Today’s interior design Q&A has to do with furnishing a foyer in a coastal home. This homeowner has moved in for full time living and wants help tying it all together with a more finished look.

Yay! This will be fun.

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photos of this coastal home’s foyer and stair area

She has had the floors refinished in this natural look and plans to paint the walls White Dove. The indoor/outdoor rug is just temporary and the mermaid is going.

She did buy this colorful piece of art recently and wants to know the best place to hang it. It is 2’ x 3’.

I’m taking my cues here from the new art to add some color to this foyer. I think that will help make it cheery and bright.

I like the bench in the nook and can work with the navy cushion there. That’s a good start.

The first thing I’d like to look for is a rug. I feel like the rug should echo the art in color. I want it to pop off the natural wood floors and make a statement.

This wool rug from Loloi is a great option for this space. It repeats the color schem and movement of the art and I like the hooked rug style of construction. It feels coastal to me, even with floral pattern.

A 5 x 7.5 rug in this pattern and color would liven up this coastal look foyer.

Now, let’s look at the bench.

We need a bunch of pillows here that will also echo the color scheme and bring in some of the orange. I like at least 22” x 22” so they don’t get lost over there and feel nice and cushy.

These make a nice mix. I like the nautical bold stripe in navy with the orange.

Next, I’d like to delete that small table at the end of the bench. I know it fits and that space needs to be open because of the air vent there in the floor, but I’d prefer a floor lamp I think that can work the same way.

The little table just gets a bit lost to me. I like the natural wood and brass finish and the tall cylinder shade of this lamp.

Now, let’s look at art combinations.

The mirror doesn’t do much here. If it was reflecting the ocean or some pretty greenery outside, that would work better, but it kind of disappears over there in the corner.

I’d like to get some bold art that would work with the piece she recently purchased.

These are 24'“ h x 30” w, so they would stack nicely on side wall of the nook, with the other new piece on the angled wall under the stair.

Next, I would love to see some kind of multiple plate wall grouping on the angled stair wall above.

I found the perfect look, with the colors I would love to see there with this artist I found on Instagram. I have loved these plates she does, for sale on Etsy. They can be hung in an organic layout, angled up the stairs.

Now, these could be baskets or other sculptural items, but I really like the organic layout and the repetition of the color from below.

Quick sketch of foyer stairwell - Carla Aston

Since she sent me pic of the upstairs stair area too, I’m guessing she is wanting something for those walls.

I like this driftwood textural wall decor for up high there. It’s a nice companion to all the more colorful pieces below.

She could hang three of them stacked up the vertical wall, or horizontally across the wall that is above the stairs. See my sketches, below.

These are the 40” x 40” which is the size I am envisioning would work best here.

Tall wall in stair well - wall decor option

Another option for textural wall decor in this open stair area.

Lastly, I think she could fit a small round center table there on the rug. This is 30” tall and 32” diameter. It would help this room feel more important and special.

I love this little wood table, repeating the natural flooring, with it’s sculptural base.

I’d stack a big blue vase on top with some branches too.

So, here is how that nook looks with all this put together in a sketch.

Quick sketch of foyer nook below the stair in this coastal home. Carla Aston

One last detail that might be fun to add is wallcovering. :-)

I don’t think it needs to go all over the walls, although that would be nice, but I think it could just be an accent behind the bench on those two walls and then on the angled wall behind the stair.

I’d love to see a grasscloth type wallcovering there, something in a natural look just to add some texture and warmth.

Here are all the furnishings items compiled on a storyboard below.

Lastly, I like that little dropleaf table there at the door. I’d keep that and put a little oil painting hung in the space below the window. I also like this little modern look all-white lamp there too.