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The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}

by | Nov 30, 2015 | Decorating Inspiration, My Entry, My Seattle House

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The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}

So in September, I showed you our entry hall. If you missed it, you can find the post here. I’ve mentioned a couple of times that the entry hall is connected to another hall, but I don’t think I’ve actually showed that part yet so I thought today I’d give you a little peek (although all I have is our before photos and a few cell phone pictures of the painting progress since we were enjoying Thanksgiving and I didn’t think to get out my camera until it was too late!). The entry hallway flows right into this hallway below where you can find the bedrooms, office and bathroom. Ultimately it leads to the kitchen and the stairway to the basement.

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}

On the plus side, the hallway has nice gray slate floors. And the fact that we have a hallway like this at all is great! It’s going to be so fun to add hooks and art and just make this a charming part of the house. I love hallways. :)

The color of the walls when we moved in a couple of months ago was unfortunately very swine-esque, or as my daughter called it, perhaps a bit more like “hog.” That color sucks the light and joy right out of living (for me) so I’ve been DYING to change it. While our big goal is to cover the hall in white planking, a good first step was a fresh coat of paint.

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}progress

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}progress while painting

That day finally came last week when we got the first coat of paint up! I am slow, I know, but I feel like we are finally getting on a roll with our ideas and have the time now to start making some progress. We chose the color Swan White by Glidden, the same color as Kylee and Courtney’s townhouse entry.

Once the hallway was painted white, it instantly felt so much better! I kept telling my husband I could hardly believe the improvement even just with the paint. My pictures don’t do it justice with the lighting and poor quality, but it feels so much brighter, cleaner, and much more like home to me. I love the contrast between the slate and the white walls.

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}before

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}
after

Even though we still have a second coat to paint and some touch-ups, I tried moving our “entertaining” cabinet (which was previously set in the living room of this house) to the wall directly opposite the front door just to see what the hall will look like with furniture. I loved it right away. The wood brings in warmth as well as is a perfect tie in to the flooring change into the dining room.

This hallway has a couple of built-ins, which is great. Our vision for the hall for now is just fresh paint, the white planking as a next step, and then a bigger project such as eventually removing the cabinets to allow more space in the entry (if the slate floors go under the built-ins) or upgrading them to better quality built ins or bookcases, or possibly even altering this whole area in order to fit in a new hall powder room and opening up the basement staircase :). I love this little hallway, below, and it gives me a vision for something similar for ours.

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}before

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}
Logan’s Hammer

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}before

We also are considering painting our bedroom doors darker in the hallway similar to what we did in our old house with our front door (inspiration photo below), but we are for sure getting new hardware, perhaps in a finish like black iron.

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}
unknown source

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}before

The master bedroom is at the end of the hallway opposite the kitchen, which we are also starting to paint, I’ll update as soon as we get the paint on the wall! My husband has been prepping it so he can start painting today!

As I mentioned in our master bedroom post, our intention is to figure out how to add a new door (likely a sliding type door) to the master, between the entry and the bedroom, to create more of a master suite with a bathroom connected to it.

No matter what we end up doing, the new paint will help us to feel more at home here in the meantime and give us a nice clean “slate” to work with.

Next in this space we will be changing the ceiling light fixtures to give the hallway a little more style and personality and adding hooks to make it all a more functional space. We’ve missed the hooks from our former entry so much, I am more excited about hooks than almost any of the other changes right now. Ha!

Thanks for following along, I’m pretty excited about making progress in my house this winter!

. . . . . . . .

PS. There’s an awesome sale (below) on a really great gift my family is getting this year. I think EVERY family should get one this Christmas. I’ve been searching for something like it for our home for awhile and I LOVE the features this one offers! I’m really excited about it. This device and app allows you to control the internet for your family and manage how your internet and connected devices are used through filters and time limits. Very cool, right?

The Entry & Hallway {Inspiration and Progress}

Every family needs this in their home.

Don’t believe me? Watch this video clip and you’ll be sold too.

It’s on sale, TODAY ONLY, so it is a great time to give it a try or give one as a gift!  You can get yours here.

