PORCH PANACHE CREATE A WARM AND WELCOMING ENTRYWAY THAT BEGINS AT THE CURB.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Staff Writer

Real-estate agents call it curb appeal.

Decorators call it an inviting entrance.

We're talking about porch panache, an ambience that's difficult to find in California, where homes are often built on a cement slab without a porch or with one too small for a swing or wicker settee.

Regardless of how small that space is between the street and the front door, even if it's only a few yards, it should issue a welcome to your guests, says Hazel White, author of ``Landscaping Small Places'' (Sunset; $12.95).

According to White, ``If you landscape well, people will arrive at your doorstep in a relaxed frame of mind.''

The author was referring to guests, but it also works for potential home buyers.

Leslie DiMattia, a real estate associate at Coldwell Banker in Encino has found that a house with emotional appeal is always a best seller.

``If there's a white picket fence with flowers and a lawn, people fall in love. One look and buyers may overlook the fact that the inside of the home needs some work,'' says DiMattia.

James and Nancy Brown's Woodland Hills home is the essence of curb appeal. For more than 20 years, friends and strangers have stopped to admire the yard. According to Nancy, ``We got the idea for the picket fence, gate and all the flowers after visiting Cambria, which has lots of English cottage-style homes.''

The home is also an example of how a home with a small porch can be turned into a charmer by adding a small garden gate (Nancy's favorite feature) that opens onto a weathered brick pathway to the door where a ``Welcome Friends'' doormat greets guests.

So, whether you call it an inviting entry or curb appeal, it's all about having a bigger welcome mat than the neighbors. Not literally, but there are certain elements that can make any tract home more inviting. It is important, however, to check with your homeowners association or review city ordinances before you change the look of your front yard or entry. Some cities, such as Glendale, don't allow fences. And homeowners groups might only approve of certain paint colors or plants.

Once you decide to make a change, start at the sidewalk.

``I love the idea of a curved linear walkway that leads you through a landscape ... perhaps with a tree ... to lengthen the progression from the driveway to the door,'' says Denise Caringer, executive editor of Better Homes and Gardens Books. Caringer adds that the most inviting garden paths are made from used bricks or stone rather than poured concrete.

Los Angeles interior designer Gail Zaritsky, who is a frequent contributor to Assistance League of Southern California's design houses, agrees curved paths are always friendlier, especially with plants such as wild grasses and lavender planted along the sides.

However, White warns that the curve shouldn't be too extended or deliverymen and guests will make their own short cut and trample the grass.

Also consider an arbor with vines or flowering plants. ``It gives a sense of entrance to a post-World War II ranch house,'' says Caringer.

The arbor idea worked for Walter and Catharina Pieszak of Westlake Village, who trained red roses to grow up and over their arbor to create an entrance to their porchless home. ``It was my husband's idea to use the red roses against the white house because those are the colors of his native Poland,'' says Catharina, ``and friends always say they feel welcome when they walk through it and past the fountain to our door.''

Zaritsky says lighting also helps to create a more inviting ambience, and she suggests adding a lamp post at the entrance and a decorative light fixture at the door.

Colorful doors also add to curb appeal.

According to Zaritsky, ``The best bets are a yellow door on a gray house; a red door on a beige or off-white house; a darker Chinese red on a pale yellow house and a lavender door on an earth tone or cream-colored house.'' She suggests using semi-gloss paint.

If you have a porch, but it barely accommodates more than one person, Zaritsky suggests large flower pots with seasonal flowers (red geraniums are a hit with real-estate agents) at each side of the door with a cheery doormat. ``A door mat is a place to wipe your feet but it also can personalize your home, and it should never be ratty-looking,'' she advises.

For homes with a larger porch, Zaritsky and Caringer prefer a handcrafted rocker because it's the most ``romantic.'' If the porch is bigger, consider a pair of rockers or chaises or a bench for you and your guests to sit on and watch birds drop by for a drink or swim in your bird bath.

