Possibilities For My New Home's Entry Hall

 

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In my last post I talked about what you could do to make a small entry make a wonderful opening statement for your home.

I mentioned that it would be a good idea to write down just what that opening statement would be if your walls could talk. Here is what I wrote…….

“You are about to enter the place we love, and call home, as you enter I hope you know your are welcomed here. We hope we have made you just a bit curious about how the rest of our home will look by our choices in colors, wall treatments, and the other elements we chose to greet you.  We love beautiful things, but nothing is too precious in our home that it will ever be more important than YOU.  We hope you feel at peace, and relaxed while you visit here.”

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One of the elements that can be added to elevate the look and feel of an entry is wallpaper.

Wallpaper can help set the mood for what your guest are about to see. It can create an atmosphere or introduce the colors, or color that will be in the rest of your home. 

You will notice all of the images in this post are of blue and white. These are the two colors that I will use throughout my home. Of course I will vary it's application from room to room.

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Today I thought I would have a little fun and show you some wallpaper choices, or ideas that I have in mind for my own entry hall in my new home. 

As I said before my entry hall is very small it is only 5ft. wide and 8ft long. 

I actually have three possible design ideas for this small area. Once we move in I know my new little cottage will tell me just which treatment it needs.

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Let me show you some of the wallpaper options I have looked at, and pinned and then I will narrow it down to patterns I think I could live with long term.

This first pattern is actually a pattern I had lined up to use in my other home so I have lived with this idea for quite sometime. ………

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This bamboo lattice pattern by Thibaut is open and airy and would introduce the blue and white that I use in my home in the form of blue and white porcelain and my blue ticking sofa for the Great room.

I am doing a traditional feel with a  coastal/Nantucket feel  so this could work nicely. It would open up the opportunity to add some tropical touches in the rest of my home as well.

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Since my entry is so small I would probably use this full wall with a nice crown molding, and possibly something interesting on the ceiling with a traditional looking light fixture in a blackish type finish since I use black and white as a base in my home as well as the blue and white.

This next selection is another direction that will help elevate my small entry, and it will also introduce the blue that will be used in my home…….

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I could use a navy, or I could go brighter with a cobalt blue like this Ralph Lauren grasscloth, both will introduce color and texture for our home as well as set the mood for a Traditional/ Nantucket Coastal feel…….

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If I do decide to use a blue/navy grasscloth in my entry I will be using it with a lot of white moldings to make it a more open  look as in the picture below……..

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Or like this……

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You can tell by looking at both the above applications that white will be almost as dominant as the blue grasscloth this will help open up the entry hall a bit more visually.

I will order several samples of grasscloth to see which one is more suitable once we move into our home. 

With grasscloth you have to realize their will always be slight variations in the color from dye lot to dye lot. It is also recommended to do a reverse strip application to make the seams a bit less noticeable.

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With the grasscloth I would choose a traditional type lighting, but will have more options than I feel I will have with the bamboo lattice paper.

Lots to think about, and one decision will lead me to another so it is important that I have a plan so I can end up with the entry hall that I will love, and my guest will feel welcomed when they enter our home.

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As I said in my previous post we have the ceiling, the floors, walls and doors that we can address in our entry hall to set the mood for our home. 

In my next post I am going to address the flooring the ceiling and the doors. With each choice of wallpaper each of the elements will differ in order to make a cohesive look. More to come so…….

 

 

Small Entries Have A Lot To Say!!

Your entry is the porthole to what is about to come!

  

Chances are you want it to be a welcoming sight as soon as your guest enter. It is important to keep in mind what you want it to say. 

Your entry is your, “Opening Statement!”

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You might want to introduce the style, and feel of your home, or maybe you want to introduce one of the main colors you will be using in your home. 

Entries are the perfect place to make both of these statements.

Designed by Molly Frey

For such a small area it really has a big impact on your home!

Try to keep that in mind when you make decisions on what to place in your small area, actually whether it is a big, or small entry it will have a big impact on your guest.

We all have walls, flooring, doors, and ceilings in our entry so when you think about it you have quite a canvas to do something beautiful.

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I realized once I started writing this post that it was a subject that will take more than one post. 

Seems odd since we are talking about such a small area. However, keep in mind what I stated above…….

“Your entry introduces your

 guest to what they are about

to see, feel, and experience in your home!”

When I put it that way it really does make you stop and think about it’s importance doesn’t it?

Today I want to talk about walls in your entry hall.

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How does one make a wall look welcoming, stylish and somewhat important?

• Wallpaper
• Molding/wainscoting
• Lighting
• Mirrors
• Artwork

The first element I mentioned is wallpaper. Now I know there are many of you who will not have wallpaper in your home, however if you are willing to open up a bit you can achieve a wonderful look for your entry.

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You can’t get much smaller than this, and yet it is definitely creating a nice welcome for your guest.

Notice how the wallpaper is making it more important and welcoming. It sets the mood for a fresh and stylish entry.

