines. The house overhangs and porch overhangs should look identical in every way. Otherwise, the porch will look added on. Be sure to include guttering, downspouts and splashblocks on the porch to skirt away rain and snow.

Plan Finished Look

• Nice porch details are critical to the design. Add brick or cut stones over the porch decking, for example, if you have a concrete base. A brass mailbox with brass light fixtures on the porch can look appropriate with a formal or informal house. Porch columns or posts can be ordered premade, or you can construct brick columns onsite.

Add Door Color

• Give the front door entry emphasis by using a bold or beautiful color. If your house is gray brick with white trim, paint the front door dark teal, for example. Depending on your neighborhood and locale, you might paint the front door lime green, red or black, among other choices. A distinctive door color works well for a two-door entry, too. Paint the door and any house shutters the same color. You don't want two different bold paint colors on the facade.