Entry Progress: A Bright Red Secretary

The entry on our parlor level is pretty small. There's a coat closet across from the powder bath and a teeny tiny little bump out next to the front door and that's about it. Here's what the space looked like on move in day.

Not pretty, I know. We've since had all the walls painted Farrow and Ball's Cabbage White, which is bright and fresh, and the doors were painted Pitch Black. We still need to do all the trim work in here, but we had the small floor boards painted BM Decorators White.

When I was trying to figure out how to best use this space, I sort of fell in love with the idea of a secretary (a really narrow one), so there would be a place to throw mail down, but we'd also have lots of hidden storage. The issue was finding a secretary that was less than 23" wide so that the door could open all the way. Not easy!

For a while we kept the vintage vanity desk from this post in this spot because it fit and it was a place to put things down (you can see it peeking out in this post), but I definitely was left wanting something taller with storage after a couple months of that. Then one day at an antiques store in the burbs, a vintage Thomasville beauty presented itself. It wasn't in perfect shape and the dated-looking fruitwood needed to be painted out, but the size was exactly perfect and the price was right at $175. (Especially compared to the inspiration pieces I was eying on 1st dibs! yikes!)

I knew I wanted to paint the secretary a fun color (aren't you surprised!?) because the entry is pretty bland and it needed some cheer. I went to Home Depot to get a color mixed and I stumbled across and ENTIRE GALLON of my beloved Safety Red, formally known to me as only-available-in-spray-can-form-Safety-Red. It's been a four year love affair, so I couldn't not try it, right? 

I expected it to smell as horrible as the other Rustoleum oil-based paints (like this one), but this paint smelled more like linseed oil and less like fumes. Sort of like the Ben Moore Advanced line. It had an interesting, very thick consistency too. The finish was great though (smooth as glass), so I can't complain.

You're probably wondering what happened to the glass here. I have plans to get mirror cut, but I decided to paint out the glass from the inside so no one could see the things I have stored inside. (it's a whole bunch of vases and it looks really sloppy). I'm not completely minding the white actually, but I think the mirror will help to brighten up the space. (I was going for this and this look.)

I'm really loving it and am just aching to get that moulding up now!

I did put down a small rug and that helped too (seen here formerly),

And I hung the peacock mirror on the wall next to the kitchen. I need to put art on the wall to the left of the kitchen though and I think that will help even more. 

But, it's progress! And just in time for holiday dinner parties (thank you so much for your votes, by the way! If you haven't had a chance to pop over, the $500 contest will go through the 23rd. xx)

PS A little tip about painting mirrors or cabinets with glass panes without using painter's tape.

The Garden Level Entry

Before we lived here, I didn't realize just how much we would end up using the garden level entry. I thought we would just leave from the main front door all the time. But down on the garden level, there's more a little more space and a full-size coat closet. Which means plenty of room for backpacks, scooters, helmets, ballet and soccer gear - all the stuff that accumulates around here easily. We're finding it's actually nice that we can have a more casual entrance for the family and a more formal entry for guests.

Now that I'm revisiting old photos from before we moved in, I can see why I assumed we would never use this entrance. It was literally blocked off from junk the bachelors kept in the hall. And somehow they had broken the closet doors and just sort of propped them up at an angle. :)

So now that this entrace has become basically our mudroom, I bumped it up on the decorating priority list. Just like with my office, I mostly wanted to use things that I had around the house already. And because it's a more casual space that guests won't often see, I thought it would be fun to just go a little crazy here - full on, uninhibited decorating. I'm not done yet, but we're making some headway, I think.

The wallpaper was purchased at a B&F sample sale a couple years ago (we used the larger scale pattern in my mom's kitchen) for just a few dollars a roll.

The blue enamel paint on the door was left over from the interior of Joanna's bedroom armoire. I'm so crazy about the color!

I recycled the hooks from the loft entry. After living a month or two without these, I realized how much the hooks help us keep clutter off the floors. As soon as we walk in, everything gets put up and away. No more searching for backpacks first thing in the morning!

I picked up the antique burlwood mirror at the flea market last year. It's a favorite of mine. It's sort of weird I guess to hang a mirror on the back side of a door, but I kinda like it. I hung it on the door using a screw, and then added picture hanging strips to the corners to give the frame extra stability when the door slams, etc. It's fun to have a little place to check your hair before you run out the door. I want to hang an art series on the left-hand wall, so this was a way to get a mirror without losing wall space.

