The Foyer :: Putting the "Welcome" into Our Home

The garden is slowing down, work on the old house is winding down, and if i have to can one more batch of applesauce i think i could potential lose my mind.  The sunny summer days have given way to storms that roll through, bringing not only dreary dark skies but two inches of rain to boot. :) 

With the out of doors and the old house getting most of my attention these past few months, you can imagine what the new house looks like.  So, i'm getting that nesting feeling again...time to reclaim a sense of order in our new space and time to experiment hanging a few things on the walls before i repaint everything.  Someday.

This week's redecorating mission is the foyer.  Some would call it an entry.  To-may-to, to-mah-to really.  I grew up in a home with this awesome foyer, as my folks called it...from the front door you saw a quaint courtyard they built with a view to the backyard.  It had space for a wood stove and a chair.  All these years in my first grown up home, i had an entry space about 5 wide by 2 or 3 feet deep.  One person could stand in the area, and there was really no room for any more.  Maybe this is why i've come to think of one as a foyer, and the other as an "entry". 

Anywho, these spaces beyond the front door have become very important, and dear, to me.  It's the area you welcome guests out of the cold and rain, the beginnings of your hospitality.  In our home, it's where one should leave their shoes and coat.  It is also where we like to leave our things that we've brought in with us and the things we'll need as we head out the door. 

Which becomes the problem.

Over the past few months, i've identified a few things that we will need to conceal our belongs in this area and make it a tidy, welcoming space for guests, but also a functional one for us. 

Wish List for Foyer

 

Space to sit to put on/take off shoes

Place for us to put our keys, wallets, purses so they are handy when we leave (this may change)

Shoe storage

Mail drop

& if we win the lottery:  a new tile or wood floor and ceiling fixture!

 

Three pieces have been added, and i am slowly trying to identify what else is needed, if anything at all. Some items we moved with us and i would really, really love to replace with nicer finds.  Things definitely need to be budget friendly right now though.

The important addition over this last summer was a sweet bench my mom and i found while shopping. 

How do you like our Halloween bats?

It almost looks like something a person would have made in a woodworking class, honing his furniture making skills.  The seller had owned it for 30 years at least, having purchased it when he was an antique dealer years ago.  His family loved it, as evident from the worn leather upholstery and the dents and scrapes in the wood.  His children own a lunch spot my folk's dig, so it was neat to be able purchase something from their family.  Just call me Ol' Sentimental Nellie, as when i find things like this, they take on the personalities of people who had them.  And if i don't know who they were, i create the characters in my head who loved the item before it was my fortune to own it. 

An added bonus, it can be moved to the living room to provide more seating when we have Moose's family over.  Love that!



The Mission style back had me at hello.

At first, i thought i would paint the wood (a striking red, perhaps?  or black?), but for now i have decided that it will stay this way.  I am planning on repainting the walls a lighter, creamier colour and seeing how it looks against that.  The seat is a removable box with coils, so a later date project will add more cotton padding and reupholster it. 

Only to be made more homey with the addition
of a thrifted homemade quilt.

Now with this new piece of furniture gracing our home,



i have a dilemma. 

 

Furniture arrangement in our foyer.

 

Granted, all the crud could be cleared out, and that would make heaps difference.  However this is everyday living, friends.  Our home will never grace the pages of a magazine.  But more important to me is that it's inviting and comfy to those who visit, whether they are family and friends

or Jehovah's Witnesses. :)

 



This is how i initially envisioned the space.



 

Before

 

 

 

 



It's hard for me to see anything on the wall below the stairs because of its height and depth. Needless to mention is that unfortunate placement of support column in the middle of the area.


If that isn't needed, "you know who" may be the first to go. :)

 

It looks decent, but as you can see, the depth of the bench isn't ideal for the space.  We've lived with it like this for three months now.  We're all luke warm about it.

Around the corner, where the bench sticks out, is the bathroom...the bench is a potential toe-tangler here now.  Moose hasn't ever liked this, so i used his idea this morning.   Come around that corner too quick, and you've got a bruised hip.  Ei yi ei!


I played switch-a-roo with the *awful* wicker dresser this morning.  The only thing we lose moving this dresser to this area is the possibility of having a small lamp to light the space, instead of using the overhead light.  The depth of the dresser definitely works better here. 

I would love to find a wood dresser, possibly the same colour as the bench. 

However, it will need a short depth. 

 

 

After all the rearranging,

here's the finished result. 

After

I like that the bench still hides the pile of library books from the visitors.

And the flow seems to be a lot more spacious.

 

What do you think?

Any suggestions on how to spiffy up this ugly vinyl tile floor on the cheap??