30 Comments

  1. Linda Stoll

    Yep … a good coat of paint makes all the difference, doesn’t it? Especially after you move … putting that fresh shade on the walls makes the house YOURS!

    We moved into our new place this summer, and that’s the first thing on the agenda. When we catch our breaths!

    ;-}

    Reply
    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Paint really does make your house feel like yours! :) Happy housewarming to you in your new home, Linda!

      Reply
  2. LaNelle Schaffhauser

    Just amazing how a coat of paint can change everything….love your built-ins. Blessings for a great week….

    Reply
  3. Deanna

    Huge change! Love it. I’m excited for you to have a new space to play in! :)

    Reply
  4. Patricia

    The paint helps and so will changing the boob lights. You’re probably looking a a flush mount since you don’t have the highest ceilings in that area. Love the inspiration photos and the flush mount light in the second to last photo would be killer in that entry / hallway.

    Have you thought about just changing the knobs and pulls on the storage cabinets? You could completely change the look by removing the sliders and reworking the inside to great display and storage. I’m guessing your tile will not run underneath the built ins…

    Reply
  5. Cristina Festa

    I always say Paint is the cheapest decorating tool. It makes the most impact. I do all my own painting in my house. It’s alot of work but it’s so cost effective. Love the slate floors.

    Reply
  6. MarySue

    So happy for you with this progress. Best wishes.

    Reply
  7. sandyc

    Amazing how just a coat of paint in one area and the corner view of the “entertaining” cabinet and its toppers and the bookcase in the dining room calls out “Melissa’s house”. This is such a neat adventure and thank you for sharing with us.

    I came upon a pic of a corner/window seat on HOUZZ this weekend that called your name immediately. I saved all the pix to my Ideabook in HOUZZ and sent them to you in an email with note. HOUZZ said it went successfully but I don’t think I signed my name to the note. At any rate, if you don’t get it, it’s by Christine Nelson Design and the HOUZZ article was under Kitchen of the Week: Midcentury Meets Sweden in Minneapolis, I think it was partly the bright and happy colors in that corner that grabbed me and made me think of your kitchen plans. Hope you get it.

    Reply
  8. Kathie

    Nothing like a fresh coat of paint to brighten it all up change up the look. Love the floors BTW. I have the same floor in my master bath & laundry room & love it. Looking forward to your next changes.

    Reply
  9. Pam delgadillo

    Melissa, I love your posts and your inspiration pictures are always fun to see but I have to say that the color that you so often refer to as swinish or hoggish is very similar to the color I have all over my walls and I truly love it! It’s sand Pearl by Behr and since I tend more towards the Browns it is perfect for me. I know you don’t mean to offend and want us to love the home we are in even though it doesn’t look like yours maybe just find other ways to describe things that aren’t to your liking, I have done this very thing myself in saying ” oh, that is so ugly” only to find that very thing in the home of the person I was talking to! I wished I could have posted this privately, I don’t want to offend you, but I am pretty sure I’m not the only one out there with swine on my walls and loving it. Thank you again for all your inspiration and encouragement. Pam

    Reply
    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Hi Pam, you are so right! Swine could be a beautiful color in the right home! I’ve tried to be careful to clarify from time to time that paint can look different in different settings and certainly can affect people in different ways. So what one person might not like in their home could look fabulous in another! I do try to be careful about acknowledging that we all should have our own style and taste and I do try to celebrate our uniqueness. My references to swine or hog are just my silly ways of describing the impact that color has on me personally, not that it is a horrible color for someone else to choose. Thanks for the reminder to clarify that more often :), I will do another post on paint soon and make sure I am more sensitive to it. I’m sure your home is beautiful and I would agree if I saw it! Honestly, I’ve never once noticed swine in a negative light in anyone else’s home, only when it mixes with my things do I ever even think about it. Paint colors are so personal, aren’t they? Thank you, Pam.

      Reply
  10. sharon / theprincipledtype.blogspot.com

    I love strolling through your halls! Agreed – wow what a magnificent change a coat of paint can offer. Well done. I’m still excited as you are for all the forthcoming design and decorating :)

    Reply
  11. Karen on Bainbridge Island

    Swine does follow you wherever you go, doesn’t it? Hilarious.

