A sunglass bar outside. not to be blinded. ;-)

Dear god, get the paint stripper for all of that mutilated woodwork! Stained woodwork would help to tone down the neon intensity of the wall color. The color itself doesn't allow for furnishings unless you cover most of it up with art, only letting a bit peek out.

Lol. Out here in Oregon it is gloomy for 8 - 9 months of the year plus I have a 90 foot oak tree that shades the front of the house 24-7/365 so the color does not look as bright as it appears in the picture.

Red is my favorite color, so do not get me wrong. It is just that there is way to much of it in your entry. And the woodwork looks poorly painted. If you could choose 1 wall in the foyer and keep it red and then maybe choose a stunning wallpaper for the rest of the entry. It can be red or any other color, but you need to break the huge expanse of color. in small dose, that foyer will be just stunning. Take the zebra wallpaper. In NYC there is a legendary italian restaurant, wallpaper from the chair rail up in it. It is gorgeous, but it is wallpaper, so it is not so overpowering.

Sometimes what you have a "feel" for in your head and what comes out on your walls are fighting with each other. I can tell you like red but it is a tricky color to pull off. Foyers are often the best places to paint red because you don't live in that room - you move off quickly.

Having said that the foyer sets the tome for the rest of the home and this one is not very inviting, if I may say so.

If you like red keep one wall - the one with the entry door - red, and switch the rest of the walls to a more livable shade. Perhaps a shade to match the nice-looking oak door - which right now looks rather left out since all the other doors, windows, woodwork have all been "religiously" painted a very dark grey.

Have you thought of grasscloth wallpaper. It will cost you about the same to cover up as it will to strip the red in order to re-paint a lighter shade - you will definitely need to prime your walls, otherwise the red will show through any lighter color that goes over it.

Both York and Brewster have nice warm grasscloths the color of "cheese" or "driftwood" (slightly more off-white than warm oak) -both very warm and welcoming and it will match your main door, your stair treads and highlight your single red wall.

After you've done that get a red and pale yellow striped - or Plaid - looks very Ralph Lauren) stair runner for your stairs.

See the difference!

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PS: what works for restaurants sometimes fails at home!

Please pardon all the Houzzers who just rudely dumped on your foyer - they cannot control themselves to answer the question when they feel strongly about color. Can you provide the dimensions of the area? A sketch with measurements is always a good idea - that way we'll know how to scale things properly.

You have a strong color scheme, which is not a bad thing - it's just a matter of rocking it out. You might consider adding white or cream in upholstery and accessories for some visual pop.

The image below is your scheme reversed a bit with gray walls, white trim, and red accessories. With your red walls and gray trim, a bunch of white accessories might do the trick.

Here the black and gray chest stands out from the red walls

Here, the mostly white chairs with the red stripe picks up the red in the walls

Now, here's an entire living room in your color scheme

wow... its too much. i agree the white trim is needed. it looks very red cave like right now. at least white base boards and door trim consider adding molding around the top in white to. it will look much better. than black and silver and possibly a mirror.

On my PC the red everyone is dissing looks more like a beautiful Victorian fuscia to me. I want to know what the little bench like object is. It looks very mid century modern. Am I correct in any of there assessments?

it seems like you like the farmhouse feel. and you have the house for that. but the color of red this is does not go with the things you like. i know you dont want to hear this but look for historic red color

Try painting your doors and trims white, go with a bright rug, black bench, give it some TLC... (click on photo to view rug).

The red is cool. The grey doesn't do it any favors. Try painting the trim the same color, in flat or satin, if you don't have a lot of time/money. What would look smashing would be to restore the wood finish to the doors, frames, baseboards, trim, windows, stairway edge, etc. Then you'd have a classic space with depth of color and history, but with a bright twist. Do replace the light fixture with something more classic, without all the gold trim.

Funny, Lynne Mysliwiec those are the exact colors in the other rooms downstairs. The trim is Ben's Bear Creek.

sandradclark it is MCM. It was rescued from a church ($5) but it does not really belong in the front entry it is meant for the back mud room.

