Woman's Day Entryway Makeover
Last fall I teamed up with Woman's Day magazine for exciting makeover contest with the grand prize being a home entryway makeover. We received hundreds of fabulous photos and after much deliberation Vera Ligas of Cranford, New Jersey was selected as the winner.
We chose the Ligas home because the large front porch is a perfect example of how you can use transitional spaces, such as a porch or patio, to significantly expand your living area and create a beautiful prelude to your home's interior.
Last March I stopped by to visit with Vera and her husband Paul to collaborate about ways to create a beautiful and inviting entrance to their home. After the meeting I set about creating a design that would make the front of their home everything Vera had in mind.
To begin I formulated these 5 goals, which can be applied to just about any style home.
1. Create a welcoming entry. A home's entrance really begins at the curb, so this is the starting point of any front entry makeover. At the Ligas home a gate is placed where the city sidewalk meets the front walk. To match the classic style of the house a charming picket gate is selected. The gate is punctuated on either side with two finial topped posts and a trio of boxwoods.
2. 
Transform the front porch into an outdoor living space. The Ligas family has a generous front porch. This is one of the reasons we selected them for the makeover. It is the perfect space to turn into a garden room by adding elements that you would typically find indoors such as rugs, lamps and comfortable furniture. One side of the porch has a dining/game table and four chairs, and the other a sitting room for two with relaxing rocking chairs, padded with colorful pillows and cushions.
3. 
Coordinate the colors. To create a sweeping entrance that guides the eye from the street to the front door, colors in the garden and on the porch should harmonize with the color of the house. The Ligas? home is a soft gray with dark green accents and white trim. We painted the porch a neutral beige so that it will take a backseat to the newly painted green door, khaki and cream striped awnings and earth toned fabrics used on the furniture. White window boxes are hung on the porch windows to lighten up this shady area. We decided on a palette of plants for the garden and containers that are plum, white, gray and green. This color theme appears in the beds around the new picket gate and is repeated throughout the garden and in containers on the porch.
4. 
Make it durable and easy to care for. The entry to a home is the first impression visitors receive, so this area often takes priority when it comes to maintenance. However, by selecting long lasting materials and reliable plants this space can be relatively care free. I chose furniture, fabric and paint that I know will last for years. The plants in the garden such as boxwood, heuchera and coleus are guaranteed to succeed, especially since we prepped the beds with good soil and amendments.
5.
Make it personal. A home's entry should say something about the family who lives inside. I consider my design clients collaborators on a project and always include elements that reflect their sense of style. Vera loves her concrete goose, so I made sure that it had a prominent place in the garden. An important member of the Ligas family is Blackjack, their 15-year-old dog. He's a spry fellow who likes to stand on a table by the front window so he can see all the goings on. A water bowl and wicker dog bed are placed on the porch to give him a more comfortable vantage point. These elements also reveal more about the Ligas? as a family.
1. Awning Fabric - Sunbrella #4957 Aspen Colony Stripe
2. Wicker Rocking Chairs - Laneventure Weathermaster Natural Wicker Natchez Rocker #318-47, Finish: Mesquite, Cushion Fabric: Sunbrella #5621 Brannon Whisper
3. Lamp - Circa Lighting, Sussex Candle Floor Lamp
4. Chair Cushions - Sunbrella #5621 Brannon Whisper
5. Dog Bed - Walpole Woodworkers, #290061 Nantucket Style Oval Bed (Med) woven round reed basket with washable green fleece liner
6. Front Gate - Walpole Woodworkers, #294444 Nantucket Picket Gate (4' wide x 3' tall) with curved brace and concave scallop top, (2) Square Posts (5" wide), (2) Sphere Post Caps, and black heavy reversible hinge straps and a black thumb latch (4' walkway width)
7. Hydrangeas - Proven Winners ColorChoice Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'
8. Containers - Norcal/New England Potter, 12" Peak Pots, Heritage Brown
9. Dining Chairs - Laneventure Weathermaster Natural Wicker Natchez Dining Chair #318-79, Finish: Mesquite, Cushion Fabric: Sunbrella #5621 Brannon Whisper
10. Window Box - Walpole Woodworkers, #299035 Double Paneled Window Boxes
Resources:
Fabric - Sunbrella Fabric
Furniture - Laneventure Weathermaster
Plants - Proven Winners, Spring Meadow Nursery
Lighting - Circa Lighting
Containers- New England Pottery / Norcal Pottery
Window Boxes - Walpole Woodworkers
Gate and Posts - Walpole Woodworkers
Blackjack's Bed and Bowl - Walpole Woodworkers
Soil - Premier Soil
Special Thanks:
Vera and Paul Ligas
Woman's Day Magazine
Barry Block Landscape Design and Contracting
Laggren's - 908-756-1948
Pleasant View Gardens
Star Painting
NBC Today Show
Cranford Parks and Recreation Department