When renovating the exterior of a house, the front door may not be the top priority, what with so many other pieces—landscaping, walkways, roofing—to think about. However, these exuberant entryways make the case for a standout design element that visitors will enjoy before they even enter the home. Consider a strong paint color, stately architectural details, and lush landscaping. After all, first impressions are important. From the beautifully ornate door of decorator Victoria Hagan’s ivy-covered Georgian-style home to a rustic and inviting wood design that contrasts with a stucco façade, find front door ideas to help set your entrance apart.
Make a Statement with Ironwork
A brick path leads to the entrance of a 1958 Los Angeles house by designer Donna Livingston.
Install a Dutch Door
Michael S. Smith created this 1930s-style house for film producer Donna Arkoff Roth in California's Malibu Colony.
Play with Asymmetry
The front entrance of a Palo Alto, California, residence by architect Steven Ehrlich and designer Mike Witt compliments the home's contemporary style.
Go for Grandeur
Geoffrey Bradfield redesigned the interiors of a Columbus, Ohio, house he worked on in 1987 that's now 30,000 square feet. Architect Don Goldstein made the façade more symmetrical.
Add Patina and Meaning
Bill Bensley designed a sprawling compound for a couple in Thailand's Chiang Mai Province. The skin of the front gate's door was fashioned out of small copper sheets; a Buddha's hands serve as handles and are positioned symbolically "so you enter the house in peace," explains Bensley.
Create Contrast with a Red Door
Abstracting farmhouse styles, architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen linked together seven identical clapboard-clad structures to create an uncommon residence on a sloping site in Nashville.
Use Reclaimed Materials
A 1900s schoolhouse from Long Cove, Texas, is now the master bedroom of a Fredericksburg, Texas, home that comprises a collection of buildings. The entrance was rebuilt using original stones and bricks.
Make it Period Appropriate
Jacobsen Architecture restored the original 1815 front door of this Georgetown residence .
Install an Antique Door
Designer Peter Roy Bowman and the clients shopped together for this Punta Mita, Mexico, home 's sculptural details. The 19th-century front doors are from a residence in Mexico City.
Install a Stunning Door Frame
Architect Richard Landry designed this Andalusian-style Los Angeles home for Lorna Auerbach and her husband, Larry Wheat.
Customize a Standard Glass Door
Miguel Rivera, of Miró Rivera Architects, designed a contemporary addition for his circa-1912 house in Austin, Texas. The main entrance was moved to the new wing.
Illuminate the Entrance with an Outdoor Light
The Georgian-style façade of Nadja Swarovski's family home outside London belies the house's age; it was only built in 2012.
Give it a Glossy Finish
The front door of a house on Long Island's North Shore by designer Daniel Sachs and architect Kevin Lindores gleams in Fine Paints of Europe’s Delft Blue. The enamel finish, called Hollandlac Brilliant, is often used on boats.
Frame the Home's Views
Bluestone pavers lead to the front entrance of this Napa Valley dream home for a San Francisco media entrepreneur, designed by architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen.
Use Greenery as a Natural Accent
The front door of decorator Richard Shapiro's Malibu beach house, which was constructed by Douglas W. Burdge, is framed by a French 18th-century stone surround and lush greenery.
Choose Frosted Glass for Privacy
The Manhattan townhouse's French-neoclassical landmark façade was the only thing left untouched when architect Frederic Schwartz transformed the venerable townhouse into a sleek, contemporary space.
Let Light in with a Transom Window
The ivy-clad Georgian-style front façade of decorator Victoria Hagan’s Connecticut home .
Two Doors Can be Better Than One
Decorator Bruce Shostak stands at the front door of Hillstead, the Federal-era house in Claverack, New York, he shares with Craig Fitt. The home was renovated with consultant Jeremiah Rusconi.
Opt for French Doors
The main entrance gate to Cole Park , the manor that designer Anouska Hempel shares with her husband, Sir Mark Weinberg, in the countryside of Wiltshire, England, opens to a view of its Georgian façade.
Match Your Front Door to the Shutters
Casa Amarela, the São Paulo home of Vogue Brazil's Donata Meirelles and media mogul Nizan Guanaes, was designed by Sig Bergamin Arquitetura.
Frame with Topiaries and Hedges
The front façade of Steve Tisch's 1932 Paul Williams house turns away from the property's sweeping views of Los Angeles and toward an expansive driveway.
Choose a Cheery Color for a Warm Welcome
Decorator Liz O’Brien painted the front door of her residence near Allentown, Pennsylvania, a bold shade of coral.
Try Warm Wood Accents
Mahogany doors and window frames accent this Laguna Beach, California, home’s rustic stucco façade; the turret, at right, is the main entrance and ushers visitors into the primary living spaces on the second story. The home was built in collaboration with Teale Architecture.
Add Seating
Formation sconces accent this Malibu, California, home’s ocean façade. The walk to the beach is paved with limestone slabs; the home was designed and decorated by Richard Hallberg and Barbara Wiseley.
Add a Water Feature
Light dapples the koi-stocked moat in Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady’s Los Angeles home by Landry Design Group; the home's walls are a blend of three types of Texas limestone. The steel doors and window frames, all by Optimum Window, are in a customized bronze finish.
Go Monochrome
Engaged Corinthian columns distinguish the main façade of the Lindens, a 1754 Georgian residence in Washington, D.C. , that was recently redecorated by Gomez Associates.
Add Sheer Fabric Panels
The Italianate façade of jewelry designer Ippolita Rostagno's 19th-century Brooklyn brownstone , which she converted from a two-family residence into a single cohesive home for herself.
Frame with Planters
A fragrant mix of herbs, boxwood, roses, and perennials lines the bluestone path to the front entrance of Virginia country estate Summer Duck Wood.
Try a Non-Traditional Door
A pivoting glass panel functions as the front door at the Malibu home of Patrick Dempsey; the wall sculpture of fluorescent tubes is by Robert Irwin.
Play with Scale
Diane Keaton stands at the door of her Beverly Hills residence.
Choose a Door that Doubles as a Work of Art
Straddling the bronze courtyard door at the home of Anjelica Huston and Robert Graham is a three-ton block of marble.
Pick a Pivoting Door
Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig Architects designed this industrial-style house/studio in Sitges, Spain. The living room features a pivoting floor-to-ceiling window.
Maximize Light with Glass Doors
Stainless-steel columns mark the entrance to a private modern-art gallery and guesthouse in Dallas designed by architect Bill Booziotis. Phillip Guston's Studio Landscape hangs beyond the front door.
Frame with Flowers
White climbing floribunda roses and yellow Euphorbia characias frame a small entrance at the front of a house in Italy's Piedmont region. The path is made of pebbles from the Ticino River.
Try a Two-Tone Door
In the entrance hall of a Greenwich, Connecticut, house designed by Miles Redd, a hand-painted Indian paper panel from John Rosselli Antiques brightens a wall.
Go Bold with Color
The front door of the designer Michael Schaible's house in Mexico echoes the blue he saw in a Matisse painting.
Add an Awning for Shade
The front door to this Utah desert home leads to stunning views of the surrounding mountains.
Make an Architectural Statement
Accented with a 19th-century-style bronze knocker, the front door opens to the entrance hall, which is furnished with an antique Syrian bridal chest and matching mirror, both inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
