Today I am back with a feature in my house tour. I also hope to get all of the rooms and pictures I have shared so far into a post/page linked on my menu bar at the top of the page this week.
So today isn’t necessarily a “room” but it is a very busy and important area of our home. It is the first thing you see when you open the front door!
Our entryway/hallway.
The front door is the door at the end with my spring green wreath hanging on it. I change up my wreaths on the back of our front door just about as often as I change the ones on the front. 
Some of you ask where I store all my wreaths – mostly they just get moved to another door (unless they are specifically seasonal like fall/Christmas/Easter.) One day I will do a “wreath tour of my home” post and show you how many I have hanging at one time.
But before we talk about how the entryway looks today, let’s go back in time a bit.
This is how the entryway looked about 3-4 years ago. But that is much better than it looked when first bought it. When we bought our house it had this faux/white-washed entry area only up to halfway of the first doorway. It was a horrible finished – looked like muddy white floors. And then it had carpet from there INTO the half-bath (3rd door on the right) – yuck! Carpet just does not belong in bathrooms. So when we re-carpeted the floors before we moved (it was a HUD/bank-owned home when we bought so we had to re-do all the pet stained carpet when we moved in). It was just a plain, blank space. You can even see in the picture that this was “pre-dining room makeover” too.
We decided to install ceramic tile all the way down the hall and into the half bath. That also helped create a dividing line between entry/hall and the living room. In this picture – office door is on the right next to the front door, then closet door, then 1/2 bathroom. Dining room is to the left. And I am standing in the living room with the eat-in-kitchen and kitchen on my left.
Back to before pictures: I found a thrift store brass light and spray painted it oil-rubbed bronze and hung it a few years ago. . Much better! And I always wanted a bench or a table/dresser so this picture was right after I had finished painting and moved this dresser into the space.
The dresser was a $25 yard sale/flea market find. And if I can find the “before” pictures I will show the before/after of it on Wednesday. It was already white when I bought it but it still needed a good bit of work.
Then I added my $3 spray painted brass lamps to the dresser, a DIY Hydrangea wreath, and a new sign from Hobby Lobby.
And here is how it sits today.
I actually don’t know if the DIY chalkboard is there in that location to stay. Things like to move around my house. I am actually hoping to find a really neat piece of art or a unique mirror or something to hang there during this spring/summer yard sale shopping season.
And especially when I look at these pictures, I am wanting and needing to add some COLOR! I love my neutrals (and I LOVE white) cause they are easy to decorate seasonally around and go with everything. But they also allow you to add bright pops of colors too. I just seem to chicken out when it comes to committing to a single color.
But as a shop yard sales, thrift stores, and flea markets this spring and summer, I am going to be looking for things with COLOR or things that can be spray painted in a fun color – spring green, coral, navy, teal, yellow are my favorites right now.
Not entirely happy with the staging on the dresser, but it is ever evolving. And if I could nail down a color, I would either spray paint the lamps (again) or cover the shades in fabric or stencil them, but once again, I can’t commit. Anyone else have color commitment issues??
I love this dresser! I love the French provincial style of furniture. I love the size. And even though it is “pretty” it really does serve function too.
I plan to share a post soon on what I store in these dresser drawers and in the dresser drawers my $20 dresser in my hall upstairs too. Yes, it is a French provincial dresser too.
Now for the things I want to change:
This is the other side of the hall – closet door and then 1/2 bath door (and the doorway into the office on the left – no door to that room but I would love to add a french door for noise control if it would work).
I would love to do something to dress up this plain hallway even more. Thinking probably some wainscoting? Perfect reason to get to use my nail gun that I got for Christmas! I don’t want to do beadboard so probably a board and batten look.
Like this hallway – isn’t that gorgeous?
But then I think that would be a whole lot of WHITE! I could always repaint the dresser in some fun color – gray or heavily distressed teal or something.
And I have been showing my husband quite a few pictures of black painted interior doors, like this one from Adventures in Decorating.
You know, just warming him up for the day I ask if I can paint ours 
And I am going to look out for brighter color rug (I actually borrowed this one from the living room/back door.)
So what do you like/dislike? What would you change?
Do you have a problem with color commitment like I do?
Oooooohhhh…okay, first of all, I love your light fixture. Great move to switch it out! And I think you should paint your dresser a bright shade of something! And then you could leave the lamp bases white and do a stencil on the shade in a matching or coordinating color of the dresser. I’m super into teal right now, so my vote is for a darkish teal. And don’t be afraid of color commitment because YOU CAN ALWAYS PAINT IT BACK! 😀 Can’t wait to see what you do! I know it will be beautiful!
Your entry is lovely…I am envious of how large it is…and I especially love the lighting. As you said already…a brighter maybe larger rug is the only thing I would change…I am going to be checking out my local thrift store for a light fixture to paint!
Very pretty Christina.
Cheers, Gee
I love your entryway, and I, too, am jealous of the large size! I love how the white dresser, the white lamps and the new light fixture have brightened up the space!! I think the only thing I would change would be a brighter rug and the lamp shades. If you added color to the lamp shades, they would really stand out! I think I would also place a large plant on one side of the dresser to add more color and to soften the edges. One of your wreaths would also look good in the space between the closet door and the bathroom door. :O) That would also add some color. Thanks for sharing – always love your ideas!
