Interior designers share the most common décor goofs they see in foyers—and how to avoid them.
4 min
An entryway should feel like an appetizer on your way to the main course,” said New York City interior designer Laura Krey, one of the many designers who wonder at the neglect this key room often endures. Lacking an actual foyer is no excuse, said Lucie Ayres of 22 Interiors in Los Angeles. “You must figure out how to define an area that will welcome you and your guests.” Rugs, wallpaper and seats can delineate where walls don’t. We asked pros like Ms. Ayres for the irksome decorating gaffes they see most frequently, and for their seasoned advice on what to do instead.
“Life happens—shoes, bags, jackets and umbrellas get tossed by the front door without a second thought,” said Amanda Khouri, co-founder of design firm Murray Khouri in Nashville. That includes the detritus that Covid has littered our lives with, such as masks and sanitisers. Kristen Peña, of San Francisco’s K Interiors, noted that while we must stay safe, “it’s important that your entry has a more-welcome, less-E.R. feel.”
Instead: Take stock of your habits and clutter and you’ll be able to designate a place for everything without sacrificing beauty, said Ms. Khouri. Are your ever-present water bottle and yoga mat adding visual noise? Tuck them in large fat-weave baskets placed beneath a console or a closed storage piece such as an antique sideboard. To corral Covid supplies, said Ms. Peña, add a good-looking lift-top box to the entry table. Another solution, care of New Orleans designer Maureen Stevens: Ikea’s Hemnes shoe cabinet, easily made more stylish by changing the hardware, or adding colour and pattern with stencil or even wallpaper.
One of the best ways to ruin the view of the beautiful room beyond your entry is “a huge, industrial-strength, waterproof doormat that would look more suitable on a loading dock,” said Carey Karlan, of Last Detail Interiors in Darien, Conn. Puny rugs don’t work either, said Samantha Gallacher, co-founder of IG Workshop in Miami Beach. They look like sloppy floor mats and don’t stay in place, she said.
Instead: “Large rugs in the entry make the space feel like it is designed and intended to welcome guests,” said Dallas interior designer Chad Dorsey. Ms. Gallacher suggests that the rug make a statement as well as introduce the design concept and colours reflected throughout the home. Ms. Karlan favours an Oriental rug. “The thick wool is very absorbent, they clean well, they don’t show dirt and they come in all styles, from contemporary to classic,” she said.
WINNING ENTRY In a foyer in the Pittsburgh suburbs, designer Betsy Wentz refused to play it safe. For the cabinets, she chose vivid Benjamin Moore paint colours that were then layered in lacquer by National Woodwork in Lawrence, Penn. PHOTO: CARMEL BRANTLEYFoyers with overly diminutive lights aggrieve Philadelphia designer Melinda Kelson O’Connor. “The entry is not the place for ambiguity or mystery. The space should make a statement.” Another hazard, New York-based Kati Curtis pointed out: inappropriately sized fixtures that get lost volumetrically in the space and create a basketball-court ambience.
Instead: Opt for a striking chandelier and illuminate artwork with perimeter-wall lighting, Ms. O’Connor suggested. “Even a foyer with a low ceiling can have a large, beautiful flush-mount fixture.” Bigger is better, especially in a vaulted space. “Use a fixture that visually fills up the height, adds interest and makes your entry feel more welcoming and less lofty and intimidating,” Ms. Curtis advised.
Given that it’s the first—and sometimes only—space guests see, it’s remarkable that the foyer is treated like the home’s neglected stepchild. “It is the place where brownies are dropped off and play dates are exchanged,” said Sewickley, Penn., designer Betsy Wentz. Still, homeowners frequently leave foyers sparse and undecorated, which feels lonely and off-putting, said Los Angeles designer Lindsay Pennington.
