Houzzers’ favorite entryways include features such as benches and an indoor contemplative garden
In the first three months of the year, Houzzers saved photos of grand main entry spaces and casual backdoor mudrooms that were full of great ideas. Benches for slipping off shoes, cubbies, and cabinets for storing outerwear and striking design elements such as flame-stitch-patterned wallpaper, an urban landscape mural, and log cabin siding caught our attention. Here are 10 great ideas from the most popular new entry photos uploaded in the first quarter of 2018.
1. Consider sidelights. An entry area behind a solid door may get little to no natural light. These large sidelights cleverly reference two-over-one double-hung windows at a suitable scale for the space and show off the way the log cabin detail on the exterior continues into the house.
2. Don’t ignore the floor in a back entry. The instinct for casual back- and side-entry floors is to go super practical and utilitarian. But durability and high style aren’t mutually exclusive. Slate in a herringbone pattern elevates this room’s design.
And in this popular back entryway, a gray-and-white harlequin floor brings pattern and style to the mudroom.
3. Include a bench. The previous photo shows off how to do a more casual backdoor bench, while this one shows how to incorporate a grander version in a front entry. The benches may serve the same functional purpose, but here the bench manages to be a piece of art as well.
4. Look to far-off lands for inspiration. Did you know you can search by country on Houzz? Click on “Photos” at the top of the page, then scroll down the left side of the screen to “Location” and pick your spot. With so many international Houzz sites, there are scads of places to search for exotic foreign inspiration. This indoor contemplative-garden entry in India made the most-popular list.
5. Plan built-ins thoughtfully. At first glance, these built-ins seem simple, but they are well-thought-out. There are baskets for shoes at the bottom, drawers for devices or gloves above those, cubbies big enough to sit in while putting on shoes, hooks for coats and bags, and baskets in the cubbies above for hats, umbrellas and other smaller accessories.
6. Offer a sneak preview of what’s to come. This Miami home has a lot of whites and neutrals enlivened by brightly colored pieces of art. The rug guests step-on right as they enter foreshadows the colors they’ll see throughout the house.
7. Wow with a mural. In this apartment, visitors are greeted by an urban landscape, hinting at the soft industrial influence the designer used throughout the home’s remodel. Other more practical components include shoe cabinets with a bench on top, hooks for coats and bags, a mirror and a compact laundry niche behind the black doors.
8. Add kapow to a small space. There was minimal room to work within this apartment’s entry, yet it still manages to be grand. The designer went for maximum impact via a showstopping flame-stitch-pattern wallcovering and an 18th-century marble-topped console. A large mirror makes the space feel lighter and larger, and the cobalt door signals that there’s some serious color wowing going on inside.
9. Combine an entry, mudroom, and pantry. This mudroom off the kitchen is a hardworking multifunctional space. The designers extended the style of cabinetry used in the kitchen and included extra pantry space in here. The homeowners can come in from the car with grocery bags and place them on the counter right away for unloading. The sink can serve as a hand-washing station (think muddy kids), bar sink and flower-cutting area. The coat-hook wall provides all the space for outerwear and shoes the homeowners need, as well as a bench.
10. Create function without construction. The best thing about this setup is that you can do it on a tight budget without having to remodel. The shoe racks double as a bench and the mirror and branch-shaped coatrack provide useful decorative touches. A simple basket can serve as a catchall for gloves, hats, and scarves in winter.
Share: What elements are must-haves for your front and back entry? Have you found any great solutions? Please tell us about them in the Comments.