If you want to create a good first impression whenever people enter your home, it’s critical to get the entryway right. It sets the mood of the rest of your property. What people see in the first few minutes of walking inside your abode can shape their opinion of the rest of it.
Designing a great entryway, though, isn’t always easy. In many cases, it doesn’t feel like a proper room, like the kitchen or the living room. It’s just a place you pass through on your way out of the house. What should you even put inside it, anyway?
Well, you’re about to find out. In this post, we take a look at what constitutes the perfect entryway and what you need to do to create it. Read on to learn more.
Console Table
Console tables or sideboards are critical components of any complete entryway. You want some sort of tabletop space for placing decorative items, keys, and anything else that you need to grab quickly before you rush out of the house.
If you can, go for a console table with a drawer. This way, you can store away any items and keep the space clutter-free.
Also, look for chunky hardwood console tables. While this is just a personal preference, they bring a sense of style to practically any home.
Stools
Putting a stool in the hallway might sound a little odd – and to be fair, hardly anyone actually uses them. However, you’d be surprised by just how often they come in handy.
Think about the number of times you stoop down to tie up your shoelaces before you leave for work. For many of us, it’s a daily occurrence.
When you have a stool, you can eliminate the risk from bending over. Instead, you can put your shoes on, or take them off, in comfort.
Greenery
Entryways are a transition space from the outdoors to the indoors. That’s why it’s nice to add a touch of fresh greenery here and there. You can add a few clippings from the yard to your window sills, or go the whole hog and bring potted trees inside.
If you’re worried about plants in your hallway dying for lack of sunlight, regularly rotate them. Keep half a dozen trees in your garden and rotate them once per week in your hallway. This way, you can keep them looking green and verdant all year round, and no one would know.
A Catch-All Tray
A catch-all try is one of the best hallway or entryway ideas ever invented. It’s somewhere you can place just about anything you want. For instance, you could use it for loose change, car keys, phones and ID. It’s just somewhere to put anything that you need to quickly grab before you leave the house and prevents clutter from building up on the kitchen counter.
An In-Swing Door
High quality entry doors should always swing into your home. Not only is it an essential security feature, but it also looks homely too. Just make sure that there is enough space for the door to swing open fully (unless there is a wall in the way). A high quality exterior door can include interesting features, such as windowed sections to make your entryway feel cozier and increase the availability of natural light.
Storage
All entryways should have a tiny bit of storage, even if you don’t plan on using it all that often. Storage comes in handy during the winter months when family members trudge into the house wearing boots, hats, gloves and thick coats.
Storage options could include:
- Woven seagrass baskets – great for keeping chopped logs from outside, shoes, or hats
- Carved bowls – for keys and other small trinkets you need to take with you before you leave the house
- Storage box – for things like parcels and mail so that it doesn’t wind up cluttering your kitchen
- Larger baskets – for bigger items, such as umbrellas and Wellington boots, backpacks and sports equipment
- Built-in shelving and closets – if your entryway also functions as a mud room
Rug
You don’t want to put down a carpet in your entryway because it’ll soon get dirty. But, at the same time, you don’t want it to feel too harsh or rugged.
In this situation, a rug is a good compromise. Rugs offer coziness but are easy to wash at the same time. They also have an uncanny ability to hide dirt and prevent it from spreading over the floor.
You’ll need to beat down the rug to get the dust and dirt out of it at least once per week, and you’ll want to wash it every quarter or so. Choose a rug with a complex pattern that can hide any potential stains that you might incur.
Lamps And Sconces
Lamps and sconces are also essential for hallways. What’s nice about them is their ability to give your home that soft, subtle glow that instantly makes you want to walk inside.
Sconces in particular, are a nice touch. You can place these on either side of your entryway, illuminating the direction that people should walk.
A Metallic Element
While metallic elements are optional in entryways, they tend to work well. They’re a wonderful advertisement for the rest of your home and smack of luxury.
One option is metallic bowls that you hang on your walls. These can be a great replacement for wall art. Another option is metallic vases placed next to your floor standing lamps, if you have them. Try to position any metallic elements so that they reflect the light of the sun as it enters the hallway through the window. This way, you can add more light to your spaces.
Conclusion
So there you have it: the anatomy of the perfect hallway. You don’t have to include every element in this list, but ticking off half a dozen of them will dramatically transform the space. Once you include these elements, your entryway will feel much more complete, and practical.
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