Ding Dong, the Entry is DONE!!!

...well, not all the way done. We still need to add crown molding, find a new light, and (eventually) change the front door, ...and decide whether or not to paint or re-stain the closet door, but for all intensive purposes, this project is done!

 Even Zizou likes it:

...or maybe he just wants to go outside.

Here is a closeup of the bench that I made. Want to see how I made it?! You can check that out here.

And now I have a nice spot to kick off those Sperrys.

Here's a closeup of the picture shelf.

Remember this frame? Now he has a home.

And here is a close-up of all the knobs. Don't mind the white paint on the back wall. That will get fixed once the crown molding goes up. I'm beginning to understand the phrase "housework is never done".

I still can't believe how different it is when you walk in the door. I'd say much more welcoming than the original wood paneling. Since the last post, I have sanded, painted and retouched the shelving and bench, installed the transition strip under the bench, and added some color with the frames, pillows and bench cushion. Over time and over many shopping trips to Target, Ikea, Home Goods, etc., we will find more pillows, rugs, and trinkets for the picture shelf to bring some more color into the space, but for now, I am SOOOO much happier when I first walk in the door. And I did it all myself! I can hardly believe it. :)

Until next time...

Entryway Makeover - The Plan! Muahaha...

That was my evil plan laugh if you couldn't tell.

Anyway, back on track. Nabil and I have been in our house for a little over six months now, but it feels like we are still moving in. We haven't had the chance to do as much with the place as we would have liked so far. A very leaky roof and a lack of furniture to fill the place have made our to-do list projects a little cost prohibitive, but this winter we started working on our first room. This being one of our first house projects, we needed to start with a small room that we felt confident tackling and not getting overwhelmed mid-project.

Enter entry-way. If you can't remember, when we first moved in, it looked like this:
Note: This is the view looking at the entryway from the living room. The front door is on the left wall of the entryway.

Hate, hate, hate! I don't think that you can really get more out of date than wood paneling. And bookshelves in an entryway? Really?! I'm sure that they were meant to house picture frames, because I can't imagine who would want to store their books by the front door, but I would like my entry way to be a bit more functional. So what are the new plans you may be asking? Firstly, tear out those shelves and add in a little more light with paint.

I stupidly forgot to take a picture of the room right after I painted and before I took out the bookshelf, so here is my pre/post primer photo from Instagram. It's crazy how much paint can change a room.

As I tend to do, I got a random twinge of motivation just before we had a dozen people over for Thanksgiving. Less than a week before everyone arrived, we primed and painted the wood paneling a lovely shade a gray (Ozark Shadows by Benjamin Moore). I may have been a little crazy for starting the project and organizing dinner within the same week, but I desperately wanted the color to be at least a little more inviting when the guests arrived, and literally the day that they all left (less than 15 min after to be precise), I grabbed our new crowbar and tore out the hated bookshelves.  Soon after I realized that the pesky jut in the wall was actually part of the addition and I couldn't make the back wall flush like I originally planned, so onto plan B.

On Pinterest, I found this photo for my inspiration:

Side note: I would normally site the source here, but the link only lead me to a url with just the picture. What a shame.
I knew that I wanted a lot of the things that this entry had: a bench for putting on and taking off shoes, hooks for jackets, and a picture shelf for a little aesthetic appeal. The only thing it is missing is a place to put your shoes once they're off.

Here is the to-do list for the entry-way:
- tear out the bookshelf
- take out the paneling below where the picture shelf is going to be and add another texture to separate from the rest of the paneling.
- build a picture shelf to span the length of the back wall
- incorporate hooks for hanging coats/purses
- build a bench to go in the wall "nook" with a place for shoes underneath
- replace all the outdated trim and add crown molding
- replace the light fixture with something a little more modern
- replace the front door (eventually! Realistically, this is probably a few years down the line)

More entryway progress to come soon. Until next time...