Foyer Inspiration and Plans

By Anne Alexander Sieder On December 26, 2010 · 1 Comment

Your Foyer is the first thing people see when they walk into your home. With the proper inspiration and a little planning, it will represent your home’s style and be functional at the same time. To make it do just that, you need to use items that not only look good but double as storage. No matter what the size of your foyer, you can turn it into a place that will put a smile on your face every time you see it (and impress your guests, too).

The best way to approach designing your foyer is first to decide what size and shape it has. Would you say it’s large, medium or small in size? Is it long and narrow, square or round? Do you have very high ceilings or just average height? All of these questions must be answered before you get down to the task of planning because they will affect what kind of furniture and lighting will look best. It’s usually best to echo the shape of the room with the furniture. If you have a galley style foyer use a long, narrow table as your main piece. A hallway type foyer will probably look better with two hanging lights instead of one as well. Once you figured all that out, you’re well on your way to the fun part: choosing your design elements.

Planning Your Foyer

First choose your largest piece. Usually, that will either be a chest of drawers or a console table. This will depend on the amount of storage you need. Don’t forget that a lot of ottomans have storage space inside of them. Not only can you use them to introduce pattern and color to your foyer, but you can also store all sorts of stuff inside them. Plus, they come in really handy when you need a place to sit down and put on your shoes. If you have a small to medium sized entryway, you’ll want to choose a piece that doesn’t take up much room visually. Usually, a console table is best however, a mirrored chest of drawers would work, too.

Foyer Sizes & Shapes and the Best Furniture for Them

A lot of apartments don’t have more than a few square feet when it comes to the foyer, but this doesn’t mean it can’t look chic. For very a tight space:

Use a floating shelf
Place a row of hooks underneath it
Hang an over-sized mirror above the shelf (mirrors not only create the visual illusion of double the space, but they also add more light and depth to the area)
Use a coat tree but make sure not to overload it with coats – not more than one per hook

For small to medium sized foyers you have quite a few more options. Remember that:

Mirrored, glass and plexi-glass furniture take up less visual space
Half moon chests and consoles don’t have any sharp corners so work extremely well when every inch matters
Furniture with legs have more room to breath and therefore also take up less visual space (the longer the legs, the less space the piece takes up).
Mirrors are always a great choice, no matter the size of your entryway, however, art can make a big statement and also introduce the color scheme of your home

For large entryways you want to match the scale of the room so make sure to:

use large furniture and lighting
consider a round entryway table topped with a beautiful vase or sculpture
be bold in your choices

Entryway Colors and Themes

The theme for your foyer should be a condensation of the theme of your home. If your home is whimsical and full of vibrant color, then your foyer should be as well, only more so. Remember you and your guests won’t be spending a lot of time in this room. It’s really just a pass through so you’ll want to make a big statement. Is there a wallpaper that you love but think would be overwhelming? It won’t be in this space. It will just be fabulous and dramatic.

Don’t overlook lighting in here, either. Make sure to include overhead lighting and task lighting (a table lamp or sconce). After you’ve done all the work of decorating your foyer, you’ll want to make sure people can see it!

If you’d like some more tips on how to organize your entryway, then take a look at this article: Get Organized in Style