You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Our homes are reflections of ourselves.

How you design your entry, naturally says a great deal about you. Did you realize that within your décor style, you are also setting the tone for your guests’ experience, merely by opening your front door?

Whether it’s your desire to create an entry that is, playful, intriguing, dramatic, or even classical, it’s your color palette more than any other single element that sets the scene. The colors and color combinations you select, inform your guests on how to feel and how to act once they enter your home.

Playful & Welcoming

This foyer is both playful & welcoming. Notice that due to the bold color through out the rest of the home, (coral is peaking through on the far left), we treated the foyer with warm & cool toned neutrals. We painted these tones in alternating horizontal stripes. These wide strips make the entry seem considerable wider giving the illusion of the luxury of space. Saving the more vivid colors for the silk area rug and the leather ottoman further enhances our wall colors. The wide neutral stripes allow the pink silk rug to playfully interact with the bright orange starfish shaped ottoman, giving off the vibe of ‘Welcome come on in and play awhile’.

Warm & Inviting

Now imagine walking off of the elevator into this intriguing foyer. The entire space is bathed in shades of white chocolate, café au lait & crystal. From the handmade wallpaper to the custom designed silk rose rugs and white-gold leafed sunburst mirror to the rock crystal sconces, you know you are in for an exciting experience. The mood is set; the lights are reflecting the mood for romance. The colors are deliberately warm almost candle flame like, which in turn makes us feel warm by merely entering.

Mysterious

This dramatic foyer was designed to feature the clients’ art collection. Each wall color was specifically created to enhance the individual art pieces. The foyer is painted in the color if dusk, called Balmoral. Dusk being a mysterious color, informs us that we have no idea what to expect. The red in this dusty purple instantly stimulates our arousal senses. Works better when the wall color enhances it. While both have red tones, the coolness of the walls only brings out the warm reds in the painting.

Balance & Harmony

Creating a classical period space, by adding unexpected colors you can change the feeling from serious or dated to whimsical. This was new construction designed to create the feeling of 1870, but with a sense of today. The icy lavender colored walls penetrate both stories, is paint color called I Do. I Do in combination with the 100 year old hemlock, tobacco brown floors, creates the warm and cool tones required for balance and harmony. Lavender is such a deliberately unexpected color for this period, it instantly takes away the severity of the era and makes you just want to smile.

Remember color and mood are interconnected. Choose an entryway color that will give you and your guest the feeling you desire to have reflected throughout their stay.

Gillian Rose

Gillian C. Rose is a New York based interior designer specializing in color design consultancy and high end residential and boutique commercial projects in New York and beyond. Gillian draws on several years of professional experience in design practice, as well as her formal training from Parsons School of Design, to bring exceptional creativity and tailored design edge to all projects, whatever their size. Her approach combines all aspects of traditional design services that relate to both the projects context and clients individual requirements. She provides comprehensive, well-considered design solutions, with the aim of delivering spaces that exceed expectations.