Entryway Makeover with Hanging Wall Planters

 The wall behind our front door has been long overdue for a makeover. Like, it was really bothering me every time I looked at it. The color scheme in our house has gradually been transitioning to a lot of aqua accent colors, so this green/orange/purple combo just wasn't working anymore. And in general I just get bored of things and am always looking for an excuse to make a change.

Step One was to refinish the console table with chalk paint and dark wax, which you can read more about here. As you can see I also did some "shopping" around the house and found some beach-themed decor for the table.

Step Two was finding something to replace the three medallion mirrors. I knew I wanted to incorporate plants somehow (either real or faux), so I began searching Amazon for hanging wall planters. After too much time spent deliberating between all the options and styles, I finally decided to get these unique white ceramic flower planters.

Well, that meant I had to find something to hang them on, as a regular nail wouldn't do the trick. But I also didn't want a big bulky hook. Hello again, Amazon. Another search led me to these gold decorative wall hangers. (They also came with anchors and screws.) I was pleasantly surprised with the quality once they arrived. It was a set of four, even though only three were needed for my purposes.

 

After enlisting hubby's help with installing the hooks, the planters were ready to hang! 

As I'd hoped, the three planters fill out this wall space perfectly. They're not too big, and not too small. The back side is also flat so they don't stick too far out from the wall which was an important consideration. I dig the leather strap and brass screws, don't you?

Surprisingly my existing craft stash didn't include any flowers that worked well for these planters, so a quick trip to Hobby Lobby was in order. (I actually haven't been there in a very long time.) Luckily it happened to be the last day to get 50% off the floral category. Originally I thought I might get some succulents, but in the end I decided on three dahlia (?) stems for a very budget-friendly total of $12. Each large stem had three flowers on it, which I cut and arranged in the planters. Easy peasy.

You could get really creative with floral/succulent arrangements in these planters, but obviously I took the quickest and simplest route for immediate gratification. Also, in case you're wondering, there's no drainage hole in them. But according to the product description, adding a handful of small rocks and or charcoal to the bottom is an easy way to give excess water somewhere to go to prevent live plants from drowning.

Finally, the makeover is complete! All the pieces and parts came together quite nicely. Not only does it look more cohesive, it feels more sophisticated too. (As an added bonus, our front door wreath also ties in well) The overall cost for this entryway makeover was only about $50 for the planters, gold "hooks" and faux flowers. I purposely got flowers that will look appropriate year-round, but it would also be easy to switch them out for Christmas stems or other seasonal decor. Versatility is always a good thing in my book!

Console Table Chalk Paint Makeover - Quick & Easy!

What's a girl to do after she's painted all the things in her house? Start repainting, of course.

This little console table was a $25 thrift find several years ago. When I bought it, it was hunter green with a lighter oak stained top. I repainted it using a white latex paint and gloss finish, along with refinishing the top with a walnut stain. 

Recently I've gotten the itch to change up our entryway wall, so it was the perfect excuse to give this table another facelift. The white's fine and dandy, but I'm just bored with it. And since I've started using chalk paint pretty much exclusively on any cabinets and furniture, I knew this could be a pretty quick project. Mainly because chalk paint requires virtually no prep and dries quickly. So, after wiping the dust off the table, I just painted right over the existing gloss finish.

Normally for larger projects (like our kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets) I opt for the more pricey Annie Sloan chalk paint. But for this small table I just used Buttercream brand Teal Lagoon (because I still had about half a bottle after using it to refinish this small cabinet a couple years ago). It took two coats to get good coverage over the white.

Once the paint dried, I wiped on some clear wax since this that's supposed to help the dark wax apply more evenly. Then, I wiped on dark wax in sections, let it sit about 20 seconds, then wiped it off. The dark wax really tones down the bright paint and gives it an antiqued effect. With this Teal Lagoon color in particular, the wax also seems to bring out more green/aqua tone which I prefer.

Voila! Finished in one evening for immediate gratification, and it's just the look I was wanting. The table ties in nicely now with a few other pieces of "distressed aqua" furniture we have. It wouldn't take someone long after walking into our house to realize that this is one of my favorite colors.

Next I'm going to replace the circle medallion mirrors (another DIY project from way back when we had more of those colors in our decor) with three white wall planters that I just bought off Amazon. Stay tuned for the next phase of this little entryway makeover!

Gray Matters: A Gray Paint Transformation (Part II)

So it occurred to me that I teased about my new gray paint job way back in November, and then never blogged about it again. Whoops. Bad blogger, bad! I'm sure you were all losing sleep over it, right? Not to worry, my friends. Seven months later, here is the full reveal!

You can visit Part I to see the 'before' pictures, but here's a little collage as a quick reminder. Our walls used to be a very warm beige (almost gold?), with a dark reddish hallway and stairwell. Those were the colors the interior was painted when we bought the house as the first owners. 

Ten gallons of paint later, the transformation was complete. I loved it then, and I'm still really happy with it. It feels fresh, modern, and airy. Because I've already drug this out long enough, here are the after pictures!

When one door opens...

For quite some time now, we’ve talked about installing a screen door on our front porch. We only have one operable north window in our house, so it would be nice to be able to open up the front door and let in a breeze every once in awhile. On the other hand, it would also provide more insulation, since our front door alone is a little drafty when cold winds blow during the winter.