Instead: Ms. Pennington recommends hanging an impressive mirror to expand the space and choosing a chest over a console if you have room. “Drawers make life easier,” she said. Eilyn Jimnez, founder of Miami’s Sire Design, suggested including vintage pieces, found items and family heirlooms in a curated way. “These items are a great way to tell the story of your home.”
On the other hand, don’t mistake your foyer for a receiving room at the Vatican. It’s too much if you’ve added treatments to floors, walls and ceiling and crammed in bold lighting and furniture, said San Francisco designer Lindsay Anyon Brier. “The entry should be the opening paragraph of the home. It should begin to introduce the plot but not give everything away.”
Instead: One strong design idea can be enough, said Tal Schori, partner at Brooklyn’s GRT Architects. He welcomed both warmth and function into the 3-foot-by-5-foot entry of a narrow townhouse by hanging unique, muted ombré wallpaper, screwing in a glass sconce and installing three brass hooks. Ms. Brier likes to highlight a sole piece of art or a light fixture that is sculptural by day and becomes a glowing focal point in the evening. “Make it spectacular but in a less-is-more way,” said Ms. Brier.
The funniest foyers designers have stepped into
“I walked into a foyer and noticed only the enormous, completely-out-of-scale lantern, hung way too low, and a complete lack of furniture to balance it. The embodiment of inhospitality, the room offered nowhere to drop your purse, your key or mail and certainly no spot to sit.” —Rebekah Zaveloff, co-founder and director of Kitchen Lab Interiors, Chicago
“Suffice it to say a dearly departed taxidermy dog is best left to a more private part of the residence.” —Fernando Wong, landscape and interior designer, Palm Beach, Fla.
“An entryway doubled as a laundry depot. It’s so awkward to see someone’s dirty underwear before shaking their hand, and it’s always a mistake to leave your undergarments by the front door.” —Isabel Ladd, designer, Lexington, Ky.
“I had a client who was obsessed with Star Wars. He had a curio cabinet full of Star Wars memorabilia, as well as a life-size cutout of Princess Leia, in his entryway.” —Mary Patton, designer, Houston
Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street Journal, Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: May 28, 2021.
Copyright 2020, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. LEARN MORE
The Australian leather house has opened an immersive four-day pop-up in Manhattan, unveiling its Bloom Collection and redefining what a product launch can look like.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Georgetown agent Jamie Peva blends history and real estate on Instagram, turning local stories into a powerful sales strategy.
5 min
On a recent morning in Georgetown—Washington, D.C.’s oldest neighborhood—real-estate agent Jamie Peva strode down leafy N Street, brimming with historical tidbits.
Jackie Kennedy once lived on the street, he said. So did Ben Bradlee, former executive editor of the Washington Post, along with a former Miss America and a powerful U.S. Senator. Bradlee’s widow, author Sally Quinn, and Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, own stately homes there.
“I’ve seen a picture of Lyndon Johnson coming out of this house,” said Peva, passing a Federal-style brick mansion. “Also, the Beatles went to a lawn party here.”
Peva, a 60-year-old agent with Washington Fine Properties, has sold Georgetown real estate for over three decades, often traversing the neighborhood by bicycle. Of the roughly 2,500 houses in the historic neighborhood, he has been involved in the sale of 460, he estimated. A self-styled historian of the neighborhood, he knows stories behind its houses and their owners going back generations.
With a knack for lively storytelling, he shares his knowledge with some 37,500 Instagram followers, who have made Peva—sporting the bow ties he has worn since boarding school—an unlikely social-media influencer. Many of his followers are locals, and most have no plans to buy or sell real estate—until they do. It is then, according to Peva, that his spirited reels bring him to mind.
“It’s the digital version of a refrigerator magnet,” he said.
After Peva’s first video in November 2023, his eponymous Instagram account sparked a 10% increase in sales volume in the first year, and another 20% the next, he estimated. “It’s been very good for business, there is no question about it,” he said.
