Room by Room....The Entryway

Today Cottage and Vine is hosting her Room by Room party, and today's room is the entryway!

 

It finally gave me the push I needed to get off of my duff and paint those front doors.  I had been staring at very badly treated builder's doors - dings, scratches ...not to mention it was white and showed every little boy fingerprint they could leave behind.

This is what I started with...kind of boring, right?

    and then i became obsessed with red interior doors thanks to Sarah's Farmhouse.  This is what, 3years old now and i'm still loving it.
 

And, I fell in love with this shelf and coat rack too, so V built me one when i couldn't find one the right scale for the wall.  Heather Chadduck love.

And here is where we are now.  I found out that when you paint a dark color, it is kind of hard to photgraph...

I had to turn on every light to get a pic, and it's making the front door have this weird sheen. It doesn't look like that in real life thank goodness.

These pics still crack me up.  The one the left is my paternal grandmother at 14, holding her chicken and her cat.  I have got to find a way to turn that into a Christmas card - I just need a good quote or comment to go with it.

The first on the right is my mom when she was 17 laying out in the sun, and the last one is my maternal grandmother and grandfather a few days before they got married.  Love that pic.

I had to come up with a way to get these things to stay up - so hook and loop to the rescue. Otherwise, every time those boys slammed the door, they would hit the floor.

Well, there you have it.  I still need a great rug.  And i'm looking for a very worn bend - small, no back, to go against the half wall on the left, and the elusive rug.  I've tried several - only to realize that i loved the first one i had and I should have kept it.  Now it's gone. Poop.

Guess what I'm finally doing?

    Yep.  That's gray primer you see.....on my interior front doors....

    Now....what color do you think i'm going with?

    Come back on Monday to find out!

Keep or Take Back?

Help - have i lost my mind on this?

It's not what i would normally gravitate to but I saw it and I fell.in.love.  But you know, we all can fall in love for the wrong reasons. But oh, i heart it so....

Remember my inspiration pic?  Have I strayed too far?

 I mean, it's not stripes.  I haven't painted my door yet either.  Is it too... contemporary? It does have it's issues too - like the door won't clear the darn rug.  The bottom sweep on the door would have to be cut.  That is irritating me.
 

 But it makes me happy just to look at it.  Stupid i know, but it's a happy rug, what can i say - small things people.  And you can't tell from this awful lighting but it looks gorgeous against the wall color, and it has a great olive color that the living room rug works with....

 

 And i AM going for a cottage feel....and Pottery Barn did use a similar rug in this bedroom that I've been carrying around for ages....

And then here's another but....we aren't getting rid of this rug anytime soon - like years...and my house has no walls so everything flows from one room to another - so am i jumping too many styles here in too short a space?  Like when you're at the piano (pic above) - you're looking at this to your right  (below)

So...that's my dilemma....should i just start over?

entryway pics take 2

For whatever reason, my pictures disappeared after a few days...so here they are again :)  You'll have to take my word for it that it looks much chunkier in real life.  And it fills out the wall quite nicely.

Here she is...up closer.

  

Still working on the black door, the rug, etc..

New Entry Pictures - A Work In Progress

Is it just me? Am I the only person who looks around and finds the HARDEST way to do a project?  

It's been a pain in the youknowwhat.  

Couldn't find a ledge to fill the expanse of the wall.
Dear man tells me - "I'll build it".
Sarah paints it.
Found hooks.  Too tall.
Found new hooks.  Too big. (But ohmyword so very pretty. cry.)
Found New new hooks.  Too twisty. Yes, twisty.
Found the RIGHT hooks. Didn't come with screws.
Found screws - TOO BIG FOR HOLES AND THE WERE THE SMALLEST LOWES AND HD HAD IN BLACK.  Yes, my typing DOES indicate i lost it right.about.here.
Wonderful man bores existing holes to make them larger because wife is crazy.
Hang ledge. Top is flush.  Bottom half is surfing out into the foyer. That's not gonna work.
Wonderful, now irritated man, takes down ledge and shaves top half to be equal with bottom so entire ledge lays flush against wall.


All is well.  Until pictures fall off and smash to the floor.

    Isn't she pretty??? i heart her. 

 I need to rub a darker stain on the frames - but these were a deal so I picked them up - for $3 a piece at Sears a few weeks back.  Exactly what i wanted, just a tad too orange brown.

Also, i have picked the pictures out but they need to be printed out in black and white - i think color pics wouldn't look right...? 

He did awesome. I am so very proud of this sweet wonderful man that told me without any sighs "sure i'll build that for you." And he did.  And i absolutely love it.


Ignore that stack of boxes in the DR corner, and the broom.  I have some wrapping to do and for whatever blessed reason, the boys have not realized that some of their Christmas is right there, under their nose.  


I still need a rug.  
I would really like an antique, aged bench.  
And some roman blinds.
And the door still needs to be painted. I bought the paint - does that count?

Painted Door Inspiration

                      Home and Harmony

    sigh...Cote de Texas.

Yep. Convinced.

Linking to Vanessa's Inspiration Friday!

Coming along

It's funny.  I had this idea in my head about what i wanted my house to be.  In my mind it was very clear....i even played in this blog party about posting a pic that totally captured my style.  This was it.

I even had this same color in my master bath at my old house.  LOVE this color btw - my version was SW Ancient Marble and i think i'm putting it in my master bath again.

