It's funny to think that with the 100+ projects I've worked on, I've only done four or five foyer spaces. To me the foyer is one of the most important rooms in a home. It says, "Welcome, come on in and stay awhile!" The space should reflect the family living in the home and help set the style for the rest of the house. Maybe you don't have a dedicated foyer space with four walls, but usually there is a wall that can be made into a focal point for the entry into your home. I challenge you to revamp your foyer into a space you are proud of!
When we purchased our new house, I loved the way the foyer felt when you walked into the home. It was airy with lots of natural light coming through and had beautiful trim work. But there was quite a bit, I did not prefer. We'll get to that in a minute...
I'm no scaredy cat when it comes to having a little project or two. We had our fair share of projects at Tanglewood so I consider us seasoned DIYers. As you remember we had a huge foyer at Tanglewood and I loved how we decorated it to be a fabulous entry into our little ranch. We started with removing the wallpaper, adding wainscoting and then came the decor. I had redone a dresser I found at the Habitat, paired it with a unique pendant light and colorful rug, and used a show stopping gold mirror we got with the purchase of that home. Unfortunately non of our existing decor fit in the new space. There is a lot of broken spaces with the stairwell, dining room, playroom and double doors that lead into the family room.
To start our foyer makeover, I desperately wanted to redo the banister. It showed the age of the house by all the curls and swirls. I love traditional design but if you have followed my past projects, I tend to combine a few different things. I like industrial modern. I like farmhouse. I like boho. I like tropical. If it's done right, I think it all comes together nicely. Going back to the staircase, I wanted the post to be square off but we would leave it painted white rather than stain it. Same with the banister. For the pickets, that's where I wanted the high contrast look I'm fond of. Black. All the Black. Nothing fancy and curly but I do love the subtle twist in each iron picket we chose.
The steps had recently been refinished with wood and they are beautiful, but with the girls, I wanted a little bit of cushion. Stairs are dangerous and we did not have them in our last home so anything to make them a bit safer. I found these runners from Ballard Design and bought three of them to make the stair runner. I love the texture of them- they are not soft but that was the point! The little bit of navy that comes through is just enough BAM for the space! It's eye catching when you walk through the front door but not overwhelming.
I'm holding on to my mother's antique tea cart because they didn't have room for it in their new house and it of course could not be given away and I think (for now) it works great in this space. I'm hoping in the next year, I can find a narrow, 14" deep, demilune table. The little doors into the family room are so darling, that I cannot remove them so finding something tiny enough to fit behind them has proven to be harder than I thought.
Once I got my bridal portrait and some existing things we had on the walls, the space still did not feel quite done. Maybe it was because of the light fixture. They had a beaded chandelier hanging and it was WAY too low. I found a semi-flush shell light that I loved but it's so much higher that the other one. It's beautiful but it needed to be grounded. I found a perfect neutral rug and I think that was the finishing touch. It plays into the high contrast look with the dark floors and it doesn't compete with the stair runner.
This was a fairly simple project that updated the space! We will be slowly be painting trim and all the downstairs walls, but for now, I'm happy with the change.
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