The New House: The Entry

I'm very excited to start sharing pictures of our new house. Our house hunt was a challenging one, mostly because I am so picky, but also because the houses that we were looking at were either too updated (which of course wouldn't work for use because we want to tear everything apart and make it our own), or needed a total gut job (which, while tempting in theory, was actually too overwhelming and expensive for us to take on). We also needed s  p  a  c  e. And a good neighborhood. Those are the things that prompted the move in the first place. All of these factors led us to the house that we live in now. It has plenty of space, is in a great neighborhood, near great schools, and was an awesome price. But there's a reason it was an awesome price....it needs a lot of work. The house had been sitting on the market for a year, and I think it was purely because it is SO basic. Builder grade. Bare-boned. White walls, cheap fixtures, plain, plain, plain, unfinished. You get my drift, right?

BUT. This house was perfect for us. It gives us the ability to customize and change without the guilt and at the right price. Our house needs some love. And were are excited to give it just that.

One of my favorite things about our new house is the fairly long and wide entryway that greets you as you walk in the door. We didn't have one in our last house, and I am SO excited for our guests to have a space to walk into before they get to our living room. It's also great for running and racing cars on, too ;).

We also have a coat closet. One of  THREE additional closets around the house. Exciting.

These pictures (iPhone-sorry) distort the hallway a bit. It's a little longer than this is real life. It's the same length as our kitchen and half of our dining room, if that helps give you a better mental picture.

That little doorway there goes into the kitchen. 

Obviously, this space is pretty plain, but could use a lot of sprucing up. 

This is the view from the living room. You can see a bit of our laundry room, too. 

We have already painted the walls Camouflage by Benjamin Moore and have put down wood floors (like legit ones that we spent a pretty penny one, thankfully we got them on sale and I have a handy husband). But there is still much more to do...

First up, I want to change the lighting. I was thinking some sort of pretty chandeliers or pendants. There are two lights in the entry and they are about 8 or 9 feet apart, so I know I want something matching and something that isn't too big since there will be two of them.

I love the above picture for how clean it is and how much of a statement that pendant makes. I also love the natural texture of it, although I think that two of these so close together might be a little much for the size of our entryway. I think that this is the "feel" that I'm going for, though.

Another major change that I want to do SOON is on the front door. I can't wait to get rid of that storm door, but since that is the only light source and I'm a sucker for natural light, I really want to cut out a place for a glass insert in our existing door. I do have some privacy and security concerns with this, so I'm still looking at options, but I love the wide cut of glass on this door. Beautiful!

And this one...I'm also super tempted to paint the inside door black. I've been loving black lately, but I've never decorated with it in my home. I feel like it really anchors a room and adds a lot of bold depth. 

Going along with the bold note...I'm attempting to add more color to our new home. Nothing too crazy, just something different from the shades of blue, gray, and green that I normally use. (Although I do LOVE those colors, so who knows if I can really get away from them.)

I love the stripes in this hallway and the gallery wall. I don't think I'll do stripes for real, but I love how fun this picture looks and the pop of color with the chandelier.

I am doing a gallery wall, though, and I've already started quite the collection of large frames. Goodwill has been an awesome source for them (although they all need a paint job). I'm planning to put it on the left side of the hallway (in the picture view). My mom thinks that this level of asymmetry and clutter will drive me nuts, so we will see if this turns out to be a keeper or not.

I love the floor to ceiling look of this one...I don't know if I could swing it in real life, but it makes such a statement!

The last major thing I want to do is add some sort of console or table. I actually already put the buffet that Bryan and I painted a few month ago on the right side of the entry next to the kitchen doorway, but I really, really, really want to move that to the living room (I think it would be the perfect piece to hold our TV), and I absolutely love the idea of getting something with an open bottom to put some baskets or something else pretty underneath. 

I love how natural both of these pictures feel. I think I'm hooked on baskets underneath whatever table we end up getting because they would be wonderful toy storage. I'm all about pretty baskets for covering up ugly plastic toys. (Let's be real here--you cannot deny that most toys are gross looking.)

(Not that bike, though--cute!)

So there you have it. Some of my many plans for this small, but important, space.

What do you think? Any tips for decorating my entry?