There was this really bad, commercial grade red carpet in most of the garden level rooms. We pulled it all out right away (it was super gross). The floors underneath need a little love, but they're not that beat up.

I was so, so glad my new persian rug fit the hall space. I love the way the coral in the rug works with the green of the wallpaper.  It was 50% off(!) at eSaleRugs. They are having sales all the time so I make it a habit to pop over to the site every other week or two to see what's new, so I have a lot of rugs from them now. :) (remember my old kitchen runner?).

The benefit to the use-what-you-have decorating approach is it's really instant gratification. I love how fast I was able to throw this all together. After just a few hours of work, it feels like a somewhat-finished space. And I'll take finished-and-good-now over perfect-maybe-someday, any day of the week!

 

Umbrella Stands

I can't complain too much about the weather. It's been a lovely and so mild fall/early winter. We still have had a lot of rain lately and have been getting a lot of use out of our umbrella stand.

I monogrammed this one a year or two ago, but I feel ready for a change. Especially since I am picking out fabrics to reupholster that little settee I bought a while back. Our whole entry is going to get a facelift.

I'm not totally sure what I want to do with my umbrella stand (and part of me just wants to buy a new one (like this one maybe?), but I saw this big storage box thing at the flea market last weekend and I was totally drawn to the pattern! Black and cream and gold?! Love. I think I cold recreate this pattern on my old stand. It feels so Italian and chic and modern.

Here are some others I'm contemplating...

Do you have any favorites I missed? I really love a good umbrella stand. I think it is such a fun accessory for an entry, especially when filled with pretty umbrellas.

House Tour: Emily and Todd's Entry and Laundry Room

Hi friends! I hope you had a great weekend! We're wrapping up Todd and Emily's house tour today, starting with their entry (I'm still cracking up over their chalk board message) and laundry room (so bright and FUN!). Come back a little later today for their new play room. Enjoy!

The Entry

"We have a very small entry. As soon as you enter the front door, you can either go straight up the stairs, to the left and down the hallway to the kitchen, or to the right into the living room. All that would fit in our little entry was something small like a bench. I found a little antique spindle bench on CL for $80. It was originally painted black which we promptly changed to Martha Stewart Vintage Map (this color is from her old line of paint at Lowes, but ACE Hardware still had the codes in the computer).

"The peach pillow is Anthropologie from about 10 years ago. I found the beachcomber basket at Home Goods for $20! A similar one is at Pottery Barn for more than a $100. We use it for umbrellas and Parker’s baseball bats. We’ve gone back and forth on whether to add baskets under the bench but ultimately we decided that we like the shoes lined up, makes it look like a real home. Todd is probably just agreeing with me on this one because he’s sick of me bringing home baskets and storage containers. I have a slight obsession with both.

"Other than the hooks in our kitchen, we didn’t have any black and white in the house so I made this bench pad using a 3 inch black and white stripe material from Premier Prints. I recently bought some laminated fabric though to make a new pad cover because every time we use the chalk board, chalk dust falls all over the pad. I’ve washed it a couple of times and every time I do the cover gets looser and sloops. But seeing this laminated fabric makes me think that I may need to re-paint the bench all together.

"After seeing and loving Christina’s frame turned chalkboard, I set out to do the same. We found the antique mirror on CL and spray painted it white. Before painting the mirror with chalkboard paint we put on a coat of BIN primer.

"I LOVE our ceiling light! I'm all about vintage crystal lights, plus we needed something that didn’t hang down very far so it wouldn’t hit the door when it opened. This one was perfect.

"The banister and hand rail going up the stairs used to be that awful gold oak from the 90’s, but my sweet dad painted them with white oil paint so they match the rest of the trim. (Jenny here. I'm going to sneak in this photo Emily sent me right after a gallon of paint exploded all over her at the check out at Home Depot. The paint guy forgot to hammer down the lid after mixing! Eeps! :) You can also see the before in the background here)

"To the right of the front door, as you walk into the living room, is a little piece I bought at Home Goods.

"We were looking everywhere on CL and at the flea market to find a narrow piece with storage that could go in this spot. When I saw this at Home Goods it was perfect only it had painted flowers all over it.

"We painted it Benjamin Moore Wolf Gray and added bone white knobs from Anthropologie.

