Five ways to make foyers fabulous

Curb appeal often gets all the credit, but a foyer can make a strong first impression in a home.

Homeowners, whether building a new home or renovating a property, can view the foyer as the place to create a “sense of arrival,” said Gary Dresser, owner of Dresser Homes, a custom homebuilder and remodeler based in Atlanta.

Even if you’re a homeowner who prefers that family and friends enter through the side or back door, the foyer is one area where builders and designers can add in special details to create an appealing entryway.

“Foyers come in a lot of different sizes and shapes, but most importantly it is the room that tells the story for the rest of the house. It sets the stage as to what the rest of the house is going to be like,” said Shon Parker, owner of Shon Parker Design, with offices in Atlanta and Lake Placid, N.Y.

The foyer is a place to make a high impact because if the home’s first impression is poor it can affect what guests think of the rest of the house, Parker said.

Here are five ways builders and designers are focusing on the foyers in homes.

1. Mix up the flooring

Dress up the foyer by using materials and patterns for the floors that are different from the rest of the house. In a new home by Dresser Homes in Atlanta’s Sherwood Forest neighborhood, the foyer has a diamond pattern in the floors, created by using honed Italian marble inlay in oak wood floors. The installation was complicated and for a more upscale budget, but the effect was stunning. Using another species of wood, such as walnut instead of oak, and staining it, can be an inexpensive way to define the foyer.

The flooring is a key to making a foyer special, said Parker, who suggests using herringbone vintage wood or marble cut into a pattern.

2. Make the foyer a focal point

Designer Janace Harding believes the foyer introduces a home to visitors, and she created her soaring foyer to serve as the nucleus of her Lake Lanier house. The foyer was positioned with interesting vantage points, out the back of the home to the stone terrace and panoramic view of the lake, and up to the second and third floors, where windows also bring in the natural scenery.

“The foyer is one continuous space that goes up maybe 30 feet. When you reach the very top, it’s a widow’s walk with a panoramic view of woods, the hillside, the lake and the sunset,” Harding said.

If guests look up, they will see coffered ceiling details echoed in each level of the home, said Harding, who designed the home in three phases over several years and worked with builder David Secrecy. The ceilings on each level average 10 feet, and can reach up to 12 feet.

Wall details such as floor-to-ceiling wainscoting, heavy moldings and padded leather walls also can bring attention to the foyer, Parker said.

Atlanta designer Bryan Kirkland also has used a chevron-style pattern on the walls to set the foyer apart from the rest of the house but also set the stage for the type of interior design style that guests will see as they continue through the house.

In a Buckhead bachelor pad, Kirkland used dark grays on the walls, floors and fabrics to create a striking, dramatic entryway in the condo. A floor-to-ceiling mirror was not in the traditional vein, but done instead with slats of mirror surrounded by wood stained in an espresso hue, and also serving as a piece of art, said Kirkland. His company, Bryan Alan Kirkland Designs also provides interior and exterior design, architectural plans, lighting design and other design services. An antique rug was juxtaposed with the modern look of the foyer, which is about 6 feet wide by 15 feet long in The Brookwood.

“In any home, it’s about stepping in, (having) that welcoming feeling and knowing that what you see there is going to open your eyes to what’s going on,” Kirkland said. “It draws your eye and makes you go, ‘wow.’”

3. Play up the ceiling details

Beams as well as coffered, vaulted and tray ceilings are architectural features that can frame the foyer. In addition, it may be easier for homeowners to position design elements such as a rug and lighting in the center of the space. In an Atlanta home with a ranch (as in Montana ranch, not the architectural style) look, Dresser placed cedar timber beams that immediately catch attention when guests enter the foyer. A marble foyer did not make sense in this home, but the wood floors and the timbers fit with the lodge look of the home, Dresser said.

To make a foyer more interesting, embellish the ceiling with designs such as a reflective or graphic wallpaper or moldings in a crisscross “X” pattern, Parker said.

4. Add a place to hang around

Sometimes guests linger at the foyer when entering or before departing. Adding a chair or bench for taking off or putting on shoes and jackets as well as just sitting and chatting can be helpful, if space allows. The open floor plan in an Old World-style home in Atlanta allows for the foyer to extend further into the home, where a round table and seating is placed.

5. Keep it uncluttered

Part of designing and decorating a foyer involves paying attention to scale, Kirkland said. Refrain from viewing the foyer as a place to fill with collectibles, furniture, artwork and other items that don’t fit elsewhere in the home. Instead, focus on some of the key elements that Parker says work well in the foyer, primarily a mirror and console table, which can hold lighting in addition to a chandelier or other hanging lights.

Parker also is incorporating some features used in entrances centuries ago, such as the covered domed chair where a porter admitting visitors to a home may have sat in 18th-century France. The foyer would need to be designed and built to accommodate pieces of furniture.

Using fewer items but on a larger scale can make a room such as the foyer seem bigger, Kirkland said.

“People think the big furniture in a home always makes the home look smaller. It’s not true,” he said.