HGTV Dream Home 2009: Foyer Pictures

Rich woods and a warm color scheme make the foyer a great place for greeting guests.

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Great Place to Get Acquainted

Guests walk through the custom mahogany front door into a grand space that connects the entrance to the family room and kitchen beyond. "It's a place to be greeted more formally, even though it's not a formal house," notes house planner Jack Thomasson. "It's a very proper place to greet your guests."

Grand Receiving Area

Walls, painted a warm shade of bagel, are bare; artwork is limited to two formal wood columns, painted a subdued shade of gray. Ceiling-high curtains serve to close off rooms from the rest of the house when company calls. "If you were going to bed at night and you wanted a little more privacy when you came down the next morning," adds Jack, "you could close off those curtains in the foyer, which would give you complete privacy to go from a bedroom to the kitchen without fear of someone walking up to the front door, which, again is pretty exposed."