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This entry has addressed not only the walls, but also the flooring, and an introduction to color, to make a wonderful opening statement.

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This is one of my favorite wallpaper patterns. I love the openness of it. It is what I like to call a see through pattern, almost like a paned window looking beyond to the view outside. 

This type of pattern will open up a small space visually. They have a wonderful floor pattern, wallpaper, great lighting, and reflective surfaces= a great welcome for your guest.

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There are so many choices when it comes to wallpaper so if you are choosing one for your small area, don’t be afraid of going with a larger pattern. 

Remember you want to make a statement. The first thing you need to decide is what kind of statement you want to create.

Write down what you want your walls to say to your guest. Here is what I wrote for my own personal entry hall to better give you an idea of what I am talking about.

“You are about to enter the place we love, and call home, as you enter I hope you know your are welcomed here. We hope we have made you just a bit curious about how the rest of our home will look by our choices in colors, wall treatments, and the other elements we chose to greet you.  We love beautiful things, but nothing is too precious in our home that it will ever be more important than YOU.  We hope your feel at peace, and relaxed while you visit here.”

As I read this back to myself I realize I have a very tall order to fill, but not one that is impossible to achieve as long as I spend the time to look into every single detail to make sure it is all cohesive.

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Remember start with an overall plan so if you have to make adjustments you will be able to do freely without hesitation because you know the overall look and feel you want your entry to have when you are done with it.

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There is one last thing I would like you to do…..

…now that you have read this post I would like you to go back and look at each image I have posted, and think about what that particular entry is telling you about the home you are about to enter.

Are any of the above entries more appealing to you than others? Lots to think about, but all very important details when you are making the opening statement to your home.

In my next post I am going to address my very own entry hall in my new home. We will explore some wall paper ideas together to see what just might work as my opening statement.

   

 

 

WINDOWS! Inside and Out

This past Friday as we turned the corner we saw that we had windows!!!

Very exciting to see, to say the least. We also have a temporary door, and sheet rock was being delivered.

It looks like they are getting ready to do the plumbing, and electrical wiring inside. Of course all of this is quite exciting to us.

With the windows being installed my mind naturally goes to window coverings. I already did a post on what I was thinking about using on my windows here.

 

Today I thought it would be fun to see some of the ideas that have inspired the look that I am leaning towards.

Since the Great room is the main focus of our home let’s start there.

We have two banks of windows with three windows side by side as seen in the image of the model below….

Keep in mind that the overall look I am going for is a somewhat traditional Nantucket look.

Here is a picture of my existing furniture that will be going in this room you can see I use a mix of black and white with blue and white  with blue and white porcelain and baskets…

I will continue with this color scheme and I also add more baskets for texture. With all of this in mind I think that the look of bamboo or matchstick blinds will be perfect for this look…

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I like the use of the black iron rod(another tie-in with my black and white) close to the ceiling, and the inside mount of the blinds in this image so you can see the nice window moldings.

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The drapery softens the treatment at the corners. In my new home I will have a small space of wall on each side of the windows and I think adding the side drapery panels at each corner will soften the room.

I will make sure that the drapery panel will just barely come to the edge of the molding in order to not to cover any of the window. There will only be panels at each corner, nothing in the middle. I want as much window to show as possible.

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I also like the idea of simple white cotton or linen draperies having a black leading edge trim. The black will be a nice tie in with the black and white base of my rooms décor.

You will notice in this next picture that the blinds are hung as an outside mount and closer to the ceiling…

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I discovered something about myself in my sourcing. I prefer an inside mount over an outside mount for this particular look. 

I know that many designers would recommend to go high or go home, but for me I prefer the moldings of a window to show, when possible.

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This is such a beautiful room and yet I still prefer a bit of the wall showing above the blinds.

It is important to look at all the details, and to come to grips with what works for you and is pleasing to your eye. Sometimes it will be such a small detail, but in your eyes it can make all the difference in the world.

Make sure what you know that you dislike as well as like when making your design decisions.

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Notice how the drapes in the corner soften the whole look of these windows.

I also might decide once we are in there, that the drapes are just too much for me, since I am not that big on window treatments, but for right now they feel like they will look very nice in my minds eye.

Since you can see the dining area, and the great room when looking into this area of the house, it is important that the window treatments have something that ties them together.

(image of model)

I could do matching bamboo, or matchstick roman shades, or I could do something a bit different that will still tie in the look if I do decide to use the drapery with the black trim on the leading edge of the Great rooms draperies.

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I would keep it simple, and do an inside mount so there would not be the flap valance, but I think using the same banded trim as on the drapery will be a nice tie-in, bring the black and white into the kitchen area, and break things up a bit

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Simple, clean, fresh and very sharp looking. I love the high contrast between black and white.

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So there you have it, my plan, so far!!!

Of course you know all of this could change once we get in there, and live in our new environment for awhile, but so far this seems pleasing to my eye and is doable.