Now that we’ve made some serious headway on the primary rooms in our home, we’ve decided to set our sights on our foyer. And while it is one of the last areas of our house we’re tackling before taking a design break, I truly feel as if it should have been one the first. The foyer is, after all, the very first thing that people see when they walk in. And with that in mind, it ultimately sets the stage for the rest of our home.
As we go through the motions of redesigning this space, you’ll notice that it isn’t large by any stretch of the imagination. Much like our bathroom, and our master bedroom (that reveal coming soon, I swear) what it lacks in size, we plan on making up for tenfold in style.
While we have bigger plans in store for this space, I’ve slowly begun picking away at a few smaller weekend projects that have already made a huge difference. We eventually plan on turning our closed in front porch* back into an exterior porch (complete with a swinging chair!), which means that eventually our foyer door will become our front door and will need to be replaced as such.
That likely won’t happen for at least another year or two, which means that I’ve set my sights on smaller more digestible tasks in the meantime. We’ve already painted the door a rich black hue (in Behr’s Limousine Leather), and plan on replacing the loose old hardware with brand sparkly new beauties. While it was difficult to narrow it down to a favourite, we’ve opted for Schlage’s Georgian Knob with Brookshire Trim (here), which feels in keeping with the Victorian bones of our home, yet intrinsically modern with its matte black finish. I just love the contrast and can’t wait to see them in action. Door hardware is one of those things that often becomes a bit of an after thought, but you’d be amazed the difference new hardware can make on a space. I’ve always said that design is in the details, and every last one of them counts – no matter how small.
Next, we’ll be ripping out the existing ceramic tile. It’s currently a muddy tan shade, laid in a brick pattern, with crumbling, stained, grout and no proper transition to delineate where the tile ends and the hardwood begins. It has most definitely seen better days and I have to admit – I won’t be sorry to see it go. Since it’s only a tiny little slice of a space (around 20 square feet), we’re able to splurge a little and will be replacing it with a marble tile in a beautiful pattern.
And, before we start adding in a few key furniture pieces, and replacing the dated light fixtures we’ll add some beautiful wallpaper going up our stairs (we picked Farrow & Ball’s Hornbeam paper), and give our walls a fresh coat of paint (in Farrow & Ball’s Strong White).
Stay tuned as we complete this small but mighty transformation!
*As it stands right now, the closed in front porch just becomes a dumping ground for recycling, and a boot/shoe collection of mayhem. I’m really excited about the idea of having a real covered porch with a swinging chair and a bottomless glass of rose. One of these days!
PS: If you need help picking your own door hardware, I recommend Schlage’s style selector here. It’s a great tool that takes the guesswork out of the process.
Thank you to Schlage for kindly sponsoring this post. And thank you to my readers for supporting my sponsors. It means the world and allows me to continue to create content for us all to enjoy.
SOURCES: Rug: Etsy | Pendant: Crystorama | Mirror: Wayfair | Console: Wayfair | Door Knob: Schlage | Sconce: Wayfair | Wallpaper: Farrow & Ball – Hornbeam | Walls: Farrow & Ball – Strong White | Snow Art: Minted | Architecture Art: Minted | Tile: Stone Impressions
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Can’t wait to see it. It’s very useful to see your main components and then the finished product.
I’m so glad you enjoyed! Doing it this way helps me to visualize everything (and allows me to pull the trigger on everything all at once so nothing lingers :)
These floors are AMAZING! They are so good looking!
Thanks for sharing! Happy Memorial Day!
Rachel
Check out my blog when you have time! http://www.simplesouthernlife.com
Thank you so much! I actually just got wind that the floors are being delivered as we speak