Space Planning Principles for your Entryway

See these principles in action on our Houzz ideabook.

Planning a new entryway or planning to redecorate/redesign your existing entryway? Below are some space planning principles to keep in mind for the entryways.

In terms of rooms, the entryway, or foyer, gets easily overlooked, but it should be one of your first considerations. It’s needs to be both functional and fashionable: a place to enter the home from the outside on a day to day basis, a place to direct people to other areas of the home, and a place to give a first impression to guests.

The front entry is where your front door is located and the back entry could be directly from a garage or could open onto a driveway (this entry could be the primary day to day entry of the home, depending upon it’s use). The back entry does not usually include sliding doors or french doors from a bedroom, living room, dining room, or kitchen; however, it may typically be included within a laundry room.

Here are a few space planning principles to keep in mind for both the front and back entries:
1. The front door should ideally look out directly to the street.
2. Both the front and back entries are good sized spaces that allow people to transition from the outside of the home to the inside of the home.
3. The entries should, if possible, provide seating via a bench, stools, or a chair to help with the transition (e.g. a place to put on and take off shoes, a place to set down a box temporarily while closing the door, etc.).
4. The entries should include adequate storage for items such as shoes, boots, coats, jackets, umbrellas, backpacks, keys, mail, and/or other day to day living supplies.
* Optionally, you may want a mirror in your entry to get that last minute appearance check before walking out the door.

Photo by Christopher Harris on Unsplash

Unless you are building a new home or completely renovating a home, not all of these principles may be possible right away since these principles tend to rely heavily on the architecture of your home. But, if you are thinking about redecorating, try to apply as many of these principles as possible.

If you haven't already, see these principles in action on our Houzz ideabook.

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