I figured the best place to start would be the first place you see when you walk into the house: the entryway. Now, it should be understood that the entryway is tiny. It's only 6'4" x 4'3", but one of the things we noticed right away was how much is packed into this small space.
Taking pictures of this area is tough because it's so small, so bear with me.
This is what you see when you walk in the front door. The entryway is a small landing right before heading up the stairs to a second landing and then the actual living space.
On the wall right by the staircase I put up a cute piece that I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby before the pandemic started. I had another piece here but I decided this looked nicer. Underneath it I put up some hooks for keys that I found at Target when we first moved here. It was just $7.99, right up my alley. I had a floating shelf at the old house but it was too big for this wall so this worked out better.
Below that I'd originally put a basket for our shoes and such, but it looked messy. So instead I got this small shelving unit off of Amazon for $35. I already had one that I'd bought several years before and was using in the living room. I love this piece because it's solid wood, very sturdy and high-end looking. I already had the baskets, and they fit perfectly. Now it holds my shoes on top and my son E's shoes on the bottom, so no one has to bring their shoes into the house. The artificial plant on top I'd purchased from Kirkland's years ago.
Right beside this wall, to the right if you walk in through the front door, is a window with plantation shutters. There are plantation shutters throughout the entire house, which I absolutely love. They are classic, easy to clean, and go with every decor style. I'm thankful to have them.
This is the view from up the stairs. The door on the far right goes to the garage. Straight ahead on the left is the front door and next to it is a really small coat closet. We laughed at the fact that there would even be a coat closet in South Florida. We get weather cold enough for a coat maybe a couple times a year, and sometimes not at all. A jacket would more than suffice. But hey, storage is storage, and I found a good use for it.
This is where I store my vacuum cleaner, floor steamer, and gift wrapping supplies.
The space is so small, the only thing on the shelf is a plastic container with all my gift wrapping tissue. I reuse tissue paper to save on waste.
Between the front door and the closet I have this cross that was a gifted to me by my daughter's matron of honor. They have been very close friends for years. When she was redoing her home she asked if I wanted this cross and I quickly answered, "Yes please!" I think it is beautiful.
Above the doors I wanted something that would provide some architectural interest. The ceilings are very high and there was just empty space above the doors. I recently found these beautiful arches at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $12.50! I was so excited! I found two of them and put one over the front door and the other above the garage door. I feel like it gives the entryway a grander look.
I put a small rug in front of our front door that I picked up at Target. It didn't occur to me at the time that we rarely use the front door; we come in through the garage most times. I haven't bought another one because I'm not sure I love this rug. Unfortunately a lot of stores have limited merchandise now, so I'm waiting for them to replenish. If I find a nice pair of rugs I'll switch this one out, otherwise I'll get a second one of this style.
The entryway is one of the places in the house that I did a mini makeover project - or at least I started one. The lighting fixtures in the stairway were the original ones that the builder put in 30 years ago, and they are not attractive.
Not only are they not pretty, they're filthy. Years of dust and dirt won't come off of them anymore. They also didn't fit my rustic elegance style. I looked at tons of lighting options, and settled on these from Amazon:
I'm in love with the way this looks! It was super easy to install too. Well, this one was. It's at the top of the staircase landing, so reaching it was no problem.
The other light fixture is way higher than this one: 15 feet off the ground. I have an extension ladder so reaching it height-wise isn't the issue. It's in an awkward spot that makes it hard to reach once I'm at the top of the ladder. That's one problem. The other problem is fear. When I took the old light fixture off of this top landing light, it had 3-4 dead cockroaches inside. Not little cockroaches; the ones we Floridians call Palmetto bugs. They are big and nasty! Of course the fact that they were dead was a relief, but even so...I had to get a broom to knock them out of the cover before I could take the light fixture down. Ya'll, cockroaches make me gag. It was not pleasant. Once I'd gotten rid of them and taken the light fixture to the trash, I finished putting the new fixture up, but I quickly realized putting up the other one wouldn't be possible for me. This new light fixture is heavy! I had a hard time holding it up while also wiring it. So now I'm patiently waiting for one of my electrician buddies to have the time to come over and put up the second light fixture, and the entryway will be done (for now!).
Now that I'm pretty much caught up with what's happened the last few years, I'll be posting more house tours and updates. See ya back here soon!
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