But Peva’s posts have also made him a local celebrity. As he walked down N street, the driver of a Mercedes station wagon slowed down to honk and wave. A lady walking a large dark gray dog stopped to ask what he was filming that day (a reel about a Colonial-era bottling plant.) Peva knew the dog from walking his two springers, Jumpy and Peggy-O, in the neighborhood.
“I need to make a video about the pooches of Georgetown,” he mused.
A growing number of real-estate agents now use social media to sell, and some have millions of followers with reels featuring ultraluxury pads, selling tips or reality TV-style reports on their daily lives. While Peva posts about his listings—and sometimes those of other agents—he mostly focuses on Georgetown history, local businesses and community events, saying his goal is to benefit both his business and the neighborhood.
“If we don’t find something genuinely interesting and worth sharing, we won’t do it,” said Peva’s daughter, Violet Peva, a New York social-media strategist who films, edits and posts his reels. “We cover many topics, not just real-estate information.”
Peva is originally from Connecticut, but has lived in Georgetown for over 30 years, currently in a cottage-style house with a white picket fence. Over the years, Georgetown has changed. The Georgetown Set, a powerful group of Cold War-era residents whose Sunday-night potluck dinners are said to have swayed U.S. policy, has long faded away. The community is still home to high-profile Washingtonians, including a Republican senator and several cabinet members. But it increasingly also attracts technology and finance executives, according to Peva. He now routinely signs nondisclosure agreements, ensuring privacy for wealthy clients. The shift has made him rethink his marketing approach.
“For years, a big part of our Georgetown business was made up of people who maintained a low profile,” he said. Real-estate agents were similarly low-key. Today, curb appeal is more important, he said, and agents are promoting themselves more. “As this change was underfoot, I was thinking that I needed to evolve myself too,” he said.
Though his own social-media use is mostly limited to following sailing accounts, he asked his daughter to help him post his listings online. Violet, now 26, started coming to D.C. once a month to film his reels. After an early video, on a condominium building called the Elliott, her sister Fern called her to report: “Daddy’s blowing up on Instagram,” Violet recalled. The reel got over 50,000 views. The next two each drew over 300,000. Peva’s most popular post ever, with over 838,000 views, was about the Grateful Dead playing in Georgetown. Sometimes, Peva interviews Georgetowners such as Quinn, the author, or Jamie Stachowski, the owner of a local butcher shop.
Peva, who majored in history in college, now spends up to two hours a day on research, usually in the morning while on his stationery bike. Online, he pores over old newspapers or the Library of Congress website, and he has a collection of articles and books—in and out of print—about Georgetown.
Companies often approach Peva for promotional posts, he said, but he turns them down, feeling that followers would lose interest in constant commercials. One exception is a recent paid post on Mount Vernon, the former home of George Washington. Peva wanted to share its history, he said, and didn’t want to lose the opportunity to another Instagrammer.
Anthony Arend, a professor at Georgetown University, has lived in his current home for 19 years without any plans to sell or buy real estate. But he follows Peva and often likes his posts.
“He is very charismatic, he is energetic, and he obviously knows a lot about the community,” said Arend, who has referred house-hunting friends to Peva.
One of Peva’s biggest deals—the $10.5 million sale of a 19th-century Italianate mansion—came after he made two 2024 reels featuring the property. In March, he sold the longtime O Street home of Tim and Jane Matz for $5.8 million after featuring it on his Instagram. Peva had showed them the home 25 years earlier, with Violet in a baby carrier on his back.
Last year, Kate Watts, 49, a digital consultant, called Peva to sell her late father’s three-bedroom house on Q Street; her husband had seen Peva on Instagram. In an October reel, Peva praised the architecture of the house, designed by modernist Hugh Newell Jacobsen. Halfway through, he mentioned an open house the next day, ending with an upbeat: “Did I also mention this house is for sale? $3.75 million!” The reel got 27,000 views, the open house was packed, and the buyers made an offer at the list price on the same day.
