Buying Modern Foyer Lighting
Foyer or entryway lighting may be the most important lighting that you put in your home. Even though people spend very little time in their foyers, the entry is the first thing guests see as they arrive in your home. Do you have a design aesthetic here, and is it pervasive throughout your home? Have you combined all the elements (flooring wall treatments, furniture, accessories and lighting) to make a welcoming environment for your new guests? The lighting you select is critical to what people think of you on first impression.
As our guests enter our home, the transition from outside to inside is not always flat; frequently there will be a slight step up or over a threshold that has to be navigated cleanly. Proper foyer lighting is critical to the safety of your guests as they traverse this space.
As it is almost always the case when selecting lighting for your home, analyzing your space is critical. The general rule is that your lighting fixture should have an inch of diameter (or width) for every foot of the sum of the length and width of the room. If your entryway is 11 ft. x 12 ft., add those two dimensions together and your foyer light should be about 23 inches wide.
There are times that the challenge of your room isn’t square footage, it’s height. An alternative method for identifying the height of your foyer piece is that for every foot of foyer height, allow 2.5 inches of fixture height. For a foyer with a 10’ ceiling, that would yield a foyer light about 25” tall.
Here we are back to that “analyze your space” thing again. If your ceiling is standard-ish height (9’-10’ tall) the bottom of your foyer fixture should be 7’-7.5’ off the floor. Higher ceilings (11 feet or more) present additional challenges, most of them involving (gasp!) math. Tall ceilings can overwhelm a space, and placing your foyer light roughly two-thirds the distance from the floor. If your room is particularly large choose a slightly larger fixture than the general formulas above would suggest.
For two-story foyers there are a few schools of thought, and you just have to decide which school you’d like to attend. Many designers prefer to use the second floor landing as their reference point, hanging the fixture so that the bottom of the fixture aligns with the landing (or slightly slower). Alternatively, many designers prefer to highlight the architectural features of the foyer (like a high window) by centering the fixture with the window, allowing both passers-by and guests to admire your foyer lighting selection.
Ultimately, like beauty, correct placement is in the eye of the beholder. One of the tricks we like to use is to stop by your local store and pick up a mylar balloon (we’d suggest a “You’re Awesome!” balloon, may as well get some positive affirmation out of the deal)… tape it to the end of a tape measure and extend it to where you think the fixture should be place. Look at it from all angles, and when you’re happy with it you’ve already got your measurement.
Now that you’ve got a clear idea of what you need, let’s focus on what you want. When selecting the design of your new modern foyer light, take the time to find the right fit. Make it work with the rest of your room aesthetic; indeed with the rest of your house aesthetic. We’ve asked our experts to select some of their favorite looks (including classics and best new models)… here’s what they like:
We can’t get enough of the Luxe series – the combination of a gorgeous aged brass finish with the textured black (not matte black) fixture base works amazingly well, and the high quantity of lamping on each fixture is sure to throw off plenty of light (use a dimmer).
If you’re a fan of the movie ‘Inception”, you’ll love Nimbus Series…Circular globes within circles within a bigger circle. The satin opal glass globe diffusers spread the light out evenly, while the textured black and aged brass circles draw you in.
