Front Entry gets a spring cleaning makeover

My front entry needed a bit of a makeover.....I wish I'd taken a "before" picture, but I forgot! It was dull and lifeless and the floor just didn't fit in at all. Dustin did an awesome job on the tiling job a few years back, but the "busy" nature of the floor made it difficult to decorate around. I think we've found the right wall colour now...it seems to make the floor look like it belongs....and I love it!! We used the same colour as the wall in our living/dining room (Benjamine Moore's Blue Grass)...it was actually the leftover paint from upstairs. 

We painted one wall in the duck's egg blue colour, and the rest of the walls white. It's much brighter now  and just so much more inviting! I really think the front entry should be a reflection of the rest of the house...don't you? Ours was a depressing room, with a constant pile of coats and shoes all over the place. UGH! 

I had visions of a beautiful big bench/storage seat with a shelf and hooks above for this wall on the right, but alas, it was just not going to work. There is just no good spot for it anywhere in this front entry. The door opens onto that wall and if there's anything too wide in the way, you're tripping on it to get to the stairs. Not fun! 

But never fear...IKEA came to the rescue! This shoe cabinet is perfect!!! It's only 8" deep, so it doesn't block the path to the stairs, and it actually holds quite a few pairs of shoes! I added some Anthropologie glass knobs to add a little colour to it. The IKEA shoe cabinet has "legs" at the front that are just a little too short (I had to rest the cabinet on the little ledge that happens to be there). 

After doing all this, I decided it needed a little "Art", so I started on a little art project with Toby at my side this morning :) (I'll show you his masterpiece in my next post). I wanted something light and uplifting for the front entry. I thought cherry blossoms would fit the bill. The little white bird was an afterthought :). The larger painting (on the left) is still a work in progress, but I'm just getting a feel for it here until I decide whether or not I'll add something to it. I kind of like the ocean/beachy vibe it's got right now, just plain and blue.

I'm not quite sure what I'll do about these floating legs, but I was thinking of adding another piece to lengthen them to the floor, or maybe just cutting them off altogether. Any suggestions?

These next two photos were taken before I added the two paintings. I found this little mirror at the thrift shop and I think it looks cute there, but somehow I prefer the cherry blossom painting. What do you think?

I had an extra ladder chair (it came with the two that I have at my dining room table), and I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I painted it white all over and gave it a new home in our entry.

I think my little bench seat fits in quite well on this wall :) I was going to leave the half-moon table there, but I really wanted to have somewhere to sit when putting on shoes, etc. 

I completely organized the closet, and added some coat hooks on the other wall (forgot to take a picture of them!). So now we no longer have a pile of junk in our entry! There's a proper place for everything.

SO much better!