So you only have a small slab of cement at the door? Zaritsky suggests a scalloped canvas awning overhead to create the appearance of a porch. Other investments that add charm are small garden gates, fountains and ponds, and statuary such as small rabbits peeking out from under shrubs.

Mail boxes on wooden posts can add charm, and so can inexpensive window boxes filled with flowers, says Zaritsky, but nix the colorful fabric flags or banners, she says, because they quickly fade and tear and that's not so charming.

Pull up a settee ... and read on

So, you've thrown out the welcome mat, and nobody's coming up the path? Check these books we spotted at Borders in Canoga Park for more tips on how to create an inviting entrance to your home:

--``The Cottage Garden'' (DK Publishing Inc.; $13.95): A hands-on primer by Christopher Lloyd and Richard Bird with instructions on how to make a cottage garden path using bricks, rocks or dirt and tips on what flowers to plant around it. Other chapters are devoted to garden gates and cottage doors. Nostalgia buffs will enjoy the introduction to the history of the cottage garden.

--``Country Chic'' (Hearst; $30): Although this book by Liz Bauwens and Alexandra Campbell is primarily on interior decorating, there's a special section on porch decor and tips on how to create your own retreat. It's geared to homes with real porches - those wide wooden types - that can accommodate a full set of wicker furniture and a hammock.

--``Garden Style'' (Better Homes and Gardens Books; $34.95): Editor Linda Hallam shows how to bring the outdoors inside, but also how to extend your living space onto the porch. She divides the book into regional lifestyles and there's a special chapter dedicated to California living, as well as a section on porch pleasures. Lots of great photos for decorating ideas.

--``Garden Style Decorating'' (Sunset; $19.95): If you've got time, money and a big porch, Cynthia Bix's book is a great guide to fantasy verandas.

--``Landscaping Small Spaces'' (Sunset; $12.95): A great guide for creating a home with curb appeal. Not only does author Hazel White talk about the philosophy of an inviting home, but also gives directions on how to do everything from creating paths to building arbors.

--``Mary Engelbreit's Outdoor Companion'' (Andrews and McMeel; $24.95): As always, Engelbreit paints a cheerful scene to warm the heart and soul, and this time she focuses on cottages. Between its covers are plenty of pictures for inspiration with a lot of commentary, including the tip that an inviting home should have a little bench on the porch for you and your guests to sit on.

--``Porches & Sunrooms'' (Better Homes and Gardens Books; $14.95): This handy paperback guide to planning and remodeling, written by John Riha, is beautifully illustrated with all types of porches big and small and shows you how to build a porch to complement any style home.

- Barbara De Witt

CAPTION(S):

14 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- cover -- color) Nancy and James Brown of Woodland Hills created an inviting entrance with a brick path leading up to the door, as well as with a white picket fence and old-fashioned lamp post. They got the idea from the English cottages of Cambria, a tiny town along the California coastline.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(3 -- 4 -- color) Walter and Catharina Pieszak of Westlake Village added a rose-covered arbor to greet guests, top, while Linda and Lee Shapiro of Calabasas, above, turned their porch into a veranda with a wicker settee.

(5 -- color) A stone-covered porch with a chaise longue and rustic fountain add to the porch panache of this home featured in the new book ``Garden Style'' (Better Homes and Gardens; $34.95).

(6 -- color) A hand-painted cart filled with snapdragons gives the Shapiro home additional curb appeal.

(7 -- 8 -- color) According to designers and real-estate agents, homes look more inviting with items such as the La Rosetta lantern, top, and decorative planter, below.

(9 -- 10 -- color) Wooden chairs are a must-have for friendly entrances, whether they're traditional rockers such as the pair from Lands' End, above, or rustic like the one below, on Maureen Miller's porch in Woodland Hills.

(11 -- color) Instead of a welcome mat, Miller has a family of rabbits to greet her guests.

(12) Invite guests to sit awhile on a Maple Street glider and chairs from Restoration Hardware. The design dates back to World War I, when Victorian gingerbread was the height of style.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(13) no caption (``The Cottage Garden'')

(14) no caption (``Garden Style'')

Box: Pull up a settee... and read on (see text)