A Welcoming Entrance

One of the features I love most about our new home is the welcoming courtyard entrance. The courtyard makes it difficult to see the front door from the street, which I like.  It’s so wonderful to have an outdoor entertaining space, in addition to the back garden and pool area.  With sliding doors in both the office and the “Grand Room” (living/dining) leading to the courtyard, as well as the triple slider in the “Great Room” (family/kitchen/breakfast) leading to the back patio, we truly have a party-perfect indoor-outdoor floorplan for entertaining.  Some day this COVID thing will be over and we’ll be able to throw a party.  But in the meantime, we’re getting ready!

My mom is wonderful with plants, and also with decorating, so this space was all her planning.  We chose the fountain, the wooden pieces and most of the pots and plants, but she’s placed them and potted and cares for them all.  She’s really turned it into a cool oasis from the outside heat of the Arizona summer.

I Love Design Homes

I learned most of what I know about design, both inside and outside, from Sunset Magazine and the Pasadena Showcase House of Design. The Showcase House is an annual fundraising event for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Music in the Schools program.  They take over an estate for several months and completely renovate the inside and outside, then sell tickets for tours.  The Showcase Committee sets up a lovely restaurant area catered by a notable LA caterer, so you can turn your visit into an entire day.  For many years, this was an annual girl’s day out with my besties.  We would meet for lunch on the property, tour the house and grounds, and end with shopping in the fabulous boutique where a portion of all of your purchases go toward the charity.  I can’t think of a more enjoyable day with the girls.  They also offer evening tours during the week, and my hubby and I enjoyed grabbing dinner and seeing the home and landscape lit up with fantastic lighting.  Many years I’d go twice, once in the day and once at night.

These tours taught me about traffic flow, color schemes, and to appreciate silk or suede draperies and upholstery.  I can spot venetian plaster from across a 7,000 square foot house.  I learned about mixing furniture styles and genres.  Seeing quality design and opulent fabrics and lighting did not spoil me for what I cannot afford, as some might believe.  These visits showed me what is possible, and from there I’m able to create my own version of gorgeous within my own budget. 

Decorate Your Door

There is an iron gate leading into our courtyard.  It’s really great because it locks, and it keeps the courtyard and front door very private.  The doorbell is on the outside, and we can answer through the Ring video camera, if we want to.  Mom made me these adorable painted pine cone wreaths a couple of years ago for my old house because I had double doors.  So now I can hang one on the outside gate, and one on the front door inside the courtyard.  It’s fun to change them out with different holiday decor, too.

Create Focal Points

We created several places to rest your eyes on the way to the final destination, our front door.  When you first walk in, you are greeted by a lovely planter with plants and a pretty painted iron picture. 

Then as you walk further in, the fountain is the main focal point that draws the eye away from the front door.  It provides a little natural music to the space, as well as beauty.  On either side of the door, there are plant stands and colorful pots.

Provide Seating

A colorful bench, with a fluffy cushion is a great place to sit and enjoy the fountain, and a small half-table and chairs is an inviting place to share morning coffee or evening happy hour with friends or neighbors. You might even serve some of my favorite summer citrus drinks!

Add Plants

Plants soften up the look of an outdoor space that is mostly stone and stucco.  They also freshen the air, and provide a shady resting place for the little birds that happen in.  Adding some colorful pots on each side of the walkway help to draw the eye to your little vignettes.  Several of our pots are filled with herbs, which we all love to use in our cooking.

Don’t Forget Art

To truly make an outside space feel like an extension of your living space, you can add art.  We have the wall sign near the front door, the colorful sun above the fountain, the painted metal butterfly sculpture, and a cute terracotta sun that smiles to everyone as they leave the house.

Light the Night

Every great space can be made even better by using the right lighting.  The previous owners had hung café lighting in the courtyard, and it makes the space feel like a party.  Everyone loves party lights, right?  There are lanterns near the doors for when you want more than the ambiance café lights provide. Night lighting adds so much ambiance to your welcoming entrance.

Consider Adding Shade

It’s really great for guests to have a covered stoop, or some other place for them to wait for you to answer the door. Some kind of cover provides shade, and also protection from the rain.

For the Summer months, we hung a sunshade over the courtyard because it gets so hot out there.  The plants were getting fried, and the rooms were incredibly hot.  Since our office walks out into the courtyard, and we spend a lot of time in the office, we wanted to find a way to provide shade but still allow the airflow.  The sunshade was the perfect solution.  It clips on with 4 easy clips, and in the winter when we want the warmth, or before a summer monsoon, we can take it down, so it won’t get damaged.

Our Welcoming Entrance

We’re never really finished. We do have a few other things planned for this outdoor room, such as a potted lemon tree. This will add fragrance when it’s blooming, as well as being pretty and practical.  We love citrus, and we were so excited to find lemon, lime, and orange trees planted in the back garden.  We had missed that part when previewing the house.  Every home should have a lemon tree and a culinary rosemary bush, in my opinion.  But that’s an entirely different topic.

Having a beautiful entrance brings me such joy.  It adds to our curb appeal and says welcome to all who grace our home.  To me, it’s part of being good hosts, and you all know I do love to entertain!  What features are “must haves” in your front entrance area?