Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Foyer Before

We are in the process of redecorating our foyer and living room. It was very shabby, cottage, romantic chic, which I loved. Buttercream yellow with white trim, floral and check prints, pink and blue accents. I loved it, but after 10 years I was ready for a change. I especially wanted something a little stronger and more masculine for my husband's sake. I will continue to satisfy my need for vintage froo-froo in one of the guest rooms, my studio and in the kitchen.

We bought this house while it was in the midst of foreclosure. It was in HORRIBLE condition. These are the before pictures of the foyer. We pushed back that exterior house wall (where the window is) in order to create a back entrance and room for shelves (for shoes( built into the hidden back wall. We created a bannister (there was just a hole to the crawl space with some primitive stairs). And we tiled the floor. You can see we still have the stairs to complete. At this time, it's just sheetrock on one side, open to the basement and still has primitive plywood stairs. We don't want to complete that part until the basement is finished as hauling supplies up and down the stairs would just bang up a finished stairwell.

BEFORE


AFTER


I am using a leaf print with a black background as the basis for the new foyer/living room decor. The color scheme will be mocha/olive/black/burgundy. The walls will be painted a soft mocha color with a touch of olive in it. Almost a clay color. Come to think of it, it's about the color of my blog background. LOL! I have recovered two of the pieces in the foyer, but still need to change out the window treatment at the back of the foyer to the leaf print.

This was a $7.00 thrift store piano bench. Black paint and black vinyl seat. I stripped it and gave it a cherry finish to match the banister handrail. I cut the legs down to make it the right height for taking off shoes. And I added a wood applique and decorative nailheads for a bit of pizazz. Total cost was about $15.00!

The bentwood ice cream chair was also a thrift store find. I can't recall the exact price at the moment, but it was most likely under $10. What can I say? I'm cheap. It had an ugly white vinyl seat that has been changed out several times to match new decor or my mood. The shelves above them were $3.00 for the pair and the rustic old architectural salvage rosettes were found at an antique store for $5.00 a piece. I love their chippy old paint.


The window's "stained glass" treatment on both the sidelight and the back window is Gallery Glass. I designed it myself in an attempt to match the front door. It will stay in the remodeling process. I like it. I want a slightly William Morris/Organic/Craftsman feel to the room (is that a style?) and I think the glass treatment is suitable to that end.



I will post the Foyer's After Pics as soon as we get the painting completed. Craig is heading back out of town, has a project lined up for his return and wont' be able to start until probably mid-September at the earliest. :( :(

5 comments:

Laume said...

Just popping in from the party. Nice to meet you. You and I are both in the midst of remodeling - fun and chaos, isn't it exhausting? Exhilarating? A bit of both.

I'll have to bookmark and come back to check out all your autumn craft links - autumn is my favorite season and with a recent few nights of chilly weather, I'm already thinking about the season to come.

Unknown said...

Yes, remodeling is not for the faint-of-heart or for marriages on the brink. :) This was a foreclosure, as-is home. It meant an incredible bargain, but whoa..the sweat equity is killer. We have torn out and put in fireplaces, moved interior walls, pushed back exterior walls, excavated a crawl space into a full basement, replaced almost every single window and too much more to enumerate. And we've done all teh work ourselves. We're reaching burn-out stage. We recently had the roof replaced and DH paid to have it done rather than do it himself. He's just about done in!

Cottage said...

Charity, I knew I recognized that stair well and foyer! I'm an old Sampler board friend, MelissaTX. SO nice to find your blog and see your new pursuits! They are so fabulous as are your paper endeavors. So nice to run into again.
Melissa

Unknown said...

Well..hi there, Melissa! Small world. How fun to run into you here. :) Is Country Sampler still active? I need to set up a new account as I never can get in there.

Charity

Ele at abitofpinkheaven said...

looks lovely!