It’s been a while since I’ve done a “working with what you have” post, but I’ve gotten a few emails from readers who don’t have “official” foyers in their houses and are wondering how to deal with a front door that opens directly into the living space.
Southern Living
Here are a few ideas for creating a pretty—and functional—entry, even when space is limited:
Southern Living
With furniture placement. It’s okay to walk into a room and see the back of a sofa or a pair of chairs. Instead of “cutting off” the room, it’s actually a great way to visually create a separate entry way.
With a wall treatment. I love how Kristin used molding and wallpaper to create a pretty foyer vignette on her living room wall in the photo above. You don’t necessarily have to have a lot of wall space to make a big impact.
This homeowner took a similar approach by applying board and batten here:
Better Homes & Gardens
With accessories. This spot by the front door could function even if the chest wasn’t there. Add a textural basket, a cute boot tray, or an umbrella holder and some hooks for a pretty drop-off spot.
Without a piece of furniture. Although a chest or console is nice, you can still have functional entry without taking up valuable floor space. A ledge shelf (especially with hooks underneath) gives you a pretty spot for a bowl or flowers.
I also love how they used wallpaper to further define this small entry:
Deakins Design Group via Houzz
By using a big mirror. Large floor mirrors are great because they take up little space in a tight area but visually open up the space, almost adding an extra window in the room. (If you have the space, layering the mirror with a small console makes this spot work even better.)
How have you worked with a small or non-existent entryway in your home?
See more “working with what you have” posts here.
Love these images. I have a small home with a front door that opens directly into our living space and then, after a small piece of wall that’s only as big as the door, there’s the dining room – there’s no wall to put a console or a bench. We’ve put a few hooks on the small piece of wall behind the door but it gets overrun quickly. I’m always looking for new inspiration for this particular spot in our house!
Great ideas, my door opens directly into the living room too. It forms a hallway to the rest of the house, so it kind of makes an entry. I just have a lovely painting sinc that’s all the room there is. Hugs, Marty
Oh my gosh…You have no idea how excited I am to see this post today! This is exactly what I am trying to work with–no foyer! You walk directly into my living room (and it is a relatively small living room at that). This really has my brain working–and excited to try a few of these ideas! Thank you!
Our entry is just like that too…Cute anthropologie hooks, a bench and wicker baskets did the trick to make it pretty and functional!
Emily, these are some fabulous ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Great inspiration Emily! I’ve got a foyer, but it is small enough it is almost like not having one. :)
We’ve got a foyer but these are great ideas for so many people living in apartments or condos. I definitely could’ve used these tips a few years ago!!
http://simplymodernhome.com/
This is unbelievably helpful. My husband and I are in the house hunting process and I know from browsing real estate listings that most of the homes don’t have foyers and I am a big fan of foyers. This will help when visualizing the spaces! Thanks!!!!
I used to have the same problem until we remodeled and made a foyer. But, before that I positioned the sofa as a barrier between the door and living room with a sofa table behind it. Worked great!
Yes! I have the smallest entry known to mankind! The only thing I could fit in there was a tiny table. Hope this isn’t tacky, but here is the link to the post I did about it.. and seriously, if anyone has a better idea of what to put in that tiny spot, I’m all ears!
http://kellitfox.blogspot.com/2012/01/just-couple-of-little-projects.html
love all your ideas…they all point to the fact that you can create an entry spot just by making a focal point. great post!
Great post – I suffer from the lack of foyer situation too!
Morgan of Style Oyster
I have this issue in my home, these are great inspirational images! I also love these “working with what you have” posts, so fun and practical for everyone!
This is a wonderful post! I’ve had that BHG image bookmarked forever now – love it. Thanks for gathering all of these images!
