What's So Special About My Front Door?

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live."

- Flora Whittemore

Your front door welcomes all to your home. This declarative statement of your house -- the exclamation point of your home -- needs to sing out your welcoming note.

First impressions are not just for guests. Generally, we do not receive as much company as we think we do. We lead such busy lives and simply do not entertain or visit friends often enough.

Decorating your home to impress others is not as important as decorating your home for your own pleasure. Create a welcoming and warm retreat in which you feel great joy just to arrive. Do you feel happy when you see your home in the distance? Does your first glimpse of home bring a smile to your face?

A problem with many new homes is that developers do not provide a separate walkway to your front door. To make yourself and your guests feel more welcome than a car, provide a separate front walkway from the street to the front door. Don't make guests walk around cars and trip on driveway edges to navigate to the entrance.

Feeling Welcome

Flowers lining the walkway provide a warm reception. Cheerful flowers in loud colors near the entry tell the world that you care about your home. Extras like water fountains, fishponds, cooing peace doves, and scented vegetation make all feel gladly received.

Sing Out the Address

Proud address numbers are bold and beautiful. Avoid tacky peel and stick numbers. Brass numbers need to have screw holes in them, not pronged ends that eventually work loose. As in the past, gold-gilded numbers look elegant on glass doors. Gold-gilded vinyl transfer numbers look especially exquisite in transom windows.

Welcoming Accessories:

Wind chimes add pleasure to our sense of hearing.

Potted plants such as soft ferns (shun unfriendly spiked plants and thorns near the doorway).

Floral baskets with bright yellow and white flowers show up better at night.

A pair of rocking chairs, a double glider, or a porch swing invites neighbors to stop and chat.

A doormat that not only saves your floors but also looks welcoming!

What Color Should I Paint My Front Door?

Unless your front door is a beautiful wood, paint it a joyful color. Your entry door should be a different color than the rest of your house. Warm happy colors include the shades of red and yellow: burgundy, claret, rust, terra cotta, deep amber, and sunny yellow. Cool happy colors of green include apple, sage, and forest green.

After spending time and effort creating a wonderful entryway into your home, use it! Why enter from the garage or back door? Treat yourself as well as you treat your guests. Come home through your welcoming front door!

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Wooden Outdoor Patio Furniture - What's Yours Made From?

Outdoor patio furniture is furniture that is used outdoors. It includes the following tables, chairs, sets, swings, rockers, gliders, BBQ, chimeras, umbrellas, roman table, steamers day beds, chaise lounges or sun loungers.

In general outside patio furniture is made from materials that can withstand the effects of the weather such as wood mainly hardwoods, wicker with rattan, metal- mainly wrought iron, aluminum and stainless steel, glass, plastics, and stone.

General

All wood used on furniture that will be left outside for any length of time needs to be treated i.e. oiled, painted or stained. Hardwoods have natural oils; that help to protect from drying out, other woods also have natural oils; although they are not as effective and need extra treatment. Not all types of wood are good for use outside; some types of wood are more susceptible to termites and pests than others. Soft wood will not survive untreated outside, as by its very nature has none of the properties necessary to survive the weather. Kiln dried pine is now available as a sustainable wood source to use for any furniture, it is a lower cost option, but not as water resistant or insect as hardwoods.

Hardwood

Hardwoods are extremely popular due to their ability to survive the weathering outdoor patio furniture is subjected to. Wood is naturally resistant to pests, mildew, mold and of course water. Good outdoor furniture sets are designed to allow the water to escape through the furniture by slits or holes. Wood is a most natural product to have in the outdoor environment, it is lovely to look at and sit on to enjoy the outdoor scenery, and it doesn't get too hot or too cold.

The most popular of hardwood is teak wood patio furniture, as it is a dense wood protected by natural oils that enable it to withstand the worst of the sun and rainy weather. Historically teak was used on ships decks some enterprising salvage collectors in England used to collect the wood after it had been washed up on the shores and used it to make tables. For more than 100 years the tables have been left outside and not painted. In America it is a fairly new thing to use teak for wood patio furniture. There are some newer woods such as Kwela and Shorea that can be considered; if regularly oiled (about once a year) teak maintains it lovely golden color, but if left teak will age to a silvery patina. Teak wood patio furniture will last a long time - over 10 years without splitting or cracking. Most ethical teak wood plantations have strict policies about replanting (which is sensible from a commercial point of view).

Other woods such as walnut, mahogany, oak, and cedar are also used to make outdoor furniture, but they are not as commonly used as teak as they don't last as long. Teak will prove its value over the years as although teak is more expensive than other hardwoods for patio furniture, it will last longer than most of the other wooden outdoor furniture.

Soft Wood

Any soft wood used outdoors will have to be treated. Soft woods are usually cheaper than hardwood and as such attractive to manufacturers and consumers- price is an important consideration. Pine is a soft wood cheaply available, and can used for outdoor furniture.