Entryway makeover

When we first moved in, none of our existing entryway furniture worked well in this house with its odd contemporary angles. We temporarily used a cheap bookcase to hold our mittens for the winter but the unfinished entryway bothered me because it gives the first impression of a home. So I came up with a "plan." I like to sketch out my plans on dotted graph paper to be sure the furniture and pieces I like will fit together and to help me think about and decide what will and won't work before I buy or build anything. Here was my entryway idea:


The plan...


and the current result.

I think it turned out very well. I painted the wall in Divine White (Sherwin Williams) then added a matching set to the mix - a bookcase to hold our hats, mail and other indoor/outdoor items and a cabinet to hold my gardening and craft books, photo albums, and stationery. The bench is great for taking our Wellies, sneakers or snow boots off and I like the way the red in my grandmother's rug is picked up in the accent pieces. The bench is not part of a set but the nice thing about black furniture is that there's not much variation in "black" so you can mix and match and pick up vintage items. I may change the fabric bins eventually but these are the ones we used before so they are doing the job for now.


My "catch-all" bowl to hide the little odds and ends that inevitably accumulate when you have children and a full life. Looks great with the rug and adds a small Asian touch to it all. I love Asian art. I found this item on my favorite handmade and vintage web store, etsy.


Three-quarters of the chalkboard came from the dump - a wooden window pane. The back is a thin sheet of plywood with two layers of the chalk paint. I love this color - Colonial red from RustOleum's American Accents. Makes me want to paint the front door the same color! I might add some hooks along the left side of the chalkboard for our keys.