As we enter the season of festivities, our sights turn to the front door, the starting point of welcoming guests and loved ones into our home to celebrate. With that in mind, we never like to exclude the exterior of our home from our holiday-centric décor. Carrying your holiday design to the front door not only greets you and your guests from the get-go, but it brings the spirit of the season to the entire block. Here, five simple steps to help you get a decked-out door and swoon-worthy curb appeal.

Step No. 1 | Start with a doormat

Step No. 2 | Flank the door

Step No. 3 | Utilize the architecture

Step No. 4 | Adorn the door

Step No. 5 | Add texture and movement

Step No. 1 | Start with a doormat

The most logical place to start with your holiday front door styling is with the doormat. It’s the perfect way to inject a little personality into your home’s exterior look. It can be a playful saying, a holiday-specific greeting, or a fun print, or both! Something we love doing is dressing up the door with layered rugs—if your top rug has a welcome message then go for a basic textured rug, or a simple print, on the bottom. Here you’ll see Shea and the design team went for a simple stripe, topping it with a natural fiber Happy Holidays doormat for a classic, organic feel.

Step No. 2 | Flank the door

All doors are different but if you have room on both sides, it’s always a good design trick to flank the door with similar objects. Here, you’ll see we used three different pots in coordinating colors and shapes—the rimmed Verena Planter in a washed black finish and the Light Gray Ceramic Planter set in a dual-toned glaze. Adding matching greenery to the trio tie the three slightly askew pots together for a complete look. Keep it simple and stick to evergreens for a traditional holiday feel that works well with any exterior color scheme or architectural style.

Step No. 3 | Utilize the architecture

When styling your front door the name of the game is working with what you got. As you’ll see, this home has stunning columns, introducing a fun architectural feature to utilize in our styling. Shea and the design team chose to wrap these in a Faux Winter Evergreen Garland, a simple and timely styling element that speaks to the time of year of which we’re celebrating. Perhaps your home has some interesting lattice work, an awning, or spindle brackets. Either way, work with what you have to make your home’s holiday front door look a one-of-a-kind design.

Step No. 4 | Adorn the door

The wreath is, perhaps, the signature piece of a holiday doorscape. Its circular shape is a symbol of the season, and a welcoming sight that sets the scene for the holiday décor within your home. The options here are nearly endless, from a traditional Dried White Berry Wreath to something more playful, like one made out of ornaments. This is also a good place for a little DIY if you’re so inclined

Step No. 5 | Add texture and movement

The finishing touch to any holiday front door is adding an element that feels tactile, or something that introduces a sense of life and motion to the entire scene. Here, Shea and the design team added a soft, silk ribbon to the wreath and garland. Its evolution with the environment proves to be just the ticket for making this holiday front doorscape come to life.