Entryway Before and After

See how a dark farmhouse entryway was transformed with paint, a stencil feature wall, and practical organization.

Let me give you a little entryway history.  When we moved into our “Farmhouse by the Sea”, this is what it looked like.

We called the strange wall on the right the “jail cell wall”.  (We removed it…)

The entire entryway and hall were wallpapered.

Actually, it still is.  4 layers of wallpaper, to be exact.  I painted right over the top of it a few years ago.  {Yes, it can be done.  Just consult your paint store for the recommended primer.  The proper primer is the key.}

After trying many (MANY) colors, I finally settled on White Down from Benjamin Moore.

It was ok, but I was looking for something a little brighter and cheerier on these gray, rainy winter days of the Wet West Coast.

I emptied the whole thing out and decided to do a feature wall with a stencil treatment on the top.  Here it is now.

I can’t get over how much brighter it is.

 

Sources for this Entryway Makeover

• Bottom part of the wall color:  Behr’s Polar Bear
• Stencil: Nagoya from Cutting Edge Stencils, stenciled in Polar Bear over top of the White Down background
• Curtain:  Pillow Cover from Ikea (You can read how I made it here.)
• Round Mirror: from my basement storage room (initially, it came from Ikea)
• Tablecloth: Sewn from white cotton canvas (You can read more about it here.)
• Shoe Tray: Walmart
• Wall Art:  Empty frame from Salvation Army thrift store and skeleton Key from my sister-in-law.  It’s like the one that opened my childhood farm house.  {You know I MUST have something sentimental in every room!}
• Fake Plant and Stand:  Homesense
• Light:  Home Depot (on clearance years ago.  I’m so sad it was discontinued.  I’d love to have some co-coordinating ones for my kitchen.)
• Bike on the wall:  The most expensive gift my sister ever gave me…due to the exorbitant amount it cost to ship it to Canada!