Our Favorite Before-and-After Foyer Makeovers

To French speakers of the 19th century, the foyer (pronounced: foi-yay) was a place where actors waited when they weren’t on stage. These days, foyer means “this is where you land when you first get home and it sets the tone for everything else, so make it count!” (We’re translating loosely, here.) Want to get your entryway ready for its closeup? These A-list transformations prove that with clever styling, you can make a grand entrance anywhere.

These intricate, spiraling rails are a lot of look — and in a space that’s also groaning with a busy traditional rug that doesn’t suit the glazed terracotta tile floor. Add in loads of stained wood and a dark oil painting for a heavy look that's downright dizzying.

An all-enveloping coat of gray paint gives the room the clean start it deserves, while the new wainscoting feels both timeless and trendy. Supersaturated Thibaut 'Honshu' wallpaper in the adjacent dining room breathes life into that space and this one, adding dimensionality that both rooms’ previous incarnations sorely needed, and a small pedestal table with a vivid floral arrangement finishes the entryway all by itself.

The downright gorgeous wood on the stairs, dresser and console table in this foyer feel frumpy paired with dark slate flooring and dingy cream walls.

What a difference a bit of contrast makes! Bright white paint highlights the staircase and antiques, a pair of massive mirrors double down on natural light and a graphic checkerboard pattern makes the new stone floor a showstopper. Pops of blue in chinoiserie on and beside the dresser, in turn, serve as luxurious accents.

A wee triptych is no match for a buttery expanse of wall, the sconces flanking it are similarly lost, and the stairs’ wrought iron and woodwork fall flat against unremarkable beige carpet.

Feather-grey paint distinguishes new, luxurious wainscoting, and new sconces echo the balustrades and pop with white shades. The original entry table is now an effortless match for the freshened-up white walls, while a new iron chandelier echoes the rest of the room’s original ironwork.

There’s plenty of potential in the space just beyond this family home’s front door, but it’s going to waste. Functionality and personality are musts.

The new, contemporary front door with sidelights lets dazzling sunbeams spill across the hardwood floor. The space now doubles as a mudroom with a crisp, black six-locker cabinet and more than enough room for a growing brood’s endless array of accessories.

Decorative touches like the inlaid compass rose on the ground floor, traditional chandelier and patterned carpet on the stairs of this California home were on-trend decades ago — but their time has come and gone.

Post-renovation, the decorative flourishes in this foyer are decidedly 21st-century. Three massive abstract canvases guide the eye up a staircase that’s now accented with high-gloss black paint on the skirtboard and initial steps, while interior archways create handsome transitions between spaces; new flooring with the look of sun-bleached driftwood offers a far breezier take on seaside style.

Would you have guessed that this is the interior of a lake house? It’s a gracious space, to be sure, but its shoreside character is utterly invisible.

New, streamlined handrails, banisters and balustrades give the staircase a nautical feel — and an LED light in the glass ball on the newel post is triggered to glow at dusk! Crisp white shiplap on the walls and an angular wrought-iron pendant extend the theme, while an abstract, evocative canvas in beach-glass shades that extend to tabletop accessories feminize all those right angles. At last, this contemporary retreat reflects its waterside setting.

The impulse to display this colorful canvas on a console table is an interesting one, but it isn’t quite working as is; its style doesn’t complement the piece beneath it, and the other, unfurnished walls feel imbalanced.

The massive, monochromatic piece that’s now on the opposite wall echoes the original canvas’s scale, but its placement and angles feel far more natural above a contemporary black bench. A blockier and more modern console table now stands beneath a circular mirror, and every piece in this foyer feels like an introduction to the sleek arrangements in the living room that’s visible beyond it.

This diminutive glass chandelier can’t hold its own in the massive space surrounding it, and its ultrafeminine silhouette is lost against the forgettable stairwell and white walls.

A diamond-patterned stair runner, high-gloss black handrail and bold striped wallpaper infuse the stairwell with the character it was lacking, while a bold chevron pattern makes the refinished floor unforgettable. Speaking of unforgettable, a new contemporary pendant makes a proper statement in the center of the foyer, while a tulip table, shapely sculpture and colorful canvas add back the femininity that too-small glass chandelier was trying to spearhead all by itself.

This Miami home’s soaring two-story foyer has undeniable traditional appeal, but an historic look can feel oppressive — and it was high time for the space to reflect its inhabitants’ contemporary interests.

With white oak treads, white stucco risers and shapely modern ironwork, the updated staircase’s elegance now feels timeless and sculptural. A pared-back new pendant replaces the old chandelier’s curlicues, and bright white walls are crisp and classic against the window’s black frame.

Too-busy patterns and passementerie on this built-in bench and pillows plus green carpet and muddy, dated red wallpaper add up to a time capsule rather than a functional foyer.

Freshened with warm white paint, the foyer’s crown molding, paneling and balustrades reflect light and feel elegant rather than outdated. New botanical wallpaper extends the paint’s tone against a sophisticated metallic background; on the new-and-improved bench seat, just one pattern holds court with solid green silk. A darker floor stain complements the stairs’ woodwork and carries into the living room’s trim; lovely, no?

Made gloomy via too-neutral furnishings and sunlight-gobbling frosted windows, this foyer needs to be rezoned as residential space.

A cherry bomb of a red front door opens to a bold striped mat and gleaming new floors, while properly-transparent windows splash sun through the room and reveal detail on the staircase (which was lovely all along, if only you could see it). A warm wooden credenza topped with a playful ceramic horse and lacquered yellow tray complete the now-lively space.

Dated decor, heavy fabrics and even heavier metalwork are smothering this cottage’s elemental charm.

The sculptural front door now opens into a contemporary, minimalistic take on French country style: a white settee with turned wooden legs is strewn with tapestry pillows, modern sconces flank a gorgeous mirror, and a spectacular drum shade boasts an oxidized interior. The windows are now unadorned, and they’re utterly lovely.

Curvaceous railing and rosettes clash with paneling on the foyer’s rear wall, and the multicolored rectangular pattern on the stairs’ runner is unpleasantly asymmetrical. Is the floor pink? It seems like the floor is pink. This space is in dire need of a cohesive look.

Freed of their muffling carpet, the repainted stairs are now dazzling white with handsome refinished risers and simplified ironwork. A textural black dresser contrasts beautifully with the white paneling and picks up the wrought iron’s tone, while hardwood flooring carries from the entryway straight through to the living room. A casual arrangement atop the dresser adds color, texture and a pop of personality.

This southern California home’s hodgepodge of earth tones add up to an interior that feels … unnatural, somehow. Where’s the coastal charm?

A chic wire railing system topped with tawny wood flanks now-black stairs, and pale wood backs a stylish charcoal-topped storage bench. A paler gray wall with a picture light and artwork add in the personality the space so sorely needed, while a trio of textural gray pillows and a wooden tray complete the transformation.

This family’s foyer is delightfully lively, but it could use a good editor.