Foyer revamp

~Here are the before shots of the front entryway. The color was nice, but just too dark for this space. The closet doors worked well to hide clutter, but made the foyer feel small and cramped. The light fixture was tiny and barely lit the space on dark Alaskan winter days and nights. The Stone tile floors were keepers and are a lovely neutral shade, as well as being very easy to clean.


~My camera is taking shots that are flipped opposite of the way the area is, so bear with me as I explain the changes:) I painted the walls a tranquil light teal blue color and it instantly brightened up the area making it appear 2x as big!

~We replaced the small light fixture with an extra chandelier from the kitchen after we painted it a lobster orange/red. Adding a mirror, some artwork, plants and a hook for our dog, Chico's leashes were the finishing touches.

~After removing the doors and closet rod from the closet, B built a bench and I added metal storage bins underneath for all of our boots and shoes as well as a metal tool box . We added then painted and added metal corner pieces to add visual interest to the space. I still have plans to paint the inside of the closet apple green and B is going to replace the baseboard heat register with an updated version.

Garage Entrance/Staircase Landing and heat register

~This is the before of the stair landing/house entrance from the garage. This is right off the dining room and is a very high traffic area, so we knew we would have to put in some flooring that could handle all the dirt, mud and snow.
~ We chose to use stick on vinyl floor tiles from Lowes for the flooring not only because of the ease of use, but also because it would be easy to replace individual tiles if needed. We scrubbed the metal strips and transition pieces with steel wool to make them look like new. Installation was a breeze!
~I also needed a place to hang all my brooms, vacuums etc. We thought this wall was ideal because it was central to the main floor and basement as well as being out of the way. Hanging all the cleaning supplies freed up a lot of valuable closet space. B painted and put up wainscoting, painted trim to frame it and put up a strip of trim in the middle to prevent the hanging brooms etc. from damaging the wall. We had an old metal shelf with hooks that we installed directly above the entire area.


~The next step was to design and build an updated version of the typical baseboard register. The ones in this home are old and banged up, so B came up with a really cool design. This photo shows the baseboard heat register before......



~Here is the after photo. The most expensive part of this design was the metal inserts he cut to use as the front airflow piece. We are still searching out less expensive alternatives when we set out to replace the other baseboard heat registers in the future. This design looks gorgeous, takes up less space and really updates the home!

~Over all the changes we made to this area are not only pleasing to the eyes but also very functional. I realize that the color scheme is not for everyone, but our family loves bright happy colors. If we ever chose to sell the home, I would repaint this in a more neutral tone, but until then we are really enjoying it!