And after taking notice lately of all the screen/storm doors in our neighborhood, I was really starting to get door envy. A couple weeks ago, we finally turned our talk into action. I had already done some research and decided that the Larson Lakeview storm door was the way to go. This particular model (Screen-Away) has a retractable screen that rolls up into the frame, so you can choose whether or not you want the screen open. Genius!

Menard’s happened to be having a sale on storm doors, so we got the 36" Lakeview for $268 ($30 off the regular price). We chose white with aged bronze hardware, to coordinate with our existing trim and hardware.

Having never done this before, we didn’t really know how long it would take to install the door, but figured at least a couple of hours. Even though it claimed to have “Easy-Hang Installation,” I wasn’t going to be too optimistic.

Although I have to admit, my heart sunk a little when we opened the packaging and saw all the pieces and parts that we had to put together first. I had foolishly hoped the door would be ready to hang right out of the box. But since it was made to be either right-hinge or left-hinge, we had to assemble the hinges and hardware ourselves.

It took awhile to drill all the holes for the screws we needed, but the instructions were pretty easy to follow (and in color, too!). And I have to say that the hinge rail did allow for easy hanging onto the door frame, once we reached that part.

Here is proof that I did more than just take pictures the whole time.

Following the instructions for the hardware was a little more tricky, but we figured it out. The scariest part (for me) was drilling the ½” and ¾” holes into the metal frame. All we had were paddle bits made only for wood, but Luke went ahead and used them and they still cut through the metal (even though it made some awful noises).

Once the hardware was installed, we had to put up the latch rail and mortise on the other side of the door frame, so the door could close and lock properly. And it did! Woo-hoo!

Not quite done yet... We still had to install the bottom of the door, which was adjustable based on how much space you need to the sill.

FINALLY, we had to add the top and bottom closers. With the turn of a screw, they allow you to adjust how slowly the door closes.

All in all, it took about 5 hours from opening up the box to finishing the installation. Okay, so a little longer than we had planned… good thing we started early in the morning. But we really didn’t come across any major setbacks during the process, which is pretty amazing. (Well, except for when Dudley almost swallowed a tiny O-ring that was crucial for the closer installation.)

I’m so glad we have a storm door now, and I think it looks pretty good. It’s been great being able to let more natural light in, and we were even able to open up the screen a few times last month. But when Old Man Winter gets here, the door has heavy-duty weatherstripping to help keep that cold air out. There's also a deadbolt, which is a nice added security feature.

Oh, and I'm not the only one who loves it:

Which means I’ll probably be cleaning the glass every day now to keep up with their snout smudges. Oh well, still worth it!

Do you see it?

After my long search for a small console table for the short wall behind our front door (wow, that was a lot of adjectives), I finally found one.

Ok, so it’s not the ideal table I originally had in mind – I’m not really into the traditional style and the hunter green paint – but it’s about the right size for this wall. It even has a little drawer. I wasn't actively searching for a table, and I unexpectedly found this one at a vintage/antique shop for $25. At that price, I still have some room in the budget to fix it up to match my style more. I’m feeling up to the challenge. (Paint it? Strip it and stain it? I haven’t decided yet.) After all, I'd like to think that my furniture makeover for our guest room turned out pretty well.

So what do you think? Do you see the potential too?

I need some console-ation, please

If there's one area of our house that has really provided some design challenges for me, it would be our front entryway. I don't even really know what to call this space. Calling it an actual room seems generous. It's just the space that people walk through to get from the dining room to the living room or the hallway. The layout is just weird to me... It's not a very functional use of space at all, and I just haven't figured out how to bring out its full potential.

 

I think the space in front of the picture window is technically a "formal dining room" because of the placement of the light fixture (which the builders put there). But if so, it's pretty small and impractical.

  
 Well anyway... for now I'll focus on just one corner of this "room"  -- the wall behind the door. It was just a few months ago that we finally hung up a picture there so it wouldn't look so empty. That helped a little, but it still seems barren to me.

I think that a small console table could be the solution for this space. And it would also give me more shelf space to display pretty things.  :)  I've been looking around for the perfect one, but haven't quite found the right combination of looks, size, and price.

Adams Console Table from Target - $125.99

A little bit too long and deep, but close to something that I'd want.

Anywhere Console Table from Pier 1 - $199.95

This has a different look with the drawers in the middle, but I think I really like it! Alas, I am too much of a cheapskate to spend this much.

The good news is, my husband is pretty handy with power tools and has built a couple pieces of furniture for us before (I'll save those for another post). He's offered to build a console table for me if I figure out all the dimensions and what I want it to look like. And considering that we already have some wood on hand, it would hopefully be an affordable project. The only drawback is it could take awhile because Luke has a lot of other stuff keeping him busy, too. So I wouldn't get the immediate gratification of just going out and buying something, but I suppose it's worth the trade-off! 

I know that I'd like it to have a simple, clean design -- nothing too ornate or heavy (I don't want to add to the production time!). A drawer or two would be nice, and possibly another shelf at the bottom. And maybe it should be taller than it is wide, so as not to block the sidelight. The other piece of furniture we have in this "room" (on the opposite wall) is black with a rubbed, antique-looking finish -- so a console table should probably match that?? 

What do you think? Have you seen any fab console tables lately that I could use for inspiration? Or maybe you have another idea altogether for this space, in which case, lemme hear it!

It might be awhile, but I'll be sure to update you on what we end up doing! (Will Luke actually build a console table? Will I get frustrated and impatient and just end up shelling out the $$ for one at the store? Or will I find a piece with potential on craigslist? Stay tuned...)