"Whether it be serious or joyful  - whatever tone you want to set  - the foyer is the first step guests will take into your home," says Patricia Wiseman, co-owner with her husband, Jeff, of Wiseman Keller Design. "If you're going to charm them, charm them at the front door," Jeff adds.

Beyond making a statement, the foyer is a transition room. It takes guests from the outdoors to the interior of your home. It's a place to take off boots and hang up coats, but it's also the area that sets the tone for the rest of your home. It introduces guests to your style and gives them a taste of what's to come.

"Foyer design is often understudied but it's an important part of your home's design," says Casey Malmquist, president of Malmquist Construction.

So take the time to understand how the foyer functions and learn how to make your design a success.

OUTSIDE INN
From  a design perspective, it may be appealing to bring a little bit of the outdoors

'Sometimes it's a good idea to blur the line from the outside to the inside," says Jeff Wiseman of Wiseman-Keller Design. "You might want to bring in some elements from right outside your home - stones, plants, branches, even a water feature."
By adding elements that mimic your landscape, you will provide a smooth transition from the outdoors to the interior of your home.

On the other hand, you could design a foyer that transports you to another place.

"Maybe you're far from a beach but you want a coastal feel," Wiseman adds.

There are no hard and fast rules. Don't be afraid to take a chance.

If you decide to bring the outdoors in, make sure you have a plan to keep the weather out. In colder climates, this may mean having two sets of doors to form a weather lock. Then you may want to extend your heating system to this closed-in space.
"It doesn't cost that much more to extend it out a little," says Jim Murphy of Meadow Valley Log Homes. "And it creates a good transition from the outside in."

JACK OF ALL ROOMS
As the main entryway to the home, the foyer has multiple functions. It's a place for greeting guests and storing outerwear, for resting fishing gear and garden tools or for hanging keys and organizing bills.

Start by determining which functions your foyer will fulfill and rank them in order of importance. If storage is a big concern, you may consider adding a walk in closet. For a smaller home, a bench and a coat tree may be all you need.

"Usually you want a functional space where people can sit down and kick off their shoes," says Jim Murphy, vice president of Meadow Valley Log Homes. "But all square footage costs money. You have to allocate your spending for what you think is most important."

Whatever design scheme you come up with, aesthetics should be at the top of your list. Function is important, but remember: you want to make a good first impression.

"With the right design, you can achieve both," Murphy says.

A large overhang above an entry not only protects guests from the weather, it helps your logs maintain their beauty by shielding them from the elements.

THE BALANCING ACT
The next step is to decide how big your foyer area will be.

"Scale is a huge issue," Malmquist says. "The grandness of the entryway needs to be proportionate to the site, the home and the room it enters into."

Malmquist says the foyer should function differently when viewed from the exterior than from the interior space.

"It's really a balancing act," he says. "From the outside, you want it to be offset from the house so it's clear it is the main entrance but you don't want it to compete with the room it opens onto."

Once you've decided on size, consider whether the foyer area will be open to the rest of the home or walled off. It's really a matter of taste, but you can achieve both with strategically placed furniture.

"You can blur the lines a bit," Murphy says. "You don't always need a separate room for your foyer. It can be a part of your great room. Then you just divide the space with furniture, a coat rack, a bench  - you can even use floor treatments such as area rugs to define the space."

This scenario is an inexpensive alternative to putting up walls and leaves the home wide open. Maybe you would rather have it closed off, though.

"We did a foyer that was basically separate from the rest of the home," Murphy says. "It had two hallways that came off it on each end."

In a situation like this, the foyer acts as a buffer zone.

MAKE A STATEMENT - OR DON'T
You've decided how your foyer will function, how big and how open it should be. Now, what kind of statement do you want to make?

"In some cases you want it to be dramatic," Murphy says. "So when guests see your home, their jaws drop."

Then there are times it can be downplayed. "If you're tucked away in the woods or on a lake, maybe you could care less about what your front entrance looks like." he adds.
According to Malmquist, you can't go wrong with a modest foyer.

"I think it really needs to be a simple room because it has a simple function  - it conveys 'you' from the outside to the inside."

Either way, you want it to be an inviting space.

"As soon as you walk through a door into the house, you want to start feeling comfortable   physically and emotionally," Murphy says. "You can't help but feel that with log homes, but you can enhance it."

FRONT DOOR DECOR
Furniture and decor can dramatically influence the tone of your foyer.
"Many homeowners use their foyer space as a gallery," Patricia Wiseman says. "It's a good place to display artwork, antiques or treasures picked up from travels.

"Beyond this, you may want, a desk, maybe something with a mirror, something for storage, art pieces, a grandfather clock, an antler chandelier, musical instruments, a chest of drawers ... if you can find a piece that is beautiful and it provides storage, that's what you want, ideally."

For a lived in look, decorate with everyday items. Fishing poles and creels hung just right or even a pair of perfectly positioned boots might give you the look you want.

"Even if you don't consider it your decor, if it's just 'your stuff,' it's still going to give people a little taste of your taste," Jeff Wiseman says. "Be conscious of that."

And don't forget about light. Every entry should be well lit. This can be achieved several ways. You can bring in natural light through a window above the door or create artificial light with a well placed electric fixture.

In the end, any amount of time you spend thinking about foyer design is time well spent.
"We like to say, 'let's make all the mistakes on paper,"' Murphy says. "Plans can be redrawn, but once the home is built, it's built." 

2. First Impressions:
Log Home Design Ideas

3. Dreaming of a "Custom Home":
Colorado Front Range/Western Slope Builder/Architect

4. 15 Secrets of Small Home Design: 
Log Home Design Ideas, November 2003

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