Foyer Ledges

Foyer ledges started showing up in homes in the early 90’s.  Ever since, I’ve noticed that most people leave them empty.  What do we do with them?  I started looking around trying to figure out how to decorate this space myself. 

I’ve not been a big fan of the statues or floral arrangements that can be seen from the outside.  It’s just not me and I wanted something different. 

 

 I also have not liked seeing accessories that you’d normally see on table surfaces.  They are not to scale to the space and the ledge is really a floor so it just looks odd to me. 

 I love the idea of a reading loft but not in a foyer and mine is way higher than I’d want anyone to climb. 

I’ve seen tables and chairs on the ledges but that makes me want to go over and sit down to look at the window and there is no way to do that!  Why would you put a table in chair where you can get to them?  However, most ledges look like this one with nothing on it.  What a waste!

Here is what I came up with:

• From the outside, I think the window should highlight the chandelier.  There shouldn’t be anything in the window that would obstruct the view of the chandelier. 
• From the inside, I want to frame the window and add interest to the space that will draw the eye up when guest enter. 
• I think that you should only use accessories that can stand alone on the floor.

Some ideas of what to put on a ledge are architectural pieces such as large corbels, old shutters and doors.  Also, old wooden wagon wheels, ladders and farming tools would be good.  You could even use large picking or tobacco For a beach house, I think a large decorative sailboat would look beautiful as well. 

Here is one I did recently.  We started out with a blank slate, just like so many homes have.

I started out like I always do, looking for items around her home.  I found a beautiful weathervane that was not spotlighted in her house as I thought it should be.  Instead it was in pieces and not on a stand.  I took it and had it mounted on a stand for her.
 

Then in the attic, I found a butter churn.  I found these large sunflowers to put in it.  Aren't they beautiful? 
 

 

I found a garden topiari when I was out and about scouting local stores.  I added Christmas lights to the inside of it to help draw the eye up when it is night.  I put our finds together and still didn't feel like it had the look I was going for so I went back into the attic and found her husband's grandmother's antique chest.  Her husband was delighted that something of his had made it into the collection and helped me get it up to the space!  It was the magic piece and I loved how it turned out.  What do you think? 

In my home, I also had an empty ledge.  Being a decorator, I couldn't just leave this space empty!  I found a painted door with iron to put on one side.

Then I wanted to add light that would draw the eye up, show through the window a little but not take away from the iron chandelier hanging in the foyer.  I have been eyeing for a while lanterns but couldn't quite find the place to put one in my home.  I found this one and decided to add LED willow branches inside.  Then I placed an architectural corbal next to it.

This is how my ledge turned out.  It added a pop of color that help add interest to the space during the day and at night, it gives a warm inviting glow.

I was excited about how it turned out.  I plan to add something seasonal to the space as the year goes on.  As much as I love it now though, I can't wait to decorate it at Christmas time.  You'll love what I do then so stay tuned!  Don't forget that:  Great Design Takes Time! 

Until next time,


Lisa