But i was finding it so hard to make so much of what we already had work with this.  Let me re-phrase that.  This room couldn't take all of our junk.  That's closer to the truth.  We have a lot of stuff. This room,...not so much.  And I can't see my son getting his markers and paper out in here and settling in.  I wouldn't be able to settle in and relax watching him do it. 

And this stuff is stuff that we can't part with.  So when we moved it got relegated to the garage because i had that stupid picture up there on the brain.  


And then i decided - out with that idea.  It doesn't work for us.  And i focused on inspiration that used old, or vintage, stuff.  Heather Chadduck.  Sarah Richardson (some times).  The blogosphere's own Holly Mathis. (Sidenote on Holly.  I actually contacted her for a consult and that very same day we found out that we were laying off people where i worked and i had to push away from that idea.  She's not expensive - i'm just trying to be frugal in case of who knows what. BUT I HEART HOLLY.  and this isn't turning into HM post - but i've been  stalking her style for a very long time).

OK - back to this.  

So, Sunday, with an extra hour on our hands -  Vance and i grabbed a cup of coffee and wandered into the jungle of the garage and took inventory of what needed to be brought back into the house. 


This is what found it's way back inside, in addition to 3 rugs.  I had no idea Vance had that telephone - which had to be hung up immediately since we both work in telecom.  Too appropriate NOT to display.  I love those prints on the left - they are so freakin dusty - still. haven't decided what to do with them yet.    The phrenological chart is in a vintage burlewood (sp?)  frame.  I wasn't going to hang it up and then i saw it in Country Living the other day and was like "hey - we have that!".   The pencil sketch is actually of the library at FSU that is name for Vance's dad.  He was published professor there that passed away when Vance was in high school. I think Vance said another faculty member did it - i'm not sure.  The pub mirror also came from Vance's mom and the chippy white frame came from a junk run that sarah and I did over the summer.  Not sure what to do with that.

We also put down those rugs - the blue one here came from Vance's mom's house.  Oh, and see those silver trays - have a great plan for those - they came from a couple of different places.

And we threw the green one that came from my old house in here for now.  Obviously, the cats like them.   I hung the pub mirror for now in the entry and i think i can talk V into making that coat rack ledge this weekend while Sarah's home (big hooray! on that - miss her around here) and we can hang that up under the mirror.  I want it to be big and chunky and allow for some leaning pics overlapping that mirror.

There is one more ginormous rug that we brought into the family room.  but i can't even think about that room until this one is done.  Yes, that's laundry on the couch. What? You don't ignore folding laundry in favor of decorating?

 

Now i need a rug (3x5) and i'm getting overwhelmed. Nothing seems right for the space.  I had a couple of ideas but it has to coordinate with that blue rug up there because you'll see all 3 rugs (entry, DR, LR) from the front door.  So it has to be cohesive, yet eclectic.  I don't know if i can pull it off.

It's hard enough with all these items being brought back in. I feel like i'm walking a fine line between "home" and living in Bennigans.

If you have ANY thoughts about the rugs - i'd love to hear them :)  Send pics please :):)

Finally a little fall decor.

***edited to add that I'm linking to Cottage and Vine's Falling Up Party***

I know.  I'm really behind the times.  Nester and her 31 days of baskets, i mean fall. If you're reading her, you'll get the joke behind the basket comment.  But I had a good reason. My camera crapped out and i struggled for a few weeks on whether to bite the bullet and buy the one i really wanted - because i really had a hard time choking down the cost.  But i also have a hard time replacing cameras every 3 years - and that's been the life span of my last 3 point and shoots so.... you know where this going, right? Let's just say i have pictures with this post today.

We have been really busy around here but a lot of what we've been busy doing doesn't warrant pictures.  Like, i know you really don't want to see the new enviro friendly flush system we installed on our toilet - so i'll spare you that.  Or the debris in the backyard from the oak tree V is in the middle of trimming.   Or the flooring that Vance installed in the attic so we could start putting boxes from our garage up there.  

Maybe i SHOULD show you - i would feel better thinking we are actually making progress here.  But those aren't the fun ones.  

Here are the fun ones :)

Remember when we took the first stab at the front door with paint, but i said there was more to come?  This is where it started originally...

and this is where we last left it...we hated those fake frosted panes from 1980.  Those had to go.  Vance wanted to just take a hacksaw to them and i was all like "sure...honey...." and worried that we would end up buying new doors after some botched murder job with a hacksaw.

And this is where we are today....and look....no door-icide....just pretty clear glass. Love that man.  

How do you like my Southern Living at Home baskets?  These are my absolute favorite accessory.  I stuff all kinds of things in there - the only thing is i need to put some felt on the back because they're already scratching up my paint and that's not gonna do.  

Here's a closer shot.  I love the frosted autumn fruit.

 I also did a little sprucing up on the inside and will do more this week...but this is good for starters.  I gave my candle a burlap snuggie and a fruit wrap.  Vance laughed. And then quickly said it looked awesome.  Smart man.

See that beautiful turquoise teapot? His mom sent that to us when Vance mentioned  i loved hot tea.  I love this piece.  I love the color, i love the bird on top. I just love it.  Very very pretty to me.  I think about her every time i sit down on the couch and see it - she's a very awesome woman and very talented writer. My mother gave us the serving tray last Christmas and it quickly became a favorite of mine as well - it's a great starter base for every season as well. Love me some neutral pieces that i can do a lot with.
 

That's it for now chickies.  More to come this week now that i have a camera and all ;0)