Foyer Before and After: A Harlequin (Floor) Romance

The most obvious standout element in the foyer is the harlequin marble floor, but it didn’t always look so fabulous…

When we first toured the house we would call our home, I was greeted with pale pink as far as the eye could see. The walls and wainscoting were pink as was the wall to wall shag carpeting. The archway closing in the space immediately in front of the door didn’t help from feeling like I was drowning in a bottle of calamine lotion. What kept my eye moving forward though was a charming original carved wooden banister and crystal basket chandelier which hinted at the potential of the home.

By the time we had closed on the house, the owners had torn up the carpet in effort to get the house ready to put on the market and the original hardwood was revealed, including a pleasant surprise of stunning parquet in the foyer. I wanted to preserve it but because we were altering the floorplan so extensively (removing the archway and extending the foyer into where original kitchen stood), I decided to embrace the opportunity and went for one of my favourite flooring motifs of all time: harlequin.

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Shut the Front Door: Making Your First Impression

The April colour issue of Style At Home has made its way to many subscribers already so I’m going to kick off my behind the scenes tour of how all the rooms in the feature came together with a detailed look at the foyer, which is fittingly the first image in the spread. Captured quite perfectly by the talented Stacey Brandford, the foyer shot also shows off one of my favourite elements in the space: the front door.

The front door says a lot about the home you’re about to enter with the particular style, finish and even material giving visitors their first glimpse into your taste. With that in mind, I selected particular door and hardware options that embody the traditional luxe look I envisioned for my home.

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