Creating an inviting entry way can be one of the fun aspects of being a homeowner. A well-defined and well-designed entry leading to your front door can add value to your home in many ways.
A beautiful entryway can boost curb appeal, enhance visual interest through the use of certain construction materials, colors, and outdoor elements, provide you with an opportunity to incorporate lighting into your design, and extend a warm welcome to guests before they even get to your front door.
An inviting entryway design will welcome you, as well, when you arrive home from the workday or running an errand.
A well planned entry way will provide ease of use and good circulation for everyone that may use it, including the postal carrier and a delivery person. A design flaw that we often see is when circulation has been restricted creating sort of a dead end. This lack of circulation can be frustrating and confining because you can’t easily get to the rest of the yard.
This sketch is an example of a ‘dead end’ entry:
Closing off an entry way could lead to a series of unwelcome and possibly unanticipated events. Humans have a tendency to want to get from point A to point B in the quickest and shortest way possible. Creating an area of enclosure where you are physically cut off from other parts of the yard, may result in someone pushing through a thinner part of the hedge, hopping over a plant bed with low growing plants, or creating a safety issue by climbing over a railing, just to take a shortcut. This can risk damage of loosening a railing post, trampling plants underfoot (which is very easy to do when plants are covered by snow), or breaking off shrub branches.
A good entry way design should be as easy to exit as it is to enter. A welcoming entry area allows visitors the ability to move about, and not feel like they are being corralled.
This next sketch shows a simple design solution that provides your entry way with a good circulation flow. The entry is well-defined, but is not totally enclosed.
A secondary entry/exit point is placed into the overall design of the entry way, where natural stone or paver materials could be used. This improvement offers better circulation and can lead to a more enjoyable outdoor area. Also, let visitors know where your entry way begins by not hiding the entry point of the walk behind a hedge.
