How to Decorate an Entryway With a Window

An entryway should greet guests and offer a taste of the home's decor.

An entryway with a window should feel like a sunny and welcoming room for you to greet guests. The trick to decorating with an entryway window is by making the window a feature. Entryway windows are not typical, so every time you have something special in the architecture of your home, you should play it up so that the element adds its full potential to your home.

Instructions

1. Identify the window as a focal point in the entryway. This means you will want your guests to notice the window when they enter. To create this, paint the window wall one or two shades darker than the color on the other walls of the entryway.

2. Paint the window trim and the other entryway trim a crisp white, if your trim is white. If you have stained wood trim, the window should look freshly stained and finished, like good furniture. This may be the closest window your guests see, so it should show at its best.

3. Install a Victorian-style black metal exterior window box frame below the window if your home is traditional, transitional, Mediterranean or has these features. Add terra-cotta pots filled with flowers and plants that will grow well in the window light. Install a sleek floating shelf under the window for more modern designs, or use a thin sofa table or similar type of furniture.

4. Add a fixed window treatment, like a Roman shade. Purchase or make a custom shade with expensive decorator fabric, a full lining and dressmaker details. The window treatment should be lush and attractive and add to the sense of importance of the window.

5. Dress out a shelf with a spalike trough with fresh grass. Pair the trough with decorative rocks or other natural materials. The idea is to connect the window with the outdoors, plants and nature. Decorate a table or furniture piece with simple objects, like a handmade bowl to receive keys and a table lamp, guest paper and a pen and a small row of tiny vases with flower buds.

6. Decorate the rest of the entryway to expand on the vignette you have created around the window. Use the same colors, art, organic materials, textiles and other elements to tie the entire entryway together into a cohesive and welcoming area. Your entry should always include seating for a guest to sit down.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your windows clean and look through your windows every few months to see the view. You will be surprised how the view changes as plants grow. Rethink your landscape to create lines-of-view from inside windows to the outdoors. This will expand the visible walls of your rooms and make your home live bigger.

References

• Lofty Expressions: Window Treatments
• The ABCs of Decorating; Genevieve Fernandez; 1981; page 202