Ooooh it’s me… talking about creating a Grand entrance for your home.  There will be a link to the full video below, but I wanted to share 6 tips about how to create you own grand entrance in your very own home.

1. Match colours to the feel and purpose of your home

We are based at the beach so there’s a real coastal vibe happening and the colours reflect this feeling.  It’s about matching the feeling and the elements that surround your home and how you want to reflect this in your asthetic design vision – try these Pop and Scott Pots from Copper and Pink.  I wanted a softer, natural feel that reflected the vibe we wanted our home to have as well as the location that it’s in.

2. Hightlight features and disguise flaws

Sometimes we are stuck with certain features that we just can’t change, so using colour and objects are an easy way to help highlight the good bits and hide the not so good bits.  We couldn’t change the weatherboard exterior colour as it had just been painted by a previous owner, but we could change the door colour as that was a lot cheaper and time efficent to carry out.  I chose a punchy blush pink (Dulux Millers Flat) that helped to draw your attention away from the neautral weatherboards and highlight the unique style of the entrance way door.

3. Complement the style and architecture

Walking the neighbourhood is a great way to get some clues about the architecture in your ‘hood and is an easy way to help you narrow down what you like and what you don’t.  It can help to find design features that connect with you and you can apply to your home and exterior.

4. Keep the continuity

Interior Designers, like me, are always talking about the flow of a house and this is especially true for an entrance way.  It’s the first clue a visitor gets to tell them what’s to come.  The colours and patterns used in an entrance way should reflect what is going to happen in the rest of the home.  For us it’s a touch of monochrome, house plants, a smattering of blond wood, and highlights of blush pink and yellow.

5. Make use of storage and accessories that match your style

Don’t forget that the entrance way is acutally another room in the house and should be treated as such – given the same consideration as other parts of your home.  I like to make sure that there is plenty of storage as well as a place to sit and put on and take off shoes.  This area tends to become a dumping ground for bags, keys and other bits and pieces so try to provide hooks, hangers and baskets to give these goodies a home.  For us we got a clever peg board (from George and Willy) which let’s us hang hats, umbrellas and shelves for other little bits and bobs.

6. Hardware should be good looking and functional

A digital lock works really well for our family which is coming and going all the time.  It means no lost keys and it allows us to give access to friends and family when we are out of town or to a tradesmen if needed.  It’s great for piece of mind and this particular lock (the 3109 from Yale Locks) is very user friendly and all members of the family can easily use it.  It looks good AND it works well which is a huge tick from me.

Your entrance way should be fun and a reflection of you and whoever lives in your home.  It should show who you are and how you want to live – tell your interior design story!

I really hope these tips help and if you want to see more check out the full video: Yale Grand Entrances – Alex Fulton

This post is a collaboration between Alex Fulton Design and Yale Locks NZ.

All imagery and video is the property of Yale Locks NZ/AFD and needs to be credited accordingly.