A foyer does not have to be large. Even a small transition space enhances the home.

Depending on the climate, any entry from the outside should be configured in such a manner to keep outside elements from entering the home to a desirable degree.

If it gets cold outside where the house is located, it should have some type of foyer and not open directly into a living room.

What are you trying to accomplish by not having a foyer? If it's to save space for something else, I would argue that 3000sf house is big enough not to need to compromise. Trim somewhere else.

It's a common enough thing to see in houses of a certain size and age. I've lived in four 1950s-60s ranch houses, all of them <1000 sf, with a front door directly into the living room with no transition, and the coat closet away down a hall and quite inconvenient. It's never ideal. Wet shoes and coats. Guest coats. Umbrellas. Dog always sees you go to the door and wants to follow you. Every delivery person (pizza, Instacart, Amazon) looking right into your house.

I miss having a proper foyer. Can't wait to have one - albeit a small one - in the new house.

I've had it both ways and prefer the foyer. I have one now, house is about 3000 sq feet single level.

Any house past bare minimum needs a foyer in my opinion. I would rather take space from another room than go without a foyer.

Some houses do have entrance in living room. Then people try to create at least an entryway to fake a foyer by layout of furniture.

No foyer.

Perfect TV sitcom living rooms!

(Who doesn't love welcoming every delivery person, process server and random door knocker into the heart of family life??)

I agree, I would do almost anything possible to find the space to make a "nice" foyer. A nice foyer doesn't need to be very big either - but a dedicated entry space is very important, at least to me. At 3000 sq feet, you really are in a size range where a foyer is going to be expected.

As a home buyer, I will not buy a home with no dedicated entry space.

My first starter home (~1400 sq feet) had a front door that opened in a corner of the living room. I spent the next 10 years figuring out how to try to create a nice entry space - i.e., I freaking hated it.

Every home I've owned since then has a dedicated foyer. None of them have been very big, but I've loved them all. :)

IMO we need at least pics of the space and alot more info as to what we are being asked . Is this going to be a new house ? A renovation or a used house you are looking at?

Our house will not have a foyer. We were originally building modular so we selected a plan based on that, and made modifications therefore our house isn't truly custom. We are in MA, so cold climate. We are not concerned about our lack of a foyer. That room is the secondary living area as well, family room is on the other side of the home.

I am also excited to myself to be entering through the garage and mudroom. Except for the rental we are in now while house is being built, I have never lived in a house with an attached garage. (I am almost 50 and this will be the 4th house I have owned) Only guests will probably enter through the front door, hopefully not my kids coming home from the school bus, as I want those backpacks, etc dropped in the mudroom.

@K M I can't imagine that your kids are going to go through the garage door rather than the front door, unless you have an actual door in the garage area that you leave unlocked. You'll love having a garage when entering with your car. You can teach your kids to go straight to the mudroom to drop things off, but at the very least they need a big rug at the front door to remove boots to carry to the mudroom.

@calidesign Yes, we will have a large rug at the front door. There will be actual door in the garage area, that will actually be closer to enter as you come up the driveway. (it is on the right side of the house as you look at it which is how the driveway runs) I am hoping to train them to go in that direction.

oh and I have a tween that would rather die than wear boots even in the dead of winter. He hardly wears a coat either and will hold out with shorts until it gets into the teens. These northern kids are hardy and crazy.

Its a new house. Here is the floor plan. the plan is to make the house open wide and have a big open look. But not having a foyer is a deisgn choice what do you think?

I see both the front and middle rooms are marked "dining". Will the both be dining? Or will one be used for something else? If it were me, I'd think about how I would arrange desired furniture so I could picture what guests would be walking into. What you have looks like the door is at least out of the way (not in the middle of the room) and absolutely can work. The question might be if you want the entire main living space to be visible immediately as guests walk in or if you'd like some feeling of separation or foyer. I don't think either choice is right or wrong, just a personal preference.

the front room is a living or rather sitting room, with minimal use. Family will be back at the great room. There is a slatted wall seperator between front living and dinning room

This needs a redesign

why do you think so?

A foyer that can be closed off from the rest of the house can help w/heat/ac cost -- in the most cold or most hot days that is especially useful ... for both having a comfortable temperature and for saving money.

It is possible to create a hallway between garage and the rest of the living quarters that is USEFUL.