"I’ve had the hardest time decorating the top. Those darn light switches get in the way of everything. Thank you Jen for posting about framed butterflies. I got on ebay and found this set of small framed butterflies. The antique brass lamp is from my parents and the flower pot is from Home Goods.

Sources
Chalkboard: Frame found on CL, turned into chalkboard
Bench: CL
Bench cover: Fabric from Premier Prints
Pillow: Anthropologie
Basket: Home Goods
Vintage crystal light: ebay
Entry console: Home Goods, painted Benjamin Moore Wolf Gray
Knobs on entry console: Anthropologie
Books: Amazon
Framed butterflies: ebay
Flower pot: Home Goods
Blue milk glass dish: flea market
Antique brass lamp: gifted
Hydrangea’s: garden (all of the flowers in these posts have been from our garden)

On to the laundry room!!

"Funny story about this room. It’s probably TMI, but the night before I was going to paint this room Todd and I had a little tiff (I have no idea what it was about). Anyway, when I woke up in the morning he had painted the ceiling, taped everything off, and cut in all the lines. Basically, all I had to do was roll it. And he left me a sweet note on the wall.

"When it came to planning the laundry room we decided to go bold. I always want to use these kinds of colors but I usually chicken out. The laundry room seemed like the best place to have fun. The fabric on the roman shade is by Anna Maria Horner. To hide all of the storage above the washer and dryer I made two lined curtain panels, this fabric is Heather Bailey.

"We needed a place to hang clothes that couldn’t go in the dryer and to dry wet rags and dish towels before throwing them into the laundry basket. I love the drying racks at Ballards but we didn’t want to spend that much money. So Todd built this simple drying rack for about $5 and we painted it a shade lighter than the walls, though you can’t really tell. We opted to get the stands for the washer and dryer for extra storage which meant there isn’t really a surface area for setting clothes down while you switch out the loads. The hamper from Target fills that role. I originally wanted something like this but it was too big. I use the hamper for rags, dish towels, and bath towels, basically things that I don’t wash until we are out. It’s nice to hide them away in a covered hamper and since we dry them on the drying rack before putting in the hamper they don’t get stinky.

"My favorite part about this laundry room other than the color is the art. I first heard about Leslie Graff when Caitlin Creer blogged about her. I ordered a set of 5 post cards and framed my favorites in Target frames. I think she’s come out with a few more prints since we ordered these. These would be so fun in my future office/sewing room too.

"For the red light we bought a $10 brass light fixture from Habitat and spray painted it. The ironing board is mounted on the back of the door and a big linen closet is on the left just as you walk in. Someday I would love to tile this room.

Sources
Wall Color: Peacock Blue, Benjamin Moore
Hamper: Target
Art: Leslie Graff, frames from Target
Rug: Eatman’s Carpets, Raleigh, NC
Light fixture: Brass light from Habitat, spray painted red
Drying rack: homemade
Roman Shade fabric: Anna Maria Horner
Curtain fabric: Heather Bailey

New Settee

I was a busy little bee this weekend, running around trying to get ready for a client install this week. Saturday I stopped by the Chelsea Flea (which, did you hear? This is their last month in the parking garage? Beginning in September they move down a block to an outdoor lot and I'm not excited.) **UPDATE: The garage will continue to operate as a weekend flea market on a month to month basis going forward! Yay!**

Anyway, I found lots of art and accessories for the installation, but I also found this pretty little settee that I couldn't pass up.

Here's the back view. I love the little nail heads! They are super teeny and cute. Can you believe our luck in somehow getting a handicap accessible minivan cab? I wish that would work out for me every trip to the flea market! It was so easy to load in and out all of our finds!

I was hoping the settee would fit on the little wall next to my pantry, but it doesn't really. So I moved the entry console to the pantry wall and put the new settee in it's place. Now it's a perfect for putting on shoes.

(sorry for the nighttime photos...)

Isn't it so CUTE and so little?! I love the scale!!

The leather is in bad shape so I'll need to add it to the list of pieces to reupholster. Wouldn't tomato red linen look beautiful with the mahogany wood frame? I have some inspiration images in mind that I'll need to dig up to share. Also considering black and white stripes.

How was your weekend? Is it just me or is 2011 absolutely flying by?

--------------------
Today on Babble, I share an ingenious, budget-friendly idea for decorating your kitchen. Here's a hint: