Stained glass door panels can flood your foyer with daylight.
The foyer is the introduction to your home. When it is crammed with rain boots, umbrellas, winter coats or furniture, it isn't very welcoming. When it is missing altogether, guests spill right into your living room, not very graciously. When the foyer is a dingy corridor, you and your visitors get depressed just entering your home. Go for light, color, a strong element of personal style or the hardware you need to create a foyer with good energy that reveals your personal style. Does this Spark an idea?
Instant Foyer
For a small apartment in which the front door opens directly into the living room, an invented foyer solves the problem. Add a tall but skinny mirrored French door closet to provide storage and enhance the illusion of space. A small covered bench and a simple floor-to-ceiling panel of translucent laminated fabric glass complete the transformation. All the light remains. No sense of crowding is added to the entry or living room. But there is a separation that marks the entrance and creates the impression of a hallway.
Eye-Popping Foyer
You don't need gold-flecked wallpaper to do justice to a large, formal entry foyer. Pull out all the stops, and paint the walls vivid fuchsia with blinding white trim. The color allows you to mix traditional and modern d cor to accommodate antiques, an art collection and a high-energy entrance to your home. Choose a silk carpet in a modern design to cover the center of a hardwood floor. Make liberal use of crystal chandeliers. A low, sleek, modern sideboard holds vintage art deco lamps and a few mid-century antique bowls. Hang art photography over the sideboard, and stack classic oils -- maybe some family portraits -- against another wall.
Gallery Foyer
The foyer is the ideal space to hang a vast collection of family photos, collected art, certificates of various achievements and shadowboxes with awards or sentimental keepsakes. Paint the foyer the palest wisp of dove gray with white ceiling and trim. Frame every piece of art in a white frame. None of the frames have to match in design, but every one should be stark white to unify the wall and allow the contents of the frames to shine. Scout a distressed white table, narrow and painted wood, to hold a glass terrarium and a small bowl for keys. Keep the entire space nearly colorless to maintain the art gallery feel and emphasize the art on the walls.
Bounced Light Gallery
Open up a dark urban corridor of a foyer with glass and mirrors. Paint the walls, ceiling and trim medium-gloss white. Refinish a decorative tile floor to remove age-old grime and reveal the bright colors. Use high-gloss polyurethane to protect the tile and reflect light. Replace a solid front door with a paneled door that holds panes of frosted stained glass with a botanical or simple geometric panel -- no heavy, dark scenes. The frosted glass preserves privacy while letting in light. Over the door, fill the transom with another stained glass panel so light from the street pours down the hall. Catch and reflect that light with a large, frameless mirror over a narrow hall table painted white or a pastel color. On the table place a glass globe to hold a few wildflowers, and replace a ceiling fixture with a glass pendant or a crystal chandelier.
Tags: foyer with, living room, your home, ceiling trim, front door, personal style
