Shut the Front Door…

…and let’s focus on the entry way, shall we?  After I finished the gallery walls in our hallway a few weeks ago and then gave the light in there a little pick-me-up with some paint, I felt so great to gaze down it and see the cohesiveness that “completing” the space gave (even though no space is ever really “complete”, right?)  To a visitor, it looks finished and put together.  None of the rooms in our house feel/look like that except the hallway now.  Why?  It’s because I jump around from project to project, room to room, never staying in one space long enough to complete the 48 projects I have in store for it. 

Well, it’s 2014 and while I’m not one for New Years’ resolutions, I am making a resolution to work on one room at a time.  You see, what happens when you’re like me and you’re constantly jumping from one room to the next is that you have supplies for a few projects for this room squirreled away while you work on the project in this other room over here.  Eventually there are supplies stored everywhere.  You check one project off your list and keep moving to the next.  Meanwhile, you’ve found an amazing deal on something for another project and have had some awesome luck thrifting so you get all excited and work on something new and things get back-burnered and then clutter arrives at your house and settles in.  You get the gist, right? 

So, no more scattered projects.  One space at a time for me.  After the hallway, the next space I’m putting my energy into is the entry way.  I’ve had plans and materials for projects in here for a long time.  Here’s what it looked like shortly after we moved in:

This is after I replaced the mini-blinds that were there when we purchased with a rattan roman shade I found on clearance at Target that I later deemed too narrow (not to mention too long at almost six feet).  It’s also after we painted all the off-white trim and the door a crisp white and the walls with Valspar’s Hopsack.

Last January we installed a hook system by the door and since then, nada.  It’s not been touched.  Until now.  I just finished making a roman shade (tutorial tomorrow!) to replace the boring brown shade and have plans for a new rug, a new light fixture (a chandelier!!), a mirror, and some other things.  Stay tuned. 

While I’m (slowly) plugging away at the entry way, I’ll still be doing some little projects here and there – alterations and such – so those will be sprinkled in the mix of posts along with a few love stories.  I’m not a fool to think I can pound out one space/project every week like I once could (read ‘like before I had kids’), so I have to keep you entertained and coming back somehow, right?  ;)

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So, tell me.  Am I the only one that creates to the tune of House of Pain’s “Jump Around” or is there a support group to be had?  Maybe you’re a Mission {insert a room} person and you have some words of wisdom to give?  I’ll take any and all!

Hooked Up

I finally roped Anthony in and away from lots of studying and work last weekend to help me ‘hook us up’, after being super-inspired by an idea found on good ‘ole Pinterest that I’ve been crushing on for quite some time now.

Exhibit A: One super-cute and functional hook system in an entry way by Jenna Sue at Jenna Sue Design.

Exhibit B: Another cool and so-darn-pretty entry way by Casa de Lewis.

Our entry way definitely has the potential to sport some hooks and functionality and is just begging for some more color and character, as you can see: On the count of three, everybody say “blah”.  Boring, boring, boring.  But the above inspiration in mind, it’s taken a turn for the better.  Here’s what happened:

 First, we picked up a 6 in. by 1/2 in. piece of wood and cut it in two to fit both walls to the right of the door.  (We found it at local lumber store after not being able to find lengths over four feet at Lowe’s and Home Depot -we needed a five foot long board.  The lumber store we went to actually had to cut our piece from a 14 ft. board since that was the shortest they had.) 

I sanded it down and filled in a couple of nicks with wood filler:

Then I primed and painted it (Zinnisser oil-based primer to keep stains from seeping through and Olympic water-based trim paint, the same used throughout our entire house), once again turning our living room into a workshop.

Up went the primed and painted board.  Anthony made sure to screw it into the three studs along the wall for maximum strength…a diaper bag carrying contents for two can get quite heavy you know.  :)  He also made sure to countersink the screws so that they’d be flush with the wood, creating the smooth, trim surface we were going for.  

After the board was up, Anthony filled in the exposed screw heads with spackle and I later went over them with a fine sanding block to make sure each area was smooth before I touched up the paint.

All that was left then was mounting the hooks.  After looking at both Home Depot and Lowe’s, I found these on Ebay for half the price either of them offered:

These hooks were actually my first pick but then I read that they had to be mounted from the back; not an option in our case:

So, here’s our little project corner right before naptime Thursday:

And here’s what the same place looked like after a little naptime drilling courtesy of me:

Still on the entry way agenda are replacing the bamboo shade with a colorful fabric roman shade, stenciling/painting a flat woven rug that will replace the current ‘blah’ rug, possibly (crossing my fingers it’s so) a new light fixture, and adding some art and the most awesome mirror I found at Goodwill many moons ago.  Stay tuned.

In case you’re interested in the measurements of our new little storage spot, here ya go: 

Oh, and as for what we spent:
Wood:  $4
Hooks:  $2 each plus $6 shipping = $14
Primer, paint, wood filler, drill, countersink bit, and spackle:  had on hand
Total:  $16

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How do you stash your stuff?  Are you a have-it-hidden closet type of person or an out-where-it’s-easily-accessible type?  As of yesterday each and every hook on that wall was occupied…I had to lay down the law and tell Anthony that his coats belonged in the coat closet across the way and weren’t allowed to clutter up our little nook.  It’s strictly for baby paraphernalia and/or an umbrella or two.  Obsessive?  Maybe.  :)

P.S.  Linking up at Watch Out, Martha for Martha Monday again!  Hop on over for creativity in abundance!