Entryway Remodel design

What the room has to do

An entryway remodel is small and disproportionately visible. New flooring, a proper light, somewhere for keys and coats, and a wall treatment that says the house was thought about — done in a footprint most people walk through without stopping.

Layout rules

• Leave the full door swing plus 12in clear — an entry you have to step around is a permanent irritation.
• A console at 30–34in high and 12–14in deep fits without narrowing the route.
• Hang a mirror with its centre at 60in, opposite or adjacent to the light, never behind it.
• Keep 36in of walking width past any furniture.
• Run durable flooring at least to the end of the door swing, ideally further.

Lighting plan

One good fixture at the right height beats three mediocre ones. Hang a pendant with 7ft of clearance beneath it, and if the ceiling is low use a flush fixture with a diffuser rather than a shallow pendant that everyone taller than 6ft notices.

What usually goes wrong

• A console deep enough to catch the door.
• A pendant hung at head height in a single-storey entry.
• Carpet or timber laid right up to the threshold, taking the weather.
• Hooks at adult height only, so children's coats end up on the floor.

In a small one

Where there is no room for furniture, take the wall instead: a full-height panelled wall with a rail of hooks and a slim shelf gives an entry identity without occupying a single inch of floor.