Designer Charlene Threatful’s Favourite Room
Charlene Threatful, principal designer at Lush Interiors in Calgary, wanted to create an inviting foyer that reflected her personal style. Here’s how she incorporated mixed styles, bold colours and patterns and meaningful objects to curate a space that seamlessly connects to the elements of the rooms adjacent to her front entrance.
By Kristin Doucet | 4 minute read
![charlene_006 Architect David Small](https://wahi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/charlene_006.jpg)
“One of my favourite spaces is the front entry. It’s not a room per se, but it connects to many rooms and is used every day.”
– Charlene Threatful
As a designer, I always find it hard to choose my favourite room because each space is unique, and after 25 years of living in my home, each room has special memories associated with it. However, one of my favourite spaces is the front entry. It’s not a room per se, but it connects to many rooms and is used every day. It is the first space you see when you enter and the last you see when you leave, so it needs to be inviting, personal and set the tone for the rest of the home.I have beautiful rose bushes in the front garden and I love having cuttings on the front entry table to greet guests and provide a transition from the outdoors.
![4 Architect David Small's Great Room](https://wahi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/4.jpg)
Calgary designer Charlene Threatful’s favourite room in her home is her foyer, the first room you see when you enter her home and the last you see when you leave it.
I was inspired to create a space that spoke to the other elements in the rooms adjacent to the front entry. The custom wool carpet is meant to fade away and stands up to the elements that our family and guests bestow upon it. I used a warm gold metal front entry table to tie in the dining room lighting and my front office finishes. I also wanted something unexpected and achieved that with the animal print carpet running up the stairs. I [added] colour [through] the artwork, which I easily change out every few years. I also love to collect items from my travels, and those can be seen throughout the space.
![3 Architect David Small's Great Room](https://wahi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/3.jpg)
Threatful enjoys collecting items from her travels and placing them in her entrance way and throughout her home. The bronze statue in the stairwell is from a trip to Africa.
The most challenging aspect of this space is the fact that you see the powder room, my home office, the staircase, the formal dining room, and all the way to the back of the house out to the backyard. Making it speak to all those other spaces and pulling elements from all of those rooms was the most challenging. It would have been easy to keep it neutral and without color, but I wanted it to reflect my personal sense of style. I also wanted it to be interesting and draw visitors in.
The second challenge was the size of the space. There is not a lot of room to make an impact, so scale was important in selecting furniture, specifically the entry table, ottoman (which is a necessity for elderly guests) and accessories. The small space between the upper and lower staircase was also a challenge in that there were so many elements in that space that the large planter made the most sense, and I changed out the plantings seasonally.
![1 Architect David Small's Great Room](https://wahi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1.jpg)
Threatful designed an entranceway that pulled elements from all of the rooms adjacent to it carefully choosing furniture and objects that worked with the size of the space.
![Frame 7115](https://wahi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Frame-7115.png)
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One of my favourite features of the front entry is the lighting. I like to mix styles, and the hanging light is more modern in style but I love the Swarovski crystals that line the bottom of the light, making it sparkle when lit. It also looks amazing when dimmed as it emits a really warm light but the crystals still sparkle. It’s feminine and modern at the same time. The brass lamp with the black linen shade is another lighting element that I love. I have had it for many years and have moved it around my entire home. It now has a new home on my front entry table. It provides a warm glow and is always on when my kids are out and I know they will be home well after I’ve gone to bed! It gives them just enough light to navigate the space in the dark.
![2 David Small's "The Last House"](https://wahi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2.jpg)
A warm gold metal front entry table ties in the dining room lighting and the front office finishes. Cuttings from Threatful’s rose bushes sit in a small vase next to a Hermès box she purchased during a trip to New York City.
There are too many to describe! [One of my favourite moments was] bringing home my two daughters from the hospital after they were born. Another is leaving the front door open so that when my kids were little I could keep an eye on them while they played with the neighborhood kids. And, of course, greeting family and friends in the space throughout the years.
![](https://wahi.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screen-Shot-2022-11-02-at-7.46.57-PM.png)
Kristin Doucet
Wahi Managing Editor
Photos: Marcia Rothfield Photography
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