Martha Stewart’s Entryway Idea Revives an Age-Old Technique
America’s favorite TV personality Martha Stewart has been influencing how we style and dress our homes for decades. Her simple yet impactful hallway is no exception.
Rooms such as halls, foyers, and entrances are often overlooked when it comes to creating statement designs. Yet they can be the perfect places to experiment with bold colors, patterns, or, in Martha’s case, a striking ‘ancient’ vignette that her gardeners have curated using elements from her own backyard.
An entryway is one of the home’s main connections to the outdoors, so enhancing this relationship with planting can create a unique indoor-outdoor effect, bringing the beauty of nature’s verdant palette inside.
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‘Bringing elements of the garden into our homes is a wonderful way to blur the boundaries between indoors and out,’ says Rachel Bull, Head of Gardens at Homes & Gardens. ‘Using natural materials, foliage and living plants in unexpected places can give an entryway a sense of character and make it feel connected to the wider landscape.’
As shown here, faux bois – meaning ‘false wood’ in French – is an artistic imitation of wood, traditionally created using materials such as concrete. In the hallway of Martha Stewart’s Maine home, an intricate display of preserved moss, available on Amazon, and seedling evergreens from Martha’s own forest garden bring the piece to life. The simple vignette beautifully complements its classic timber surroundings, strengthening the connection with nature.
‘I first became enamored with faux bois when I purchased Skylands, my home in Maine,’ says Martha Stewart on her eponymous blog. She commissioned San Antonio, Texas-based artist Carlos Cortés to create several large faux bois concrete tables for her home, and became equally captivated by the idea of recreating the look at her Bedford home.
Carlos uses simple materials, including concrete, steel wire, and rebar, alongside rudimentary tools such as sticks, coarse brushes, and rough abrasives. The result is an intricate, highly tactile finish rooted in a traditional technique passed down through generations. Although the craft is relatively rare, it remains very much alive today. Fortunately, you can recreate the faux bois aesthetic at home without quite so much effort.
Designing an entryway or hall should be given as much thought and attention to detail as any other area of the home. ‘One-off unique pieces create interest in an otherwise minimal entrance,’ notes Miami-based Interior Designer Natalia Miyar. ‘This is the perfect location to situate fascinating pieces of furniture or bespoke objects – the more unusual or decorative, the better.’
Your foyer makes a crucial first impression, so take inspiration from Martha’s approach to entryway furniture and vignette ideas to create a look that will leave a lasting impression on guests.
Like many decorative and artistic techniques, faux bois enjoyed immense popularity during the Renaissance, when artisans used it to create convincing imitations of natural materials. Part of its appeal lies in its ability to play with the senses, warping perspectives and challenging our perception of what is real.
The broader tradition of illusionistic art, also known as trompe-l’œil, was an important feature of historic interiors. While much of it was pictorial and allegorical, the technique could also be wonderfully playful, with elements such as faux doorways and architectural details created through paint techniques designed to imitate wood, stone, and other materials.
Today, that same sense of illusion can bring character to even the smallest entryway. By combining a sculptural faux bois piece with moss, evergreens or other natural elements, you can create a memorable focal point that blurs the boundary between the garden and the home – just as Martha Stewart has done.
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