The Power of Your Foyer Carpet
No matter whether it is grand or modest, a foyer sets the tone for the rest of the interior. Put your best foot forward with these ideas.
Co-authored by Heather Smith MacIsaac
First impressions are everything, giving foyers and their furnishings major influence in the decorative scheme of things, relative to their size in the house. No matter whether it is grand or modest, a foyer sets the tone for the rest of the interior. It is where the foot and eye first land before they travel down hallways and up stairs, along carpets whose job it is to welcome and connect.
Nothing says welcome with more substance and distinction than a one-of-a-kind carpet such as an antique oriental. For designer Suzanne Kasler, who usually orders custom-colored new carpets for the rooms she decorates, the foyer is the exception. “It’s the one room where the carpet’s role is not so much to coordinate as to stand alone. I actually prefer that the carpet in the front hall not match anything, so I always bring in a found piece.”
Oriental rugs, especially those saturated with color like Persian and Turkish types, are transporting. Their richness of hue and pattern alludes to another place and time, simultaneously grounding and elevating the arrival experience. Carpets in deeper tones are, moreover, practical; they catch outside dirt before it travels deeper into the house. For all their finery, oriental carpets are durable if well cared for. After all, they’ve typically weathered worse conditions in their lifetime than climate-controlled houses with efficient vacuums.
A foyer carpet is literally a decorative expression of putting one’s best foot forward.
Excerpted from Decorating with Carpets: A Fine Foundation by Ashley Stark Kenner and Chad Stark with Heather Smith MacIsaac (The Vendome Press) Copyright © 2015
See also:
The Great Carpet Debate: How to Dress Up Your Staircase
