Designers and Builders Focus On Foyers To Make Their First Impressions On Homebuyers
Foyers are designed to impress potential homebuyers and their guests. How you decide to decorate your foyer shows off your personality to guests. 
You know the old saying, "a first impression is a lasting one". That may be why builders seem to go out of their way to impress prospective homebuyers. There's some logic involved, in many respects, when it comes to designing a foyer. When we go on our home building excursions we inevitably run across foyers in some homes that are obviously going for that "WOW factor". It's a good way to sell homes, right? What builder and/or realtor doesn't want a potential homeowner to walk through the front entryway of their home, walk into the foyer and say...you guessed it, "WOW"!
That's right...some of you folks out there in cyberland were guilty of this when you were in the new home buying market and walked into a HUGE, two-story foyer and said (out loud or under your breath) "WOW"! It may have even had something to do with your decision making process if you had your new home buying decision down to about 2 or 3 homes. You may have said to your spouse..."you know, that home on Oak St. sure has a BIG, BEAUTIFUL FOYER!" OK..so we've said it a few times ourselves and we think of ourselves as a very practical couple. We have always agreed that the square footage that a two-story foyer uses could be better utilized if the foyer were kept to one story but there's no substitute for a great looking foyer to make an impression. That would leave the builder plenty of opportunity to build a number of different type of useful rooms and/or storage areas above the foyer. It really boils down to preference.
You may lose a little of the WOW factor but you gain useful space that is appreciated by the homeowner long after the sale. Think about it. How many times can you come home and say..well..you know...that "W" word. After awhile it probably becomes more of a "Whose turn is it to clean the chandelier?" or better yet "I need to get up there this weekend and change some of those light bulbs. It's a little dark in here!" I would imagine, although I've never researched it, that it's not exactly the most energy efficient room in the home. There is something else that bothers me that I've noticed some builders are doing in two-story foyers, and two-story high rooms, for that matter. We have seen windows that open and close like a regular window in the upper tier of the room where the only way to access the window would be with a ladder..and a tall ladder at that! What was the architect thinking when this little gem of an idea was put into play?! To be honest, it is a rare find these days if we walk through the entryway of a new home under construction and find a single story foyer. I think about the only time we see them are in ranch style homes. In our opinion, it's all about practicality and getting the biggest bang for your buck.
Check out some of the links below concerning ladder safety and foyer design:
- Foyers Make Design Statements
- 6 Steps To A Fabulous Foyer
- Foyer Ladder Tips
- Stair Ladder Support
- Nice Article on Foyer Design In Log Homes
- Upping The Anteroom An article by Helen Berliner that appeared in Shambhala Sun Online - Helen Berliner is the author of Enlightened by Design: Using Contemplative Wisdom to Bring Peace, Wealth, Warmth and Energy into Your Home. OK...this is way off the charts of what I would normally link to but it's actually a nice article offering knowledge of the foyer from the spiritual avenue of Buddhism.
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