If you're also adding a garage near the front door anyway, then creating a "hall" space that is both "mud room" and "foyer" between garage and kitchen and that extends 4'-6' more to include the front door

could have a coat closet near the front door,

could include a "side" door to the house on the farther end from the front door that leads to a stoop or porch leading to beside the garage where the trash cans likely would be kept in an outdoor closet (possibly attached to the garage) anyway),

could include a closet for a washer and dryer near that side door,

could include a door to a powder room beside that,

could include and a half/half door to the kitchen beside that

could include a glass French door to the living area "beside" that.

Any/all wall space not a closet or door could be floor to ceiling cabinets for other storage -- vacuum cleaner, broom closet, cleaning supplies -- needed storage.

The kitchen could be a part of an "L" shaped open floor plan or a "U" shaped open floor plan rather than having any part of the great room one wide center dark hallway needing skylights

The front porch and living room could be shaped so that front entry hallway is beside the living room rather than in front of it, keeping the living room a rectangle beside the kitchen and dining room.

The master suite could wrap around the side and back corner of the dining room and also open to that porch beside the kitchen (between garage and master suite) that leads to a small (private) side patio. An exterior door from the garage could also open onto that porch/patio.

Two children's bedrooms could be on the other side of the living room accessible from a small square hallway and with a three room bath and a half in between.

With the right roof line, steps between that front hallway (and over some of the entry hall closets) could lead to an upstairs bonus room (or depending upon the slope of the lot, a full or partial basement could house those things) -- perhaps the equivalent of a second master suite.

If you design and place the main level master suit wrapping around the dining room so the bedroom can get natural light from at least two sides -- a pair of windows on each back corner then you can place the children's bedrooms on the side with the most desirable light and add a porch or a play yard (perhaps actually fenced or with a "green fence") -- leading to a patio behind the house (visible from the master bedroom) -- something that will age well as the children age and become teens with friends visiting regularly.

All that said, your home should reflect your own taste and priorities.

I canot imagine what your saying a rough drawing will help

I agree with Angel. That's quite a hike from your garage to your kitchen with groceries.
Typically, architects keep garages, laundry, and kitchens somewhat clustered.
Any chance you can swap your kitchen to the other side of the house so your kitchen is near the garage, laundry room and mud room?

It's also more cost effective to keep plumbing together, i.e. the two bedrooms with attached baths; you could save money if the bathrooms backed up to each other.
Just some thoughts on your plan.

As far as foyer, you've got room to create a walkway.
I grew up in a house where the front door dumped right into the living room. It happens. Not the end of the world.

You asked what we think….I think it’s a bad idea. It is absolutely possible to have a nice welcoming foyer AND have an extremely open and spacious look upon entering the home. A foyer wouldn’t detract from that at all. Many contemporary homes do well with this concept.

Why don’t you want a foyer?

9 feet is plenty of ceiling height throughout your house. Cabinet installation works better 9' too. It is pretty much the building standard at this time. I'd certainly flip the garage to the kitchen side of the house. Maybe a garage wing that matches the master bedroom wing would work for you.

Since there is a slatted wall between the front room and the dining room you actually do have a foyer - it is just a large one. You can add two armchairs and a small coffee table to that space and still have room to walk through. If the slatted wall was solid, you could place artwork and a long entry table on that wall, but a decorative partially open wall dividing that front door from the rest of the house seems like a good idea rather than having it fully open.

Living Room · More Info

yes thats what i was thinking too. I want to put someting like this

New modern home in Los Altos · More Info

we are not swapping the master suite and the kitchen to preserve the huge tree in the backyard.

I don't think every home needs a formal foyer. Guess it depends on how you envision using your home. Our 'foyer'' area is open. The front door opens into the main vaulted living room. We have a large sideboard hutch at the entry to give the entry a formal look. The front entry of our home is almost exclusively used by guests. For our daily routine we enter via the garage or laundry spaces. We never wanted an entry area that is cluttered with shoes and jackets. I like having areas of the home for guests that are always clean and don't have clothes/ personal items in the way of where guest belongings are placed.

You can certainly teach kids to go through the garage and not the front door ... most don't have an option, because they know the code to the garage, but don't carry a key to the front door!

@K M, my Boston born tween was the same way with the shorts in winter, then he hit high school and pants were "cool" so those were worn in the summer too! End of high school he seemed to realize you could change clothing based on seasons and not on what was "cool" to his peers!

My previous house had the garage opposite the kitchen like the OP and it was never a problem. It was done that way because the garage was on the flatter part of the lot and the kitchen got great views on the other side. All lots aren't perfect in every way, so compromises and choices have to be made. Unfortunately we don't get most of the information needed when looking at these posts and make snap judgements on the little information that we do get.