Many homes lack an entryway or foyer to welcome guests or anyone else who knocks at the door, with the door opening straight into your living room instead, which can make your home feel a bit exposed. But Jeff Goth, Alberta branch manager at Dekora Home Staging, says it isn’t too difficult to provide a more useful welcoming space in this situation. He advises placing furniture to create a makeshift division between where you want your foyer to end and living room to begin.
Moving furniture away from the wall, or “floating it,” to use industry parlance, creates a whole new home layout. Goth recommends floating the sofa to solve the no-entryway problem.
“Put the back of the sofa [toward the door] with a console behind it to divide a space into an entry area and a living room,” Goth says.
While that division is important, Christina Loc, co-founder of furniture store Metro Element, notes that the two areas should still feel cohesive. She says two-sided sideboards, storage benches and two-sided bookcases can all provide that division, while maintaining the living room’s decor.
“You can also incorporate the foyer into the living room just by putting up some artwork to create a little bit of balance, as far as making the living room the focal point and making the foyer feel like part of it,” Loc says.