Very nice. I love using old dresser in unexpected places. Such great storage. Instead of color in the lampshades, how about if keep them white and paint the lamps themselves a teal blue. This way the shades and dresser would broken up with color. I also like the suggestion to add a plant. Great way to get color.
I agree with Christa about painting the dresser a teal color. I think that would be beautiful. Maybe stencil the lamp shades and add a colorful rug too. Whatever you decide I am sure it will look beautiful just like the rest of your home 🙂
love it…the boxwood wreath is awesome..I am looking for one that big
I would paint the drawers only in a bright color, hang a runner down the length in a geometric pattern, paint/fabric/stencil one horizontal stripe around the lamp shades, get a large shaggy round rug to cover much of the front area in the brown family. Hmmmmm that’s a wrap. It looks amazing, you are moving along. I love these reveals.
My favorite changes are the light fixture and the ceramic tile floor!! I love that floor!! I have been drooling over your hydrangea wreath for months now…guess what I realized is sitting in a vase in my master bathroom??? A huge bunch af dried hydrangea’s!! Knock off wreath coming up when the wind dies down : ) I agree with everyone that says to spruce up the lamps, that would bring a pretty pop of color! I’m about to pain my master bedroom walls a robins egg blue, or light turquoise to contrast my new gray/yellow bedding!! Go for it!!
I am impressed with how you have updated and transformed your entryway. Your white lamps are gorgeous, as is the entire display on the dresser. I have color commitment issues as well. I like your idea of changing up the lamp shades. What if you had rotating lamp shades for different season. Then you can always go back to the all white. It’s so crisp, clean, and fresh. A long rug in there with bright colors sounds fun to me. I am excited to see how you change your entry! The black inside door really looks good as well. Have fun!!
Your entry way is beautiful! I’m anything but color phobic,????, but I do think the beige and white is very calming and serene, a nice environment for an entryway. However, I do think adding some pops of color would bring it up a notch and I have some suggestions for easy ways to do so that are inexpensive and easy to change. First of all, I like you idea of painting your front door black to distinguish it from the other doors. Also, consider changing your door knobs and hinges to black or dark bronze to tie in with the dresser hardware and light fixture. Put a colorful patterned oval or rectangle sized rug in front of the dresser, slightly under the dresser so the legs will help keep it from moving around. Switch to colored or patterned lampshades (or update the existing ones with fabric or torn paper decoupage and trim) and paint the frame of your chalkboard in a color from the rugs or lampshades. Voila! Pops of colors that are easy to change out!
Oh, and you could also add a colored table runner to the top of the dresser!
that is a great idea! And i just picked up on on super clearance at Target.
It looks beautiful just the way it is!! I LOVE the wreath on the back of the door and the black light fixture looks so stylish! The whole “room” just feels so light and fresh. But I do like your idea for the board and batten. That would fit right in with the feel you have going on already.
thanks, Sally! I really do eventually plan on doing the board and batten. I think it will make a big difference 🙂
thanks, I really do plan to try to install that sometime this year 🙂 I think it will make a big impact.
Lovely entryway. It’s so bright and pretty!
And a few suggestions if you’re craving color but don’t want to go crazy:
1) Paint the hardware on your dresser a fun color.
2) Paint the serving tray.
3) Paint just the bases of the lamps.
4) Wrap a colorful ribbon stripe around the edge of the lampshades.
5) Paint the frame of the chalkboard a bright color.
6) Bring in a graphic rug.
7) Hang a fun piece of art over the chalkboard.
Doing just one of these would bring a nice of pop of color in to play off all the beautiful white.
Oh my goodness! Your comment is the best ever! I LOVE all your suggestions. I really am thinking I will paint the lamps a color – not to decide on a color 🙂 and fun art or something with color over the dresser – sounds fun too.
and I am looking desperately for an affordable bright graphic rug! 🙂 Just waiting to come across the right one 🙂
…I love how you invest so little $$ to make your home so pretty…; I also do that! I have a similar dresser in my entryway, and right now, since I just got it ( for 20 bucks) , its a work in progress…:) Beautiful photos and I agree with the post about a bit of color, if thats what you wish to have.. you can even PAINT your lampshade..( that stripe detail she spoke of ) or add fringy or any kind of trim. ( myself.. I a the ‘ bling girl- lol ) I added the ‘ color’ factor with a silk flower arrangement that has hydrangeas and a few other flowers , in the colors of my living..which are a deep red ( NOT maroon) and apple green…it looks nice and brings the color ‘ out of the room’ , where you can make the correlation to the living room. 🙂
I LOVE!!!
…Oh!! And I am a TOTAL commitment phobe! 🙂
My house is the same “colors” :)floors, furn…but I NEED to know the colors of your walls!!
Pretty please? :))
Christina, I am in love with your entry way. Your redo is amazing. So bright and cheery! Your chalk board sign makes the room, our theme for Get Your DIY on this week is Chalk board projects, would love for you to come and share that with us!
http://www.thehankfulhouse.com/2013/10/get-your-diy-on-week-5.html
Mandy @ The Hankful House Blog
I love your entry way, however I would leave the dresser white and get some colorful lamp shades to save money recover your old lamp shades I would paint the walls a light aqua color and change out the knobs on the dresser to crystal ones. I’m really into Aqua . by the way I love your walls in the other room to the left what’s the name of that color and I absolutely love love love the drapes where did you get those I would love to have some just like those in my living room .