The entryway to your home is important. It gives your guests their first glimpses into your style [and your tidiness]. My husband and I found that the long hallway that leads from the front door to the living room of our apartment was sending all the wrong messages. It had geometric wall hangings left from the previous tenants, a blank, white brick wall, and smattering of kicked off shoes along the baseboard. We recognized that it wouldn't take much to bring our style [and some tidiness] to the hallway, just a few steps and a couple of hours.
1. Get Inspired
Michael had the idea to cover the white brick wall with "cool, old" empty picture frames. We were lucky to get off to a great start by hitting up some weekend flea markets. We nabbed a huge gold picture frame that was so great that one of the vendors tried to buy it off of us -- for more than we paid! But we just couldn't let it go because…we were inspired.
1. Get Inspired
Michael had the idea to cover the white brick wall with "cool, old" empty picture frames. We were lucky to get off to a great start by hitting up some weekend flea markets. We nabbed a huge gold picture frame that was so great that one of the vendors tried to buy it off of us -- for more than we paid! But we just couldn't let it go because…we were inspired.
2. Go Shopping [in the house]
Something I am always skeptical of when reading magazines and design blogs is the task to: "look around your house for pictures and accessories to use for decorating." But it is more true than I believed; we have lots of pictures and plenty of frames, but most of them were sitting in the closet. We sorted through what we had on standby and got them organized. We separated the pictures into photos of us and our more "editorial" photography, you know, like our vacation photos. Then we were able to match up the new and old, empty and occupied picture frames in color schemes and get them up onto the wall.
Something I am always skeptical of when reading magazines and design blogs is the task to: "look around your house for pictures and accessories to use for decorating." But it is more true than I believed; we have lots of pictures and plenty of frames, but most of them were sitting in the closet. We sorted through what we had on standby and got them organized. We separated the pictures into photos of us and our more "editorial" photography, you know, like our vacation photos. Then we were able to match up the new and old, empty and occupied picture frames in color schemes and get them up onto the wall.
3. Put a Shelf In It!
The shoe problem is so easy to have and just as easy to solve. One stop at the Container Store and we were equipped with a small rack that we later realized could act as a petite console for our keys, sunglasses, and even a few more pictures.
4. Take a Seat
It's where we put on our shoes, but was there a seat? No. Michael and I putting our shoes was usually some awkward dance or a pair of adults plopped on the floor like toddlers fumbling into their sneakers. We simply picked up a faux leather ottoman with storage from Target -- you can't go wrong.
5. Make it Your Own
The final step of putting our hallway together was getting rid of what doesn't belong -- the accessories left by those previous tenants.
And this is what we came up with.
The shoe problem is so easy to have and just as easy to solve. One stop at the Container Store and we were equipped with a small rack that we later realized could act as a petite console for our keys, sunglasses, and even a few more pictures.
4. Take a Seat
It's where we put on our shoes, but was there a seat? No. Michael and I putting our shoes was usually some awkward dance or a pair of adults plopped on the floor like toddlers fumbling into their sneakers. We simply picked up a faux leather ottoman with storage from Target -- you can't go wrong.
5. Make it Your Own
The final step of putting our hallway together was getting rid of what doesn't belong -- the accessories left by those previous tenants.
And this is what we came up with.
There is always room for more and when we own the walls we will surely get to add color and more permanent fixtures. And if you are lucky enough to own some walls, maybe you will find some use of these inspiring ideas from House Beautiful and Stagetecture.
