apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

• Focus on lighting. Pick out a favorite lamp to install just inside the door. You can leave it on when you go out for the evening and be welcomed by the soft light when you return.

• Keep fresh flowers or a houseplant on your landing strip console table, if you have one, or buy a larger plant or tree to stand just inside the door. Our front door opens right into our living room, so we use the arch of a palm tree's fronds to create a kind of barrier between the entry and the open-plan room.

• Mirrors make a tight hall space feel larger and reflect light from the outside. Artwork is also important in this space; choose pieces that have a calming effect on you, as they're the first thing you'll see at home at the end of your workday.

• Arrange a place to sit in your entryway, for taking off shoes, sorting mail, and so on. It can be a chair, of course, if you have room, but you can also get creative here, using a vintage trunk or chest, a storage bench, a garden stool.

• Consider accent wallpaper or paint that differs from the rest of your home, especially if you're trying to create a foyer where you don't already have one. A bright color or wallpaper makes a dramatic statement that can be fun for a transition space.

• If your front door opens into your living room, use a shelving unit or screen to create an entryway space (see the last two photos above). Even a low bookshelf, with a lamp on top and a place to drop your keys and mail, can be used as a divider between the space behind your door and the rest of the room.

Making your entryway warm and welcoming is a good, manageable project for Labor Day weekend. Here are some more posts to peruse if you're working on your own:

• Dilemma: When Your Front Door Opens Directly Into Your Living Room
• Inspiration: Entryways, Foyers, and Landing Strips
• Five Dramatic Entryways
• 10 Different Ways to Organize an Entryway
• How To: Make a Cozy Entryway
• 7 Tips to Liven Up the Entryway

(Images: Shannon Fricke/Marie Claire Maison; PointClickHome; Simply Grove/Domino; Easy Living Magazine; Jennifer Nilsen/Harmony and Home; Livingetc (all bottom row))