The entrance to your home sets the tone and expectation for the visitor, but more importantly, it’s also the first thing you see when you return home. As a result, the entrance or foyer becomes a kind of summary of the entire home’s design character and its spirit. While most people do not spend very much time in their foyer, the moments when they do feel important, because they are like goodbyes and greetings. The foyer is the closest a home can come to communicating, as if by giving you a little squeeze. And when it comes to guests, the saying is true: first impressions are the most lasting.
Doors Should Stand Out
To give your foyer panache you should start by standing outside and looking at the front door. Doors should stand out from their surroundings to draw people in. Think about presenting an experience with unique materials, color and details like knobs, knockers and doorbells.
Make the Space Inviting
The front door and the foyer are about the anticipation of what follows. Make the entrance exciting with a focal point piece of furniture or art. Create the mood with different materials, colors, lighting and accessories. Find a place for a beautiful flower arrangement. The sense of smell is one that we consistently underrate, it should be something you notice when you walk in. The important thing is to make the space feel inviting.
Give a Staircase a New Look
A staircase may be too expensive to change completely, but even without major rebuilds you can give a staircase a new look by adding an attention-grabbing wallpaper, staining or painting the wood of the steps, changing balusters, or adding a runner. Wallpaper can create the effect of magic right in the entrance to the home, with a space that is vivid, distinctive and enveloping. As a background, it brings out the shape of the staircase. In the picture above, for example, the wallpaper makes the staircase look taller and pairs elegantly with the baluster. The textural feast continues with the sumptuous golden runner descending the steps.
This photo shows a quintessential and effective foyer design, unobtrusive, practical, while also eye-catching and inviting. To start, the double doors at the entry, like the doors of many other of the nicer variety of brownstone, are larger and imposing. With the classic detailing and the large arched window above, these doors should make a homeowner proud. The passage between the doors works as a perfectly efficient place to store important things for daily coming and going, shoes and coats, keys, gloves, galoshes and umbrellas, wallets, or even strollers and bikes.
Small Touches for Small Spaces
More confined spaces may reward simple and striking designs more than larger foyers. In smaller spaces decorating the walls with bright colors or bold wallpapers, presents a risk of overwhelming the space, whereas a few crisp accents go a long way to make the space interesting, spacious and inviting. This foyer makes do with the lack of space by smart design touches like a built-in shelf for storing keys and mail, and a small, functional stool for putting on and taking off shoes. But the highlight of this room must be the light fixture, a simple yet elegant feature that links the door/floor area with the ceiling and refines the whole room’s geometry.
Create Ambiance with Light
Unsurprisingly, lighting is very important in the foyer, both for practical and aesthetic purposes. Lights in the foyer should create a welcoming ambience. I like to use a few different light sources: a statement chandelier or pendant are wonderful, but you can also create ambiance with soft light from wall sconces, which serve a double purpose as wall-sculptures. Low level floor lights look fabulous in halls and stairs and keep you from hitting anything on your way in.
As the gateway into the home, the foyer can frame many of a home’s different aspects. It can showcase an important architectural element of the home. Its design might even accentuate that element or reveal something new about it to draw you into the space. Wallpapers and detailing add dramatic flair to vertical or imposing foyers, and this drama can quickly wrap a guest in the aura of your home.