Entry

I posted ideas I had for Avril's room a few weeks back and although I would love to start there, I am finding that it is quite the project & a little more spendy than I thought. Due to the fact that I can't really start until we purchase a mattress for her I felt inspired to look at other places in our home. Next to the bedrooms, the room I want most to whip into shape is our living room. Speaking of spendy...

Obviously, with our vacation coming up shortly, we don't have the funds to really delve into home decorating and organization. And to complete the living room is way out of budget. So I thought I could start with a small portion of the living room. The front entry.

Our front entry is basically a door & a slab of tile. It is not the entry we generally use as a family but it is the entry we prefer guests to use. There is no place for guests coats and very little area for their shoes, bags, etc. I am looking for those things and a little decoration.

My style has changed a lot since Jay and I were first married. I used to want a theme in every room. I liked a lot of different colors and I liked a LOT of stuff. Now I tend to like things a little more simple. I really enjoy the feel of a house that coordinates throughout. White, linen, burlap, & wire or metal are among my favorite colors & materials. Vintage and antique really appeal to me. As far as a specific style, the things I tend to be drawn to are of either the farmhouse or cottage style.  I am to a point in life where I want my decor to have a function. If it is simply decorative and serves no other purpose I prefer to either make it myself or do without it. I have wasted a lot of money in the past buying things that I later lost my appreciation for or no longer had a place for because they didn't have a function. They were just clutter to look at and dust.

Anyway, I have been looking for entry way ideas and I think I know what I want.


This is our front entry now.

I moved the couch to get a better view. The painting is one my grandpa painted for me. I like the painting but the frame is not my favorite. The coat tree was a good idea. Jay bought it for me a couple of Christmases ago but it was cheaper than he thought and many of the pegs have broken off and it is not very stable. It tends to tip if a coat is hanging on one side without another to balance it out.

This is what I am thinking:

I like the bins on the wall. Only I would choose metal/mesh ones for our entry. The bench is really nice and I would love the organization that the baskets underneath bring. However, this would be better for us as a family entry versus a guest entry. There aren't any coat hooks and company doesn't really need to organize their belongings into individual baskets. So the bins are really what appeal to me in this example. They would be great for organizing mail. A much better option than the kitchen counter where mail winds up now.

This is one of my favorite options. It has the white, the woven baskets, hooks, a bench, and still leaves room for the wall bins that I like. The biggest issue is finding a system like this that is narrow enough for our small space.

This is the last example that I have today. I like this because like the one before it, it has the colors and textures that I love and it also has space for mail and charging cell phones & such. There are no coat hooks but they could be added onto the side. I like the idea of this but I think it may also be better for a family entrance.

In the end I think I will go with a combination of the first two but will have to see what my budget and space allow. I will post pictures when I have it finished.

I would love any input or ideas that you might have. I have Pottery Barn taste but not the budget. And even if I had the budget, my hubby has worn off on me too much over the years for me to actually justify spending it!

Here are few pics of accessories I like for an entry as well.