Is your foyer a dumping ground?
What makes you cringe when you walk into your foyer? Is it the scattered gym bags and backpacks? Is it the lack of color or the lack of organization? Here are a few simple ways to bring life back to your foyer and make it more welcoming.
Function
A foyer can quickly turn into a dumping ground if you don’t have a place for everything. Coats, keys, mail and shoes all need their own place. Designate it now and share it with everyone in your family. A foyer should have a place to store each of these items.
Furniture
Now that you know what items you need to store in the foyer, you need to find furniture to store those items. A coat rack or closet can store outer garments and some shoes. Keep only a few shoes by the door and store the rest in your bedroom closet. Use baskets or hanging bins to store incoming mail. Keys and wallets should be placed in a bin or drawer. If you have the space, add some seating with storage to hide any purses or bags.
Color
Now is the time to decide on color, yes color. You need it so when you walk in the door you can say ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh not AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH as you run away. Pick something that makes you smile like a favorite vase, scented candle or favorite painting. Use the colors in those items to help you determine your color palette for the foyer. In the picture above, the pillow was the jumping off point for this foyer combining the orange, green and blue in different items around the room.
Warmth
Finally you need to add some warmth to the space. Since it is an entrance, outside dirt is bound to come in. Use a low-pile rug to help control the dirt but pick darker colors to hide any visible dirt until you can get it cleaned. The rug in the above picture came from (gasp!) Home Depot and gave the space some warmth with the orange and brown colors. It also ties in nicely with the orange in the pillow and vase. A mirror helps bring in light from the outside by strategically placing it across from the window to catch the reflecting light. An additional lamp was added in this foyer not only to look pretty but warm up the space with soft light.