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First Footing

Give your house the best chance of selling with these tips from Jill Evans.

Early springtime is a key time for new properties to go on the market and estate agents often say that clients generally form an instant impression of a house as they pull up in the car and step up to the front door.

Concentrate your attention on the area outside the front door, and tidy up the entrance hall area immediately inside as much as you can. A welcoming entrance is sure to win them over and, should you decide not to sell, will make you feel even more glad to come home each day. The front door itself is the most important feature and sets the tone for the whole house, so its a good place to start. It could be a new door, a new reclaimed door, or just a new coat of paint (or two).

Colour can be a really uplifting and breathtakingly beautiful way to transform a door especially with the wonderful range of paints on the market these days, whether on plank style or panelled doors. Keep your eyes open as you drive around and have a good look at painted door colours to help you decide on your own .

Once chosen, try a tester pot on a piece of wood and keep it on the doorstep tor a day or two just to make sure it works in situ with the surrounding wall colour; steps and plants. Generally, a full-gloss paint looks best in towns, and paint with a lower sheen, such as an exterior eggshell, works best in rural or coastal locations. Gloss brings out the colour really well if you are choosing rich deep colours such as a blazer red. lt really is amazing what a few coats of paint can do to your front door.

Whether the door is painted or in its natural state, try to go for something of high quality, preferably in a hardwood. Buy one as thick and solid as possible, so that it will last and prospective buyers will immediately have an impression of quality.

Reclamation yards - and there are several in Devon - are wonderful places for finding doors and compare very favourably on price with new doors of a similar quality. Go well armed with existing measurements and a tape measure and make sure you know a carpenter who can cut it to size and lit it with the necessary locks and bolts before you buy it. An old oak door is at universal favourite and will look the part but can be difficult to find and may be expensive. With period properties, have a look at doors of similar houses in your senses and there is something very satisfying about a using a heavy iron door knocker or turning a smooth brass handle. Bromleighs makes a marvellous selection of door furniture in beautifully tactile materials such as antiqued pewter oil-rubbed bronze, dull black aged iron and antique brass. Reclaimation yards also often carry a very good assortment of door furniture.

Whilst it is best to have the actual door furniture (knocker, door handle, letter box and lock) all in one metal or the same colour finish, it is not necessary to have the outdoor lighting the same. Unless it is exactly the same, it is definitely best to go for a contrast as a ‘near miss' looks wrong. Simple, unfussy shapes for lights work the best; one light is usually sufficient and offsets the symmetry of the door. An excellent variety of lighting is available online, made from solid brass, with some clever finishes such as Shaker green, old ivory, antiqued brass and matt black.

Opening the front door, and that first step inside, is vital to get right too, so tidying away some of the inevitable pile of coats and boots is well worth the effort. Hall storage benches made from reclaimed timber would hide clutter, including boots, and save hopping around trying to take them off.

A quick trip to the garden centre for a couple of reasonably sized plants in pots should finish it off. Large grasses or cordylines in plain well—shaped pots that give some height can be very effective.

Concentrating your efforts on this important first impression, and tidying away as much as possible inside, should hopefully get the viewings off to a splendid start.

Photographs: Farrow & Ball, Devon Stone, Shutterly Fabulous, Toby's Reclaimation

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