No Entryway? Create the Illusion of One

Create the feeling of an entry hall even when your door opens straight into the living room. Here are 12 tricks to try

Becky Dietrich February 23, 2020

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Many of us have a front door that opens unceremoniously and without any apology directly into the living area. While this certainly saves on square footage, it does not give us much opportunity for a proper entry. So how can you create entry ambience?

Terracotta Design Build

1. Create an Entry Hall With Furniture Placement

In this case the back of the sofa effectively produces the feeling of an entry hall. You could gain the same effect with a pair of chairs.

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mark cutler

2. Add a Sofa Table

If you have the space, add a sofa table behind the back of the furniture. You’ll gain storage for keys, mail and (if there’s a lower shelf) even shoes — all the paraphernalia that ends up in our entries.

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Contemporary Living Room Contemporary Living Room

3. Add Seating

Adding a pair of benches under that sofa table takes no extra room, but it gives the option for additional seating or a place to remove shoes if that is your wont. It also adds a layer of design that warms and welcomes.

Bellingham Bay Builders

4. Build a Half Wall

If your front door is at the end of your living area rather than in the middle, a pony wall could be an excellent way to create a sense of division and the suggestion of an entry.

Adding an area rug or a floor mat that fits the entry space you have created will enhance the perception that you really dohave an entry. The floor covering will also help capture some of the inevitable dirt and mud that will come through the front door.

Alair Homes Decatur

5. Turn Your Hall Closet Into an Alcove

I love this idea! Taking the doors off a hall closet and turning it into an open space for a chest and artwork or a mirror fools the eye into believing an entry exists. Adding a great lamp on the chest enhances that impression, especially if you leave it on all the time (with a low-wattage bulb).

Evens Architects

6. Take Advantage of the Swing of Your Door

A door that swings in so that its back is against the seating group will create a slight barrier between the two, and will help block sight lines into the conversation area. Standard entry doors are 36 inches wide, and that 3 feet is a boon to creating the feeling of an entry.

TKP Architects

7. Add an Entry Hutch

In this absolutely charming cottage, a storage piece next to the door helps create a sense of entry.

TKP Architects

Everything from shoes to mufflers and hats (and a basket for keys) can find a home in a hutch like this. The cat clearly likes it.

Savvy Interiors

8. Create an Entry Pad

Install impervious flooring in the area taken up by the swing of your door. It will help keep your living area clean and will visually suggest an entry. Just be sure to keep whatever material you choose level with rest of the room’s floor coverings.

Schwartz and Architecture

9. Define Your Entry With a Bookcase

Although this particular entry is larger than most of the ones we’re talking about, the idea is still excellent. A shallow bookcase like this one defines an entry area while taking up very little space, and adds style and function.

Douglas Design Studio

10. Build an Entry: Take 1

Is walling in and sectioning off your front door too over-the-top? Not if you do it with the grace and beauty of this glass and wood enclosure. If you live in a climate frequently beset by inclement weather, an entry like this will help keep the cold, wind and wet out.

Structures, Inc.

11. Build an Entry: Take 2

Take the previous idea from the inside to the outside. Many homes whose front doors enter directly into the living room also have a roomy front porch, like this one. If this porch were walled in, an entry would be created, protecting the interior from dirt and the elements.