BEFORE
& AFTER
Our front entryway sets the stage for the rest of the house. We made a lot of changes that helped to open up the space and bring more natural light into the home. Before our renovation, we had a single door with side light windows. When you walked through the door, you immediately saw a wall and to the right was our living room. The wall directly in front was an oversized coat closet that got minimal use. On the left side was a door to our master bedroom, which caused our staircase to be very narrow and closed off.
We ultimately decided, that to open the space up and create a much better flow to the house, the master bedroom needed to be moved upstairs (which we will cover in a later blog post). Since we moved the master bedroom upstairs, we decided to knock out a large portion of the former master bedroom wall and door. This essentially created a study area on the left side of the house. On the right side of the entry way, we opened up the case opening leading into the living room (which is now a sitting room – see the past post on this phase of the renovation here!). As for the coat closet that took up a large portion of the entryway, we reduced the size to about 1/4 of what it was previously. This really opened up the space and created more of foyer than we had before. With the increased space, our builder (Steven West Custom Homes) suggested that we tray the ceiling to really create some openness and increase the ceiling height. We are so happy we did this. It totally changed the entryway and created a more updated look to the house.
Our Pottery Barn flush mount light fixture goes perfectly in our entryway. It is $299 and free shipping with the code SUNSHINE. My Vintage Grey and Ivory Area Rug works wonderfully in this space as well. It comes in several different colors and sizes. This one hides dirt and doesn’t shed, so I love it! I have the 3′ X 5′ in grey/ivory and it is currently on sale for $32 and ships Prime! Our closet door is from the clearance section at Home Depot. It was originally $100, and we got it for $20 since it had a few scratches. I just painted it the same color as our trim and added a fun door knob to accent it. My goal is to eventually find an antique door to go here, but sometimes the perfect antique door takes some time to find! As you walk through the entryway towards our dining room, there is a small hallway. This area is currently decorated with my favorite World Market Foyer table and three reclaimed wood picture frames I got from Scott Antique Market. If you have never heard of Scott Antique Market, go check out our blog post on our dining room renovation for more details. I really want to redecorate this area, but I haven’t figured out exactly what I want to do with it just yet.
As for the front porch entry, we ended up creating a small gable (the previous roof line was completely flat across the whole porch). This was also a game changer in terms of the overall look of the house. This really opened up the front of our home and now allows in much more light than previously. We debated on whether to paint this new gable ceiling white, or create a stained wood accent ceiling (using Minwax Dark Walnut). We went with the wood accent and could not be happier with how it turned out. It looks beautiful with our bronzed Pottery Barn light fixture that is currently on sale for $349 plus free shipping with the code SUNSHINE. To finish this space off, we added oversized double doors and stained them the same color as the ceiling. As a side note, the wood for the doors and ceiling are different types. Different wood species absorb stain differently, so the stains do not appear to be the same color initially. By adding more or less coats of the stain, you can easily get the different wood types to appear very similar in color. We added a large door mat and two wood rocking chairs on either side of the doorway. I would also love to do some planters here eventually, but I am still on the lookout for some that work and are the right price.
Our house was built in 1992, but with these changes it looks like new construction. Like I have said it other home renovation posts, a lot of what I am showing you is just bones of the house and not truly decorated the way I envision it just yet! I definitely plan on taking you guys through the decorating process with me and showing you updates along the way!
I hope y’all enjoyed reading about our front entryway renovation! You can check out more pictures of our new entryway on the slideshow below. Please let me know if you have any questions! If you have checked out our other renovation posts already, I have linked them below!
Have a wonderful Saturday!
Slice of Paradise: Sitting Room
Slice of Paradise: Living Room Renovation
Slice of Paradise: Dining Room Renovation
Slice of Paradise: Kitchen Renovation
Slice of Paradise: Home Renovation Journey
♥ Ash
Leave a Reply