The Entry Way Reveal

Thank you for allowing us to talk about the brands we love and use as we work from room to room in our home renovation. This post was sponsored by Lowe’s Home Improvement but all designs, thoughts and product selections are my own.

It’s here! The entry way is finally done and I’m in love with how it turned out. In the last post, I shared about the structural changes so I figured this time around I’d share about the several details that gave this space the look we were after.

Switch Plates & Outlet Covers

A big improvement for this room was updating the electrical. The outlets were ungrounded and non-functioning when we moved in. Having things swapped out for grounded was a big bonus of having to tear the room down to the studs.

We were going to go with basic white covers for the switches but when we were at Lowe’s, we fell in love with these. They pull in the warmth from the bench seat and make the space feel unique.

Hooks

I was really excited when I found these hooks. I wanted something modern and was trying to figure out how to DIY some peg hooks. I had been searching for “coat hooks” without much luck and remembered seeing other options when we were working on our guest bathroom. Searching for “robe hook” and “towel hook” opened up a million possibilities. These Moen hooks had the style I was after. They were more than I had originally allocated for the hook budget but knowing they were such a key feature, I made room elsewhere (the lighting budget).

I had thought about putting hooks behind the bench but after thinking about the flow of the space, I decided to keep that area just for putting on shoes and getting bags ready. It could be really chaotic if people are trying to grab coats from behind where someone is trying to get boots on. Instead, we placed three hooks right inside the door and one hook across the room by the coat closet.

We measured the walls and found center and installed the hooks evenly. On the wall with three hooks, we placed the center hook lower than the rest for variety.

Rug

I could not believe what a tough time I had picking out a 4 x 6 entry rug — there were so many great options to choose from. I ended up  going with the Bridgette Ivory Gray indoor/outdoor rug and it happened to be really reasonably priced.

It’s a lighter color so I was worried about dirty shoes coming in. It’s been really easy to maintain. A quick vacuum is all we’ve needed so far. Things seem to not soak into the fibers but stay on the surface. An all weather rug was the right choice.

Bench

I am probably most proud of the bench we created for the space. I wanted something that could be functional for putting on shoes, storing boots and giving the room some balance and weight. The idea came together when I saw these upper cabinets that were already a gorgeous greenish gray. Having them pre-painted made this such a simple project. We bought these cabinets off the shelf at the West Des Moines Lowe’s along with the matching toe-kick. In the same section, we grabbed an 8ft butcher block countertop since our room was just a little under 8 feet long. With a few brackets, some lumber for the cabinets to sit on and some black hardware, we had everything we needed for a custom and cost-effective entry bench.

Light Fixture

I originally picked this fixture out. I liked the way it would tie in the wood tones and the black accents. It came and was just too big for the space. I think lighting is tricky like that. It would have hung down too low, even with our tall ceilings and was just disproportionate all around.

I wasn’t sure how to go about returning it since it was an online purchase. We had to go to Lowe’s that day anyway so we packaged it back up and made our first stop the customer service/returns area. I asked if it was even possible to return an online-only product in store. She was awesome and happily helped us locate the order number and put the balance on a store merchandise card. We got what we needed from the aisles and then I started searching for the replacement fixture. I liked the other light but I LOVE the one we ended up with. It’s exactly the style I wanted for this room.

I did DIY the light a tiny bit. I didn’t realize that the shades had gold leaf inside. It’s a really neat idea but when the light turned on, our room was very orange looking. At first, we left it as it was but it was bothering both of us so after a few weeks of using the light, I decided to lightly paint the inside of the fixture to match the walls. I did a very light coat so that the gold isn’t completely covered. It made a huge impact on the tone of light. Much more bright and soothing in there now.

Accents

Painting the window was the last painting project. I painted the trim to match the rest of the walls and trim that are 25% saturation of Valspar’s Foggy Mirror but for the inner window, I chose to paint it the darker, 50% saturation version of Valspar’s Foggy Mirror that we also used in the closet (so excited to show you this reveal next week). I thought adding that little bit of depth would bring more interest to that wall and would tie in the closet when open. It’s not a dramatic accent but I’m happy with it.

One of the accessories that I knew we would need was a small table for keys and mail. For the last year and a half, all of the mail stops first at the dining room table and has made that a catchall to be sorted through every night. I’m hoping that the entry table can be that. We can look through the mail and know what needs to be recycled, know what needs to be paid and know what needs to be saved before anything comes into the main part of the house. Let’s all roll our eyes at the same time for the amount of junk mail each week that has to go straight into the recycling bin. Thank you.

Last but not least, I wanted to add in more black tones to the space and was pumped about these indoor/outdoor small striped pillows. They were the perfect finishing touch for the bench wall and tied in with the hooks, light fixture and entry table perfectly.

It’s amazing how many words can be written about the smallest room of our house and it’s amazing that I haven’t even shared one of my favorite parts yet, the closet! Next week!