Letter to Santa

I clicked on the subject line “Wide hallways near front door” and my email popped open. She liked my column! Thank You! I thought. She goes on to write that she has been watching but has not seen an answer to her problem of a large foyer and what to do with it. I felt a little like Santa getting a letter and a request! I was so excited that I immediately pulled the photo card out of my camera and stuck it into the computer. It is full of pictures; and I scrolled and scrolled until what to my wondering eyes did appear? A foyer that transformed in time for all the Christmas Cheer! So grab your coffee and go sit by the tree, let’s discover together how amazing a foyer can be. Let’s see what happens when we coat it with paint and bring in the light. Inviting guests to your home is like Christmas every night, somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• Focal Wall of Williamsburg foyer
There will always be a focal wall in a foyer! That is always the largest wall. So, the largest piece of furniture has to go on the largest wall.

• Wainscoting in Williamsburg foyer
We added wainscoting down and around the entire foyer. The wainscoting from the chair rail down to the floor was painted completely white. This makes the space look amazing and the added architectural value of wainscoting is timeless. The foyer cabinet is taller than the chair rail. We did not want the chair rail running behind the cabinet. As you can see in the picture we raised the chair rail up to run over the top of the cabinet providing a two inch reveal all the way around the cabinet. This process makes the cabinet look custom to the space!

• Cabinet
The original table in this space was long and thin but not good for storage. It had too much open space between the top of the cabinet and the bottom shelf and looked very unbalanced. The new cabinet is 71 inches long 16.5 deep and 40 inches high with closed storage. Those measurements give you an idea of how long a cabinet can be in a Williamsburg, Gardenia or Begonia model. This is a great opportunity for storage so; don’t miss out by using something too small in this space.

• Mirror and accessories
We hung a large round mirror over the foyer cabinet to collect light from the front door, adding sparkle to the space. Across from the mirror we hung a very large piece of art. In many models the wall across from the foyer table could be a family photo wall.

• Family photo wall Gardenia or Begonia
The shorter wall that backs up to the kitchen is usually the wall that is chosen to hang the photo gallery. The key to a great display wall is uniform photo frames, wall shelves and great pictures. Remember to buy the new frames with white matting. The matting adds an elevated gallery vibe to the photo wall.
Photo galleries always look better with shallow floating shelves throughout because it adds dimension. To begin, I hung the shelves first to create the shape of the gallery. Secondly, I hung the pictures dispersed throughout the shelves. Last of all, we placed small accessories on the shelves to enhance the pictures and add visual interest. This makes a great conversation piece and displays memories in the home.

• Iris Foyer
The Iris foyer can handle a 5×8 rug at an angle and it looks amazing. So go big in the Iris foyer. I like to place a table on the wall behind the door because there is an electric outlet on that wall. Also, when standing in the dining room of kitchen and looking back into the foyer there is a strong statement on the focal wall. The door will not hit the table if you place a simple adjustable stop on the hinge of the door. A mirror always looks nice over the entry table of the Iris model. The second wall in the foyer usually receives one large picture or a series of several pictures but the space receives no more furniture.

• Belmore Cabana Villa
The man of the house loves pecky cypress and wanted to use it as an accent to create an Old Florida look. The pecky cypress resembled in color Dade County Pine and I thought it would be great to use the cypress instead of the pine. The color of the wood is perfect and it brings warmth and texture to the space.

• In front of the accent wall of the Belmore Cabana Villa
The homeowner really wanted to highlight the cypress and at first did not want anything on the wall. He then reconsidered when I propped a Gene Rizzo Sandhill crane in a perfect wooden frame up against the cypress. The frame and the colors of the picture are the perfect complement to the cypress. We added a white coral lamp, a pot of lavender, and a bowl of shells to finish the accessories on the table. The entry way table blends into the cypress as if we planned it that way! This is truly different and I love it!

P.S. –Attention all club presidents! We give free decorating seminars. It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today. Also, we are on-line check out our web-site at www.ruthdyer.com and you can always e-mail us at ruth@finishingtouchfl.com or Call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.