Our first home many years ago was essentially a small tract home that the previous owners had renovated and expanded a bit by adding a 2 room & bath second floor and removing the wall between a bedroom and the living room/dining room combo on the first floor. It made a very large open and light filled room that we actually loved. However, the front door opened directly into that expanded space right in the middle of this large room. I couldn’t come up with a single thought of how to create a workable entry no matter how many things I tried. We considered adding something to the front outside, but it just wasn’t workable and affordable. I loved that little house and we lived there for about 15 years, but I absolutely hated the front door opening right into the middle of the room every time the doorbell rang! Every house since then has had a foyer!!
I love this! So many of those photos are actually my favorite. I prefer makeshift entrys to formal ones anyway!
Some of those photo are some of my favorites as well! My front door opens into the hallway and stairs. I put a piece of “old” wood with some vintage gym hooks on the wall and a rustic wine barrel mirror there for hanging backpacks and jackets and having some extra light (via the mirror reflecting the light that comes through the glass in the door). We don’t even have enough room for a bench! It is still one of my favorite spots in the house. I can’t wait for a REAL foyer one day!
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I’ve always liked the idea of using a book shelve as a physical divider between an entrance door and the rest of a room
Love this, in our house you walk right into the dining room :( and it’s hard to find solutions.
Perfect timing! We’re looking at houses in our beloved neighborhood and my #1 complaint is that they don’t have a designated foyer (shotgun-bungalows…): the door just opens into the space between a dining room and a living room. All I can think when we look at them is, “How can I LIVE here? Where does my jacket go? What do you do with my gloves, keys, flashlight, and dog leash?:
In our apartment, we don’t have much of an entryway, but the door is at least in the corner of the living room. We backed our couch to the door so that it makes a little entry hall (glad to see that it’s allowed because it felt wrong when I did it). There’s enough room there for the essential dog stuff, jackets, and our bikes, and there’s a nice landing pad straight from the door for the keys, gloves, flashlights, etc. I’d rather that the landing pad be next to the door, but we’ve learned to work with it, and it is the first piece of furniture you bump into in the apartment which helps keep it in use.
Still though, I’m torn at what to do if we buy one of these shotgun-bungalows. They are most similar to the first picture in the post: door in the MIDDLE of the room, but it almost always tends to open into the dining room here. Then it seems like too-much-table-town. Dining table + entryway table + buffet table = too much table town… *Sigh…
Im in awe. Fabulous designing.
california interior designer
Love this post! Great examples of creating an entry – something I struggle with in our house for sure!
Our entry is in it’s own tiny hall (about 5×3) and contains 3 doors so there isn’t a lot of floor or wall space to work with. I added a large rug that covered the entire floor so the entire area could be comfortably used when people are coming in with wet shoes. Nothing worse than balancing on a tiny rug because you don’t want to step on their floors. We have hooks behind the door which is nice because all the hanging coats aren’t the first thing you see coming in and helps it feel less cluttered. I added a shallow two shelf book case with some art and accessories to create a focal point and also provide a surface for dropping keys, room for a couple of baskets and I put a boot tray on the bottom shelf so shoes could be tucked in their out of the way.
Thanks Emily! One day I will have a grand foyer & an office… but until then, I am working with what I have :) xo-K
Great post! Foyers are almost non-existent in the average homes in Phoenix, so I love your suggestions.
I actually have two doors that open onto my living space–one from the carport and the other from the front yard. My front door foyer is defined by a beautiful console table my father built, and my carport foyer is defined by wall hooks, a small picture, and a wooden bar stool turned occasional table. They work for me!
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We have the same problem, however, our front door is smack dab in the middle of the room. Everyone just walks right into the living room. Any ideas on how to treat this situation?
Great post, Emily! We have no foyer too but I created a little nook out of our living room so we have a place to dump our stuff. Check it out in this old post:
http://sueathome.com/2012/06/20/the-big-reveal-foyer-makeover-part-3/
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Hi Emily! Can you tell me more about the first photo. The room is eerily similar to our living room and I’d love to see more of it if possible. I love the layout! Thanks so much!
Hi Candice, It was featured in the Feb. 2011 issue of Southern Living but that was all of the info I could find. I may have to search for that issue in my piles of magazines….
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