Stained Arched Front Door Summer Decorating Tips {our front entrance}
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Our front door is kind of unique as it’s very large and has a tiny little door in the middle. It’s actually one of my son’s favorite things in the house, that tiny door. Today I am sharing stained arched front door Summer decorating tips. You can use these tips for any sized door, I just struggled with this project as the door didn’t look great with a wreath and up until we moved here, a wreath was my “go-to” door decorating item. The front door stain is called Cognac by Varathane.
Here is the door before.
The door has beautiful stone work that surrounds the entrance and I love the unique European style. There are not many homes in New England that look like they belong in Italy so when we bought this house, it was a challenge to figure out how to decorate it. I decided to introduce some greenery (the large Fern plant) and a mix of colorful annuals.
Here is the after.
The stained arched door is so unique and I really love the decorative bars on the side lights. I am not sure if that’s a European thing or not but it’s really cool! Mixing in a variety of red flowering annuals helped give the space a pop of color.
Stained Arched Front Door Summer Decorating Tips
I recently shared this space and offered some planter decorating tips of on the Design Happy Blog at HomeGoods so if you are looking for planter inspiration, head over and check out the planter post.
The stained door offers a rich lush look and coordinates nicely with the cream colored stucco on the house and stone. I am thinking about adding a window box to the iron veranda? What do you think? I feel like it would add a nice pop of color and look nice as you look out the french doors.
Here is a picture of the house before.
The shrubs are blooming, although I do not know what they are called but I really love the pops of color against the house. In the fall, I need to trim them back a bit and remove some of the shrubs that the winter destroyed. I wasn’t sure if they were dead yet but some of them don’t seem to be perking up.
If you have any suggestions of a late Spring / Summer shrub that would bloom all Summer and look good in the front of our house, let me know.
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Related: Did you see our new outdoor furniture favorites (including our new awesome firepit) added to my favorites page?
Is your front door painted or stained? I have always had a painted front door before so having stain is all new to me. In fact, I am planing to touch up this front door soon and am not sure if I need to do anything special before I re-stain it? I am also on a mission to find some pretty flowers that I can cut all summer long (shrubs) to put in vases. I do love peonies but I don’t think they will look very good in the front of the house. I found a spot on the side of the house though that I think will be perfect. I love Hydrangeas so that is an option too.
Meet Jessica
What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.
It looks fantastic!! And it makes it look bigger and much more homey 🙂
Love the pops of color. Topiaries would also work and create a repeat element to the evergreens. That door is just gorgeous!! Such a beautiful architectural detail!
There are so many new varieties of Hydrangea including Hydrangea trees that would compliment your landscape and home. Another option maybe Diablo Ninebark blooms in early summer (in MN zone 4) but the foilage is what the shrub is all about–also comes in a tree form. Diablo foilage is a deep purple in full sun, flowers start pinkish and turn white http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/1926/diabolo-ninebark/ and summer wine ninebark foilage is reddish. You can check out the various varieties of Ninebark here: https://plants.monrovia.com/search?w=ninebark&af=tab:plants they are a low maintenance shrub. There are also several varieties of Spirea that bloom all summer, Gold Flame is a favorite of mine because it has something to offer spring summer and fall.–blooms and leaves change color. You have exceptional taste and whatever you choose is sure to be beautiful!
Our front door was stained. We loved it, but it faces west and the sun was taking a real toll on it by bleaching out the stain. A protective finish didn’t help much, so we decided to paint it. It looks so much better and we still love our door.
Your bushes in front look like the sane type of bushes we inherited when we bought our house. They are a type of spirea that is very easy to take care of. Our gardener cut the ones that lead down to our little “lake” to about 6 inches after they bloomed last summer. We were upset but it was definitely a good thing. They are in bloom now and are about 2 ft tall and look far healthier than the ones around the porch & walkway ont front. Guess what will happen this year. Every one, both pink and red flowered, will get a buzz cut!
Oh, my goodness, Jessica…that door is a work of art. You did a wonderful job with the choice of Cognac stain. I think a window box on the veranda would be lovely, it will pull the eye up and add more color to the front of the house. TFS.
I love the flowers and your entrance looks just lovely and very welcoming.
Thank you!!
Hi Linda, thank you so much!
What a beautiful house! Your decorations makes it even better. It is a dream to live in such a house. Thank you for sharing, Jessica 🙂
Thank you Jane