When was the last time you actually entered your house at the front door' Has it been awhile . . . maybe you need to take another look and see if it really is inviting. Take a look here for great tips and tricks to make any foyer a place of welcome.

Your entrance starts on the outside, so be sure to add a welcome mat, sturdy and generously sized, rubber backed if it is going to get wet (nothing worse than a rotting mat.)

Be sure to consider updating your door hardware and adding a kickplate, available in a variety of finishes. The kick plate protects the door from weather and wear.

Personalize your door with a door knocker that makes a statement, or perhaps you'd prefer artglass as an option.

Once inside be sure there is an attractive rug (not a bath mat, please!). A console table or small chest is always a good idea for a place to set your keys, handbag, wallet or even the mail if needed. Be sure to include creative storage for these. For example a basket for mail and a small bowl for keys.

Add a lamp for a cozy effect, size will depend on the table or chest. Often a plant in one corner gives real life to a space, be sure it is either a well designed silk, or healthy live greenery.

If you have the space you can add an umbrella stand, especially great on foul weather days, and in a pinch you can have a coat rack. Most of us have out coat closets too loaded to allow anyone else to hang one, this solves that dilemma!

Perhaps you have a staircase nearby and adding a bench is a good look as well as functional, it doubles as a place to stash whatever you bring in, or change shoes coming in or out.

Check your overhead lighting, is it too dim, out of date, too small' All of these can be fixed by a quick update or addition of higher wattage bulbs.

Be sure to include artwork that suits the rest of the house, and your personal style. Remember this is everyone's first impression and you only get once chance. MAKE IT COUNT!!

Melissa Galt

Defining Melissa Galt is like capturing wind in a glass box. She is fascinating like her famous mother, the late Academy Award winning actress Anne Baxter, innovative like her great grandfather, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and has an innate sense of style like her well known godmother, Hollywood costumer, Edith Head. But she has made a name for herself as owner of Linea Interior Design, without borrowing on the glory of her gene pool.

Recently renaming her company, Melissa Galt, Inc. Melissa works with lifestyle design clients throughout the Southeast. Focusing on the tastes and desires of each client, she creates interiors that are a seamless mix of old and new, crafted to be a comfortable, collected environment that works with the client?s life style.

Originally from the West Coast, Melissa received a Bachelor of Science degree in hotel administration from Cornell, and began her career in the hospitality industry. She quickly rose in the industry moving from one large hotel to another, ending up at Callaway Gardens in Columbus. Frustrated with the lack of creativity, she decided to pursue a design degree at Southern Institute in Birmingham before moving to Atlanta in 1992 to launch her design career.

Having taught adults for over a decade at Evening at Emory, she is now addressing audiences nationally on how to use design as the catalyst for ?creating the life you?ve always dreamed of?.