Every home tells a story, and the first chapter begins at the entryway. This all-important space is where guests get a first glimpse at how your home looks, feels, and breathes. The light in this space should beautifully blend function and style and serve as a warm welcome to everyone who crosses the threshold. We’re sharing the why’s and how’s of lovely entryway lighting, along with tips on selecting the right style, size, and placement.

Make a Statement

The entryway is a transitional space, meaning it’s a room where guests primarily move from one area to the other. Why not make it memorable with amazing lighting?

Like a work of art, a light fixture can command attention and define the space, whether it’s a chandelier, set of pendants, or a semi flush mount. And if you have high ceilings, your creative canvas is even larger; make lighting the centerpiece by playing with shape and scale to create a focal point and visual interest.

Match the Mood

The entryway offers a peek into your home’s design, offering a hint of what visual delights are to come. Whether you’re opting for cozy comfort or chic and architectural, there are fixtures for every design style, from modern and traditional to rustic and transitional (and everything in between).

Use a fixture’s finish or material to create continuity between rooms. If a bronze features prominently in the great room, consider a similar finish in the entryway. Or if you opt for something complementary, a fixture made from a natural material like rattan, seagrass, or wood adds warmth and anchors a variety of design styles. Your choice of lighting creates cohesion in a room and serves as the finishing touch visually.

Layer Light for Function and Flow

A layered lighting approach works especially well in an entryway because multiple sources offer flexibility, creating a welcoming atmosphere from morning to night. An overhead fixture anchors the room and provides ambient lighting, while supporting wall sconces and lamps provide a soft wash of light around eye level.

Multiple light sources allow for safer movement inside and out while illuminating areas like drop zones and storage of personal items. Layered lighting also beautifully creates depth and a feeling of warmth, balancing incoming natural light throughout the day to create a consistent and inviting glow.

Let Materials and Details Shine

With its fewer and smaller-scaled furnishings, an entryway is the perfect place to draw the eye to a fixture’s form and shape. Your home’s interior design style can guide your choice of material. Natural materials like rattan, wood, or rope give your eye something to “grab” onto; they give the room a textural element and infuse it with warmth and dappled or patterned light depending on the material.

Glass offers its own uniquely beautiful benefits. Vintage-inspired designs feature a refreshed and modern sensibility. From strié and seeded to textured and rippled, glass chandeliers, sconces, pendants, and ceiling fixtures can diffuse light and even create a sense of movement to evoke a sense of calm. Clear glass offers bright and direct light for more modern spaces or in areas that require task lighting. Frosted, milky, seeded, or textured glass disperse light into a softer wash of illumination to create a relaxed or cozy atmosphere.

Choose the Right Size and Placement

We’ve talked about what and why of great entryway lighting, so let’s move to some of the nuts and bolts of how to choose the best fixtures for your home.

Start With Your Home’s Ceiling Height:

• Two-story foyers and entryways with high ceilings need larger or multi-tiered fixtures to anchor the volume and make a statement.
• In homes with a traditional standard ceiling height (8 feet is common, 9 feet in new homes), flush mounts, semi-flush mounts, and pendants work best.
• Right-size your entryway’s light fixture with a quick calculation: Add the length and width dimensions of the room, then take the total and make it inches. For example, a 10’ x 10’ entryway would need a fixture around 20 inches in diameter.

Pick Your Placement

• When installed, a ceiling light fixture’s base should be at least 7 feet above the floor for clearance and safety. In a two-story foyer, the fixture base can also be level with the second floor. For a statement chandelier or multi-tier fixture, placement should be approximately a third of the way down from the ceiling, with the base flush or just above the second floor.
• Wall sconces should be installed 60 to 72 inches above the floor so they are just above eye level and maintain a balanced look.

Set Great Expectations

Thoughtful entryway lighting creates a sense of arrival for you and your guests. A statement of expression, the right fixture helps set the design tone of your home by offering a glimpse of the home beyond the threshold. Explore entryway lighting and find your perfect fit from Savoy House at a Lighting One Showroom near you.