The Entry Way…
As females, nesting is built into our DNA. We’re supposed to fluff and feather and gather all of the pretty things around us to make a home. But, you can easily go over budget on this stuff.
Welcome back to our One Piece Makeover Series, and we’re taking a look at the entry way…
This is not about a total room re-do-wallet kill, but finding that singular item that you love, and placing it in your room for immediate gratification and style. When you walk into your room or space for a quicklook, it should have in it the things that just make you feel good! Over time, you can add more and more singular items, allowing time for budgeting, and then your room shapes and evolves, which is more fun anyway!
The entryway is where you make that first quicklook impression. It’s all about you and your personality, and there are no design rules. You should make your entryway represent you with your own unique statement, and incorporate items that you already have.
Here, we’ll bring together all of our previous One Piece Makeover ideas, and walk through a variety of styles to spark your imagination for your ultimate home entrance entryway potential…
Remember Becky Jane’s Blue and White Willow Ware Vase one piece inspiration and interview? How about taking that Blue and White theme to your entryway?…
Painting a wall is about the easiest, single thing you can do for a room or space, and you don’t have to necessarily paint the whole wall a color of your choice, if you don’t like the blue, but you could just paint an accenting frame for your artwork, or like in this photo, paint behind your hanging tapestry, rug, or maybe your treasured, heirloom quilt?
This Blue themed scene is quite evolved, but you can see that you might already have the key ingredients in your possession, like your favorite vase or pottery, a chair and some kind of textile. You only need your paint color to bring it all together for that perfect quicklook impact.
One of the most important pieces you can have in your entryway, and for more of a traditional design is some kind of console surface, like this handcrafted Ebony Balustrade…
A console item gives you the anchor for the room, like a starter base to create your finished picture of style. You can build from your base item…adding your singular pieces over time. Take a look at how you can really combine an eclectic look, that is all your own with your favorite items, and the trick here is to balance each color across the whole space…
The color theme in the room stays neutral…blending black, dark browns, tans and greys with stone and cream. You wouldn’t think you could throw so many things together like this, but look at how it all balances and is anchored by the console table. That dark color is picked up on the other side of the door in the picture frames, as well as above the door with the buffalo head, the dish on the front pedestal table, and the iron sphere sculptures on the floor. The caramel brown is spread throughout, with the basket, birdcage and straw hats, and the accenting greens pop through the whole setting. A quicklook of this room speaks style, character and calm.
What I love about this entry way, is that it is so personal, layered perfectly, and surprisingly settling for displaying so many items. You might have things in your house already, that you could bring together like this. You don’t have to follow this theme exactly, but draw from the basic premise of color balance, and refer to our previous finds from our Wall Art post…no dead animals there;)
Another option for your entryway anchoring piece could be something old and handed down, but just spruced up with an unexpected paint job…
Talk about personality! A Union Jack Dresser is not for everybody, but imagine your old chest from grandma painted in a single bright color, or striped with black and white, or maybe a big, gorgeous flower on it? Let your imagination run wild on a simple piece of furniture paint job, and voila…what an entry way!
Too wild on a quicklook? Calm it down, but keep the personality…
We’re feeling steadied and relaxed by the combination of reflecting surfaces, grass wallpaper and neutral colors. At the same time, excited by the collection of unique personal items. The surface and underneath area of your anchoring table is a great display frame for any of your favorite items. Adding a single stool is not only aesthetically pleasing, but functions as extra seating anywhere you need it in your home.
You could also tuck under a couple stools or ottomans for more seating, like this Ipanema Gourmet Coffee Sack one…
Just an anchoring surface, a couple stools or ottomans, and a mirror or painting on top, and you have an entry way quicklook statement. Place a vase of flowers, branches from your backyard, or flank your centerpiece with a couple lamps, and your look is even more developed.
Lamps, like shoes for me are my favorite accessories in my home, and again, you can take a lamp you already have and transform it just by changing the shade. This is a great little shop on Etsy that offers Custom Lampshade Slipcovers…
Affordably slipcover your existing lampshade from Amethyst Peacock above to Stained Glass below…
Or anything you want! There are so many gorgeous shades and looks for your home you can make and custom design from scratch, like this Navy Trellis Style from LampShadeDesigns…
Now that you have so many singular piece ideas in front of you for your entry way, you want to bring them all together in a way that represents who you are in your home. Since the entrance of your home is the perfect display space, this is where you should bring in all of that family artwork. Remember the photo collage and kid’s artwork idea from our Wall Art suggestions? Why not make that front and center, and it can be quite simple really…
A collage of family photos with a simple bench–is this not quicklook perfectly fitting and stylish?! And an old bench can be re-upholstered to any style you wish, or just add some pillows.
Here’s another clean and simple, yet sophisticated artwork and bench setting for your entry way–a mix of old and new…
Now, just imagine that artwork being your kid’s, or why not try a fun family project of painting your own modern works? Get some canvas and some paints…go outside, and splash it on like your own Jackson Pollock.
Your entry way is your place and space for your authentic style to shine through in your home. Seeded by that one select quicklook item, from a blue wall, to your family artwork masterpiece…An entry way one piece makeover is yours to make!
~Courtney
Photos from old issues of Elle Decor, Western Interiors and Domino Magazines