Not just a place to hang up your coat and fling your shoes, your home’s entrance is what greets you everyday when you walk through the door. It is also the first thing guests see upon entering your home – it’s the memory they will take with them too! Make sure it’s a good one by following interior designer Rachel Chudley’s five simple rules…
Ask yourself what impact you want to make
This is the first glimpse people will have of your house – the transition points from the outside in – so decide: ‘What impression do I want to make? Light and airy or warm and cosy?’ I take my initial inspirations from the space in front of me and its environment. For example, is there a beautiful tree or view I can highlight? From which direction is the light coming in? After making these observations, consider the entrance: is there a high ceiling or any architectural features you’d like to accentuate?
Think what’s beyond your front door
I often look to nature for inspiration in my choice of patterns and colours. At our recent east-London project, we asked specialist painter Queenie Ingrams to depict vines climbing in through the door and up the stairs. ‘There’s a feeling of going through a dense wood to a clearing, with an accompanying sense of transformative peace. It’s helpful to treat the entrance as a portal between the outside world and an inner sanctuary.’
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Decorate to create an atmosphere
Think about the small details, as these will set the tone for anyone entering the house. Someone once described the front-door handle as the handshake of the house, which I love. Initial elements, such as hardware, lighting and paint, can welcome people in with humour, drama and warmth. It is also nice to soften an entrance hall with textiles to instantly give the feeling of homeliness. Art can add personality, drama and intrigue to any room. In the entrance, think of the art you choose as an opportunity to express your creativity.
Play with contrasts
A hallway can be the perfect precursor to the rooms it leads into, so choose colours that will interact interestingly with the rest of the house. In several of our projects, such as ‘Highbury Hill’ (pictured above), we used deep, dark paint colours (usually in matte or gloss finishes) in order to highlight the entrance and create a juxtaposition with the light-filled rooms beyond.
Dare to be radical
Smaller hallways lend themselves to personal displays of style, while larger architectural spaces can require a lightness of touch. Leaning into compact dimensions, you can have fun with colour and pattern, as it will often have a greater impact. Go bold. For example, in our 5th Avenue New York project (pictured above), we used a trompe l’oeil wallpaper from French company Zuber, which gave the idea of curtains. It is said that in life you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, but in design, you do. So have fun, you can always change something that doesn’t feel right! After all, one person’s heaven is another’s hell. rachelchudley.com
