Spring doorway ideas: how to create a cool toned front door display
Whether you have a long driveway, staircase or quaint front porch, there are many ways to add a touch of personality to your front door decor. One simple way is by adding pops of colour with stylish planted containers.
While you can use any colours and flowers your fancy, a planting trend for 2025 is using plants that have a cool toned colour scheme. The aim is to create a harmonious, calming environment in your outdoors, whether in your garden or on your doorstep. This year, we've conjured up a perfect combination of plants which do just that. Paired with our new Heritage Pot range, these cool toned planted containers are ideal for making a lasting impression on your guests before they even step foot in your home!
As a bonus, planting a container is one of the easiest gardening jobs you can do. This means whether you’re a complete garden novice, have years of experience, or want to do something fun with the little ones, you’ll be able to plant up containers for your doorway display without any bother at all. As well as a quality compost and a few essential gardening tools, all you’ll need are a handful of your favourite cool toned plants. Don’t worry if you’re stuck for ideas, as our Green Team have picked out some of their favourites to spark some inspiration.
So, let’s get into the details on how you can achieve this unique and inviting look that’ll enhance your doorway display this spring.
The number one rule when planting a container so that it always looks beautiful is to choose plants with a variety of heights and textures. One planting combination we love that works every time is combining hydrangeas, lavender and violas in one pot. Hydrangeas have large, rounded flowers to provide flair, while lavender will add height, and violas pops of vibrant colour. All these plants are available as hardy varieties too, meaning they’ll endure all kinds of weather conditions. These plants flower from around April or May until late summer, with violas even blooming all the way up to December! Even as things begin to fade away towards the end of summer, your containers will still have a bit of life in them to help create a welcoming entrance.
Now onto the fun part – the colours! Blue, purple and green are all considered cool tones. When used, cool colours bring a sense of harmony and create a quiet, calming atmosphere. They’re the shades most closely related to nature, conjuring images of soft, dense grasses and relaxing waves of water. Cooler colours can make a small space seem bigger, meaning regardless of the size of your doorway, using cool tones will help enhance it.
If you’re aiming for a punchier impact, you can pair cool tones with warm tones. However, to create a more coordinated look, it’s better to use a harmonious colour palette, which means pairing cool tones together. Shades like blue and purple are easier on the eye and more peaceful, which is ideal for the overall style we’re going for. Hydrangeas come in lots of wonderful shades, but to stick with the cool-toned harmonious theme, we’ve chosen a beautiful soft baby blue colour. The small purple blooms at the end of tall stems of lavender pair perfectly, and as a bonus they have a fresh welcoming scent that pollinating insects also love. Finally, the delicate petals of vibrant violas will tie the purple together, plus add depth and radiance with a pop of bright white.
How many of each plant you’ll need will depend on how many planters you have. And of course, how many planters you have depends on the size of your doorway. To help create a welcoming entrance, it’s best to use multiple pots instead of just one. When choosing your planters, try and pick colours that’ll further complement the colour of your plants. The pots we’ve used are from our Heritage range, which is beautifully rustic and looks good in any outdoor space. Choosing two different shades of blue for our containers ties in the light blue hydrangea and complements the purple flowers. Since our doorway is on the larger side, we’ve picked out a few more neutral-coloured planters. These work nicely placed at the back of the display. For this look, you don’t want to overdo it with the colour, and the neutral tones of the soft grey pots provide a backdrop that will really emphasise the other colours of your plants.
Once you’ve designed the layout of your display and picked out your flowers and pots, it’s time to start planting! Place your pots in their position in your entryway and then fill them with compost. Using a high-quality compost such as Westland peat free container and basket compost will help your flowers have a longer flowering season. Plant your hydrangeas in the middle of the container, the taller lavender at the back, and fill any gaps at the front and sides with violas. If you’re planting up multiple pots, try and vary the planting combinations to keep things visually interesting. For example, plant up one pot with just lavender, and another with just violas and lavender. You can even include a taller conifer or evergreen shrub in your display to finish it off. This'll keep your doorway vibrant during winter, when little else is flowering. Place larger pots at the back of your display, and smaller ones at the front.
There are also other ways you can also incorporate this cool toned colour scheme around your doorway, for example, if you don’t have a lot of room for lots of pots or if your door is next to a front window. We love the idea that bedding plants don't only have to be planted into beds and borders. To go along with our pot display, we’ve created a pansy windowsill container using a mix of rich purple and bright white pansies, paired with soft grasses in the back for an added touch of greenery. And, if we’re talking pansies, we can't forget about violas; we love planting them not only in our pots and borders, but in hanging baskets too. This is a great way to save some space by hanging a basket or two on the wall beside your door. As the violas grow and fill out the basket, they’ll create a delightful display on a usually empty area.
Finally, making your own homemade wreath to either hang on your door or place beside your pots is a fun, creative spring gardening activity to add the perfect finishing touch to your cool-toned doorway display. It’s all these little details that will further complement your planted containers and tie the whole look together.
And that’s it! By adding just a few planted containers and a unique viola wreath, you’ve transformed your doorway into something stylish that will impress every one of your visitors. Finish it off with a statement doormat, some lights, and maybe a favourite ornament or two, and you’ll have made a wonderful entryway that feels unique, suits your style, and sets the tone for the rest of your home.