Foyer Hallway Reveal and a Sneak Peek

The foyer hallway has been a very long work in progress, but I'm finally ready to show some pictures. 

Our foyer is a space which has been fairly easy to put off simply because we're not there very often.
Furthermore, most of our visitors enter through the much more casual side door of the house----which in some ways is kind of a bummer because that door has no presence at all, something I really hope to remedy this summer.

But wait, I must stay focused.  (If you're a projecting DIYer, staying focused tends to be a continual discipline...)

I mentioned in my first foyer post that natural light tends to be slim, and we have two long hallways that branch off from our front door.  It's a bit challenging, to say the least.  I've struggled with not wanting it to appear like too much is going on; however, with lots of wall space and very long halls, I also needed to minimize the corridor effect . 

All that said, let me show you what I've come up with so far (please ignore the mess visible in yonder sitting room :-)  Yes, we are already moving onto another space).  This first picture is the view of the right hallway as you first walk in the front door:

Next is the view of the left hallway once you step inside the door.  The door at the end of the hall is the laundry room...with a cat door installed.  We do not have a cat. 

I know, I know....the walls looks a little bare.  I'm still working on that, but I haven't decided what I want to do yet.  I love the four family pictures I hung so far, though, from a photo shoot we did at our home last September.  Remember these frames, a 'Caramel Latte' project from this post?  The lighting of this photo makes them look more golden here, but they are really a lovely shade of silverish/gold.

I've ended up really loving the next display.  I've had the bicycle print for awhile now; I painted its frame with Krylon's Caramel Latte.  The original was a dark mahogany color.  The buffet was my first truly inspired furniture refinishing project back in 2008.  I picked it up at a thrift store for $75 - dark stained, stinky, and pretty rough-looking.  Its amazing transformation transformed me as well, and I've had the furniture bug ever since.

Above are my precious boys.  I adore this photo taken of them Christmas of 2004, how it spontaneously captures the intimacy of their friendship. The figurine beside it touched my heart the first time I saw it in a gift shop.  I love how the boy has his hands buried in his pockets, so independent and cool, but is leaning into his mommy.  He still needs her, in spite of himself.

If you have a boy, you understand the bittersweet attachment/detachment that takes place as he grows and matures.  A loving mother still sees her baby boy.  

I found these scrolled sconces at a local thrift store for $4.00 apiece (I think they were priced too high, frankly, considering their condition, but I picked them up anyway).  Here is what they looked like initially, and this photo was taken after I washed them off and filled holes:

A little white paint does wonders:

Two days ago I went grocery shopping and wheeled my cart through the 60% off clearance section, as any good thrift store girl would do.  I found the two topiaries for $5.00 each!  I was tickled to death because I'd already decided I wanted topiaries on my two newly painted sconces, so I thought I would head over to Michael's later this week to find some, but even then I wasn't sure if I would. 

It took me about two seconds to pop those babies into my cart and continue my shopping.  Two different ladies stopped me to comment on how cute my "little trees" were.  One even reached out to touch the greenery to see if it was real :-)

Next are more family pictures.  Mr. Wonderful and I love family pictures...

I found the following two little stools at Burlington Coat Factory in Anchorage last month.  They were covered in camel microsuede, so I recovered them and added the trim, although I do want to go back and fix the--- (too obvious, in my opinion)--tucks around the edge.  I thought the stools would be versatile as extra seating and as foot ottomans in the living room.  They also work great here for folks to sit on when removing their shoes, although our high ceilings make them look very short next to these blank walls. 

I'll probably end up doing something different under the two pictures above the stools, but for now it'll stay as is.

This authentic pair of shutters was a splurge in Homer, AK, last summer.  My favorite store there, Blackberry Bog, had two sets.  I couldn't leave without taking one with me, and I LOVE them.  I knew when I first saw them in Homer that I would hang them in this alcove.

I eventually want to do something behind them on the wall, though:

I've considered mosaic tile, stencils, beadboard.  I'm still waiting until I know exactly what I want to do.  The original builder plumbed the indented space here for a fountain....isn't that funny?  (He was a plumber :-)

We'll never do a fountain....

I rescued the chest below the shutters from my mother's deck.  For a complete reveal on its refinish, see this post.

The only other thing I've been watching and watching for are two runners (rugs) for the hallway floors.  I fell in love with the Amaya Rug (ironic that Amaya is my daughter's name) from Ballard Designs, a wonderful tone-on-tone caramel and cream zebra print in wool, but they no longer have runners available.  I've yet to find a worthy substitute, although the new Coral Rug by Pottery Barn is beginnin to whisper my name...

Goodness, though, do I really want to spend $200 on a hallway runner???   I do know, whatever I get, I want it to be soft and squishy underfoot, and of good quality.  Wool seems to be the best choice.  If you have any suggestions for where I can find a reasonably priced runner, 2.5" x 8-9', in a fun animal or nature print (neutral colors), please leave a comment for me.

So there it is, one hallway primarily complete.  Let's see a few more pictures and call it a day:

Oh, I almost forgot my sneak peek of something I was working on this evening, something I've never tried before.  My son, Isaac, who may just become a very talented photographer some day (he has an amazing eye already, and he's only 9), had fun snapping pictures of me while I worked.  Full reveal coming in the next day or two, but I will sign off with my picture:

Does that look fun or what?

Jaimee