Front Entrance Ideas

Our home is slowly but surely starting to come together. I’m really being slow and intentional about decorating and also because I’m mostly doing it myself, with some input from some of my incredibly talented designer friends (thank you!!), it’s taking forever as I find pockets of time to research, design and order/source. I love it and I’m totally okay with that, but there are also days when I just want it to all be done and looking lovely so we can entertain without me worrying. But I was just reading an interview with the talented designer Whitney McGregor and she said how her last home was completely decorated and she never felt like everything was right so they rarely entertained and what a waste it was, so I am going to try not to worry about it and just invite people over. Anyone want to be our first (promise not to judge)? Idk for some reason, I feel like our home is a reflection of me and my taste so I’m worried about it not measuring up. But everything is so expensive and takes forever that it also feels like such a big decision, I find it hard to make them sometimes. And then of course, I change my mind often, so I worry I won’t love something. But I think the biggest step next in having people over, now that our living room is on its way, is to spruce up our front entrance. We have a center front colonial and the entrance is between the formal dining and living rooms and opens to the front stairs so I really want to make it a beautiful space on its own. So I’ve been gathering lots of front entrance ideas.

Currently the space is painted a white that I think works although it could use some refreshing. It’s small and narrow, so we don’t need a lot. I would love to use this beautiful wallpaper I have in my heart (as seen here), but I bought these antique french panels that I love and my husband said we had nowhere to put (so of course, I hung then in the big wall in the entrance hall (which is too narrow for furniture) and cannot move them lest I prove him right, so for now, I think we’ll skip the wallpaper. Also, it would go up the stairs and into the kids’ hallway, and I wouldn’t mind that but I think we may move in next five years, so it might not make sense for resale (I feel like people either really love or really hate wallpaper and it’s such a specific taste, ya know?). But I’ve included lots of wallpaper in my roundup of front entrance ideas, because well, I love wallpaper and it would make a big impact. We need to install a new stair runner (the current grey one is killing me but was installed right before we bought the house) and would like it to extend into the entrance or to find a nice pretty rug there. Then I want new lighting — for ceiling and sconces to flank my antique panels. I am also toying with some sort of table. The staircase itself needs painting and staining, but one step at a time, right? But before I order anything or do any decorating, I always start by gather inspo, so here are my favorite front entrance ideas.

Frederick Magazine