Rule of Three for Styling an Entry

For many homes, the entryway is the first space you see after walking in your front door or the last space you see before walking out. This space acts as both a drop zone and the first look at your home—it needs to be functional, and ideally, it’s pretty, too! While there are myriad ways to decorate an entry, I’ll share what worked for me.

Start with Three Foundational Pieces

Foundational piece #1: A console table or bench

The space that acts as our entryway is to the left of our stairs, to the right of our hallway closet and faces the dining room. Because the hallway that separates it from the dining room is not wide, I knew that we couldn’t go with bulky or deep furniture that would interfere with the walking space. I toyed with the idea of going with a bench as a sitting area to put on shoes, but decided that the kids could use the stairs for that and instead chose a narrow console table.

Questions to ask yourself: What do you have room for? What’s the best use of the space—as a sit-down drop zone or an upright one? Do you need extra storage in this space?

Foundational piece #2: A mirror or statement art piece

The wall behind the console table was large and empty, so I knew I could go big here. Since I already have a gridded gallery wall of family photos in our living area and an art gallery wall in our piano room, I decided on a large mirror.

A mirror acts to both visually enlarge the area and serve as a “last look” space to check your makeup before you run out the door, so it’s pretty and practical. If you already have a mirror in a different space, a statement art piece is another great option.

Foundational piece #3: A basket, tray or low bowl

I am a basket queen. I use them everywhere in the house to corral toys, shoes, mail, keys, and other small items. A basket serves as a catchall to throw in keys, sunglasses or a wallet as you are coming in the door, and a tray or low, decorative bowl could do the same. I also have a larger basket next to the console table for guests to place their shoes as they come in.

Think in Three Visual Layers

A Statement Layer

The statement layer is the top third to top half of your entryway wall space. This is the space taken up by your mirror or art piece. You might choose to install a sconce above your mirror or flanking either side—as a way to add additional sources of light if you need it.

A Shelf Layer

This is the linear space where your basket or tray and decorative items—vases, lamps, smaller leaning art pieces, stacked books, candles— will live. Mix in tall, vertical elements like vases or lamps to add balance to the space.

A Grounding Layer

This is the bottom third to the bottom half of the space that visually grounds the vignette. Literal heavy and visually weighty items go here. If you have a bottom shelf to your console table like I do, make sure you choose items with height so you aren’t left with a blank gap between the bottom shelf and where your drawers begin.

Layer in Three Elements

I love incorporating books and framed photographs wherever I can in a room, but there are three other elements that I try to keep in every vignette—

A Pop of Black

I recently learned that there’s a reason why designers incorporate black into spaces—because it keeps your eye moving. But I’ve always loved incorporating black because it adds a layer of contrast that’s visually interesting, and it manages to be both a neutral and the opposite of a neutral at the same time.

Something Woven

Incorporating something woven gives texture and dimension to a space. It’s one of the reasons I keep all sorts of baskets on hand. You can also incorporate texture by incorporating vases or lamps with subtle lines or grids.

Greenery

Greenery, fake or real, adds an element of freshness. We pick up greenery from our local farmers’ market every Sunday.

By dividing a space into elements and layers, it becomes easier to take a phased approach to decorating. Start by gathering your foundational pieces, decorate by layer, then add finishing touches.

Surf Shack 

The Kinfolk Home

Console Table

Frame (also comes in a walnut!)

Mirror

Baskets and shoe basket

Candle

Please Remove Shoes Sign

*some items are affiliate linked and some are non-affiliate linked. If you choose to purchase an item, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Our boys’ room

It’s taken nearly a year of living in our house, but the boys’ room has finally come together. 

We tackled some basics first: repainting the interior white, replacing the carpet with flooring that matches our main floor, disassembling the crib that our third child never slept in (I know, I know, we’re terrible at sleep training).

What I’ve learned is that rooms (and dreams) come together in three parts: with vision, material objects, and people.

VISION

Before we even stepped foot in our current home, I pictured a mountains-to-beach room for our boys. Where we live in Southern California, it’s about an hour to the mountains and a fifteen-minute drive to the beach. We’ve never tried skiing and surfing in the same day, but I imagine with three boys, it will be a bucket list item someday.

You can start with an image, a Pinterest board, an idea. You can start with a few words that describe what you want the room to feel like once you’re living in it and how the space needs to function. Getting clear on exactly what you want is the first step.

OBJECTS

For the boys’ room, I gathered:

That owl lamp I bought on sale from the Anthropologie in Santa Monica a decade ago.

The truck piggy bank Noah painted when he turned two and the horse painted by Judah on his 2nd birthday (in a serious Spirit Riding Free phase). 

The chalkboard Mumford & Sons lyric calligraphy piece I bought from a pop up market in my hometown the day I turned 28.

The Strands pennant and Swiss army box I bought and hoarded for over a year in a moving box.

The prints I bought before the All Good Things Collective closed up shop – Micah 6:8 for Micah, 2 Timothy 1:7 for Judah, I Peter 5:7 for Noah and Proverbs 17:17 for all three of them.

The thing about objects (and dreams): you have what you need to start.

You don’t need a trip to Home Goods or all the latest decor items from McGee & Co. When you  begin to look around your house – or your life – you realize that you already have little gems scattered all around. They just need to be unearthed, repurposed, gathered.

PEOPLE

I love how the boys’ room turned out – it’s exactly what I wanted for them – but I especially love how they make it their own.

I’ve found them building train sets in the corner and sliding down into the reading nook floor cushions. At night, all three of them tuck themselves into the bottom bunk, and we read books pulled from the basket next to the bed. 

The vision, the stuff – it was all for this, moments with my three sweet little people. In decorating and in life, what starts with vision, ends with people.

Dining Room Vision

There’s no time quite like the present (i.e. pandemic stay-at-home crisis) to do some home dreaming, amiright?

A few months ago, I started drawing up vision boards for our home but never got around to sharing them here. I envisioned a round table with black oak “Ruthie” chairs — traditional and coastal, with clean lines and a pop of brass. Hugh Forte’s beach photography is stunning, and I love investing in art whenever I can. The potted olive tree is fake, because let’s be honest, I have enough to keep alive with my kids; let’s not add plants into the mix.

When I found a Restoration Hardware vintage French fluted expandable dining table (the dinner parties!) on Facebook Marketplace in a black wash for $200, I scooped it up and revisited my design plan. I still love the contrast of black with white oak or a natural hardwood, and these chairs offset the curves of the table and add texture with the woven element on the seat. The chandelier feels clean and modern, balancing the vintage-ness and density of the black table with a lighter, minimal piece that carries the black all the way up visually.

However (isn’t there alway a “however”?), budget still dictates decor plans, and for one of the McGee Eloise chairs, I could buy three of these Target Project 62 chairs (as soon as they restock). I bought one that was in stock at a local Target to try it out, and I love how the curves of the chair mimic the curves of the table while still offsetting the ornate details with clean lines. Juniper Print Shop makes prints that can be framed in IKEA frames, and I could keep the large format art look with this and this.

Just like with fashion, I love mixing high-low elements — pricey pieces with more affordable ones. Right now our dining room (and most of our house) is a weird brown-beige, but I’m looking forward to fresh white walls and hopefully a quick restock of these chairs in order to “finish” our dining room.

In the meantime, I’m still dreaming. Living room, piano room, and entryway vision boards up next.