Fabulous foyers welcome guests into your home

When you enter your home, what do you see? After you step over the threshold and close the front door, do you have a beautiful foyer that greets you and your guests? Some say the foyer is the best place to make a positive first impression so it is important to make it a lovely memorable space to welcome your guests in grand style. Your foyer is the room that takes those who enter from the world outside of the home to the quiet and attractive interior of the house. It sets the tone for the rest of the home, and provides a great introduction to your style and what visitors can anticipate in the rest of the house. It also leads guests into other rooms in your home and provides an important transitional space. Some of the elements to consider when designing your foyer include:

A full-length mirror in the foyer provides an opportunity for a nice freshen up before you or your guests exit your home. The colors of the walls should be a warm and friendly shade, perhaps in the yellow and orange family to create a welcoming space or something that is in harmony to the walls in nearby rooms and hallways. The doors leading from your foyer into nearby rooms can also complement the style of your front door with stained or diamond paned glass, hand scraped textures and other details to add to the elegance of the foyer space. Take a look at your ceilings and consider adding some beams to enhance the appearance of your foyer area. There are so many styles to choose from and they can be customized to complement your front door as well. For your floors, you will want them to be attractive but also low maintenance as they will get a lot of traffic. Beautiful wood or stone floors with a gorgeous area rug or carpet can enhance this space. Be sure they can be easily cleaned as there may be extra dirt and mud coming into your foyer area. Plan to include some great lighting fixtures for your foyer based on the scale of the space, the height of your ceiling as well as the overall style of your home. Elegant sparkling crystal, metal or other types of chandeliers or large lighting fixtures are available in a variety of shapes for your foyer space. You can also choose to add flush ceiling lights, floor and table lamps, wall sconces and pendants. It is important to install dimmer switches to create the perfect illumination and atmosphere to greet guests. The foyer can also include a few beautiful pieces of custom furniture that create an Old World ambiance, for example, but also are highly functional. You may want to have a few drawers for your keys and mail and perhaps a hanging space or rack for a hat, coat or umbrella. A bench is helpful for sitting and removing footwear and can also provide storage for extra clothing, shoes or accessories. The foyer can also hold a lovely statue or striking piece of art. Do you have favorite painting to place on the walls going up the stairs leading off the foyer? Your stairwell is also an important part of your foyer and it can be circular with beautiful wooden carved handrails that lead to upper floors. For your next home renovation project, why not focus on your foyer? You’ll derive daily enjoyment from this very special space. Contributed by Susana DeFatima Silva, MA, REALTOR®, Test of Tyme, LLC, #1022805 and Wendy Brickman, MA/MBA, Brickman Marketing..