Lynne, I am not dumping the foyer, I am saying choose a coupe of walls and break it up. And the red in your rooms is not the red in the entry. the room in red/grey has 12-15 foot ceilings and is painted tomato. the foyer is not tomato. your room has gorgeous well painted ceiling moldings.

I

My thoughts are:

- the badly painted grey trim (paint lines everywhere)

- the red walls

- the stark white ceiling are too much.

- the floor is fighting with the red

What I would do:

- repaint the trim. It is nota bad color, but it needs to have clean paint lines.

- refinish the floor: stain dark, like an ebony.

- Paper the ceiling. You want a very rich look.

where the bench is you need a console tabs.It must have heft to hold its own in there.

Then a little funky chair

and a mirror

mirror

and a rug

some more rugs

and the ceiling fixture is much too small for the space, unless you can add some sconces or a lamp in the console table

another idea for the ceiling

sacapuntaslapioz

I think your input was excellent and your suggestions very on point. Several others had pretty brutal comments and no suggestions, which prompted my comment earlier. I like the idea of very dark wood or black as options for the furnishings and frames in the foyer. The idea of picking a chic printed wallpaper for one wall or for the ceiling could be very exciting, indeed. I was also thinking that gold/bronze/antique gilt might be the metal of choice for the foyer.

I was going to suggest you paint the front door a charcoal, inside & out, plus the casings & surround, however I noticed it is a natural wood so I didn't mention it. Your ceiling does need to be a color too, however. Maybe a sky blue. I love the little MCM bench but agree you need a much heftier one. I like your suggestion of a church pew. A very large heavy one. The mirror is good although it also should have been larger with beveled mirror perhaps.

I also agree you do need a more suitable hanging light fixture. Probably an old big chandelier. Not a new one though as it would not match your style. I would like to see an old antique area rug such as a Persian. Also the photos don't really show what you have done on the stairs. Maybe carry a totally different color Persian stair runner (Old as well). Hey how about a very deep crown molding. Hang some old crystal & black porcelain door knobs on a long piece of wood to be used to hand neck scarfs & hats on the wall somewhere. You do have plenty of room. I love it!

I like the suggestions. The lines on the trim are because the trim is tiered. The room is not very big 10 x 15 with 9.5 ft ceilings. I would not change the floors it is 100 y.o. old growth fir - the mirror is also original - it has been in that spot for the last 100 years ( the last thing you see is your reflection before you leave the house). I love the ceiling idea.

Furniture suggestions

Will need 2 chairs
Side table place things on top like yellow flowers in a cool looking vase

If can change light do so

Like one below

please post any changes you make!

Hey there!

I have a blog posts that will help you out.

Happy Desiging!

http://timothyriversinteriors.com/2014/12/06/make-a-statement-in-your-entryway/

Hello Sumesa! That original millwork and leaded glass in the door... It is begging to be refinished and restored to its former glory.

On the iPad, the paint reads more of a Knockout Rose red. Very enlivening and active colour. Someone up thread suggested wall paper. Yes! A complimentary colour wall paper might bring in more dimension. A tone-on-tone vintage wall paper; especially if you're thinking along the lines of an Anteroom rather than simpler Foyer. At 10'x15' with 9.5' ceilings, oh my.

Do you have pictures of the rooms opening from the foyer? That might be helpful in deciding the decor, too.

Remember, furnishings & decorations in the foyer do not have to be elaborate. They do need to make a statement and be a refined reflection of the rest of the house.

FWIW, my decor experience has come primarily from stage set & scene design. I might steer you in a more period direction so take everything with more than a few grains of salt. :-)

I think undertones are the problem. The grey works with red when the red is darker and has a grayish undertone. The pics with the brown wood show a wood with a slight warm red undertone.

Just to give you an idea. this is the place I was talking about. the lengenday Gino's in NYC. and the same wallpaper in another use.

the wallpaper with some walls and a very rich environment just makes it great.

Would you be open to strip some of the woodwork. There is very good soy based product called soy gel. non toxic

"Saca" that second picture with the staircase is stunning. So hope the OP comes back and adds to this discussion.

Enjoying many of the images you're posting, too.

thanks locrian