    We can’t move our belongings into our new house until mid-December. Meanwhile, carpet rippers are getting rid of the most hideous carpet I’ve seen in while. Then the painters descend to freshen up every wall, every bit of trim and the kitchen cabinets which will transform from tired old oak to fresh white with black hardware (if I can ever made a decision on which hardware). Then the new carpet will go in and we will move in.

    As soon as we get in the door we’ll disrupt things again to have the stairs and the living room floors done in wood to match the existing wood floor that was recently refinished. Oh, the turmoil. I can’t wait to see how it all looks.

    Then we can start on lighting, kitchen countertops, backsplash, island replacement, new appliances and finally, all new bathrooms.

    Something to keep me busy until spring.

    Reply
    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Sounds like fun! But yes, you’ll be in turmoil for a bit. That is great that you get to do at least some of it without actually living in the chaos! Can’t wait to see what you do, I’m sure it is going to be GORGEOUS!

      Reply
  12. Carrie

    The built-ins give the house so much charm. It’s what makes the house special. Please don’t take away all its character!:)

    Reply
    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      No worries at all, I would never take away any character unless I was adding more in! I agree, I love old house charm! :)

      Reply
  13. Debby

    Color is not only a very personal thing, it’s also a “light” thing. How color is perceived depends almost entirely on the light in the room and the direction it’s coming from, so technically, every wall in a room could look like a different color! And then a color can look good or bad with the other colors in the room. We just painted our windowless guest bathroom walls “Repose Gray” by Sherwin Williams, and every wall looks like a subtly different shade. But the white cabinets and slate floor pull all the “grays” together. Once you get used to seeing wall colors this way, you’ll know why “swine” can look good in certain lighting and “hog-rible” in others! Melissa, I love your idea for white-planking the hallway walls. Can’t wait to see it! I might want to try it on our master bedroom on the wall behind the bed.

    Reply
    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Very true, Debby! Even the furniture and finishes in a room can impact how color is perceived! I always tell people they have to try paint colors in their own spaces, with their own lighting and furniture and finishes. Just because a blogger likes a color in their house in the Pacific NW doesn’t mean it will look right in someone else’s space over in the South. So many factors can alter how a color looks and feels. I’m sure your bathroom is beautiful!

      Reply
  14. Christie

    The white walls and slate floors look really pretty together. I really do like the hallway built-ins; with your fresh updates, a few original features look charming and like the house has grown up over time. I also like how your hallways zig and zag and aren’t just long straightaways. I’ve never really had a high opinion of hallways, thinking of them as wasted space, but you paint them in such a positive light as special little nooks that I want to use my hallways better. :)

    Reply
    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      True, it does zig and zag which does give it a little more “movement” in an otherwise long space! I think I’m going to have fun with this hallway! And you are right, original features are a wonderful layer to a home. XO

      Reply
  15. Mary Bogart

    Hi Melissa! You sound just like me! We just finished painting over our own “hog”color too! As you mentioned that old color sucked all the joy out of the rooms. We had it in every single room of our new home too! Like you we opted for a gray that brought warmth, but not a cave like feel! I added a buffet and will be getting some lamps in there soon! So much better! :-)

    Reply
    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Oh dear, yes! If you have a color that sucks the joy out it must go! I’m so glad that you have painted over with a color that brings more life to your home! So excited to make a house your HOME, isn’t it? PHEW!

      Reply
  16. Maria M.

    Yay paint! You must be so happy. :-) Thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply
  17. Maggie

    Swine is the worst!!! It goes with nothing and is very unflattering. Sorry just had to say!!!! But yes to each their own…

    Reply
  18. Louise

    Oh, Excitement!! You’re starting in on a new home; here come the decisions, executions, and reveals! You have always explained and beautified and kept me in suspense, waiting to see the next step! Love the white hallway walls and options for the future.

    Reply
  19. Linda P

    Amazing! What you did with the “entertaining” cabinet placement to tie the two differing floor colors and materials together into a pleasant whole. I had been wondering how those floors could look good together.

    Reply

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