Foyers and entryways are important areas of the home that often go overlooked. Not only are they a landing strip where you transition from public to private life, but they also set the mood and color scheme for the whole house.
Most professionally-designed foyers will have at least one of the following: a console table, a chest, or a bench. A chest makes sense if you don’t have a lot of closet space and need extra storage for your seasonal clothes. Benches offer a place for people to put on or take off shoes. To dress up the space, hang a statement mirror or painting over your table, chest, or bench. Decorate your console table or chest as you would a coffee table, with fresh flowers, a bowl of seashells, antiques, candles, vases, or books.
In some homes, the entryway is small and enclosed on most sides. In an open concept home, however, the space is less defined. Homeowners with an open concept house can delineate where their foyer begins and ends using an accent rug and a few pieces of furniture, such as a bookcase, console table, or bench.
If your foyer tends to get cluttered, take note of what kinds of clutter accumulate there. Do you have a shoes-off policy for your home? If so, store shoes in a chest or basket under the console. Do you drop off your mail, sunglasses, and keys as soon as you get home? Place a pretty decorative box on your console table to collect those loose items. To keep umbrellas off the floor, I recommend adding an umbrella stand made of porcelain, brass, or Lucite.
One common problem with entryways is that they can be narrow and poorly lit. In a foyer with very little natural light, a statement chandelier is the obvious choice. Another option is to decorate your console table or chest with a single large lamp or multiple smaller ones (like candlestick lamps). To reflect the natural light coming in through your windows or door, you can also include a wall mirror.
A beautiful and well-organized foyer will not only impress your guests, but also bring you cheer when you come home after a long day. If you take a moment to strategize and identify key items missing from your setup, you too can create a foyer that is as stylish as it is functional.
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Margaret Chambers, a registered interior designer (RID) and American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) member, leads Chambers Interiors and Associates. Her colleague Caitlin Crowley helped edit this column. Visit chambersinteriors.com/blog for more design advice.
