Fix the front hall - 'art' for small wall real estate + rug woes
cerileen
4 years ago
Hello - A few front hall goals
1. I want to protect my antique rug from the worst of in and out traffic - i'm ok with a little dirt - but this little repurposed welcome mat is terrible. What to do?
2. It's so dull to look at this door from the inside, which is often in line of sight as part of thru traffic. On the other hand, small 'art' might look like little tic tacs and out of scale. Would love your thoughts on jazzing it up.
Thanks!!!!
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maggieq
4 years ago
IdaClaire
4 years agoRelated Discussions
how much real estate do your kids own in your home?
Comments (24)Fun, did you have more than one living space growing up? We had a formal living room and a family room so the family room is where our toys were kept. However, we didn't have nearly the same amount of toys as kids do nowadays! The way our family room was laid out, there was a corner where all the toys were kept. I shared an average size room with my sister, so we didn't have much room for playing in there. I'm sure we did a bit but for the most part, we were in the family room when we were young or outside. I also can't imagine having kids' toys in every room. That would drive me nuts! Most of the houses around here have basements or more than one living area so the basements store the bulk of the toys and then the family room, which is typically open to or next to the kitchen is where the main floor toys are stashed. Having four kids has relaxed my anal tendencies but I still go a little nuts with crap laying around. The peninsula in my kitchen becomes the drop zone but I can't stand having that clutter. And dh is the worst b/c he will leave his stuff there and never come back for it but then get annoyed if I move it or ask him to. He's used to clutter from his childhood. I used to have complete order in the house b/f I went to bed, but now I'm so exhausted by then that I have slacked off a bit and then get all stressed when I come downstairs the next morning to clutter and have to clean up b/f I can function. I'm like that with cooking too - I can't start cooking unless the counters are clear, no dirty dishes out, etc. DH looks at me like I have two heads. Am I the only weird one like that? Oops, sorry, I have a habit off going off on a tangent!...See MoreHelp me arrange the 'front hall' area of my living room
Comments (16)Caminne, that is a BRILLIANT idea, because I definitely need as much bookcase space as I can squeeze into every room, and at the moment there are no built-ins. Now, les917 cautioned against putting something just to the left of the door as you come in (i.e. on the living-room side of the door), to avoid cramping people (or dogs) as they step around the door, which I think it good advice. But if you look at my floorplan, you can see that there's quite a bit of space between the front door and the front wall windows. Floorplan: I think it should be possible to put a bookcase so it more or less lines up with the left side of the entrance to the dining room, which is about where I'd want the living room rug to end and the entryway rug to start. (Not describing this too well, but will try to photoshop a furniture-arranging floorplan soon.) In any case, I think that would leave plenty of clearance to get around the door - more clearance than you'd have in the entry to most historic rowhouses around here, anyway. That would preclude using the big desk as a sofa-table-type room divider, but I think it would solve two serious storage problems at once. I wonder if it would even be possible to have two bookcases back to back, with one facing the living room for books and the other offering baskets for leashes and mittens and whatnot on the door side. I'm thinking maybe about 36" high - high enough to make a divider, but low enough not to block light and to make it easy to put things down on top of. Hmm.......See MoreOld school kitchen solution in real estate
Comments (14)Oh, my. I live in a house that still has a dirt-floored room. It is on the first floor, off the kitchen and serves as the wood-storage room (house still heated only with wood, and until 1990 wood was only cooking fuel) and as the cold room to store some kinds of food (aging hams, for instance were/are hung from the rafters). I have made a "floor" in it by laying down vapor retarder, woven polypropylene weed barrier, two layers of shipping pallets, topped with exterior plywood, which I have painted in a cheerful checkerboard faux marble pattern. I mostly did this because the level of the floor (once I hauled out the almost two feet deep and 150 years of compost-ing wood and bark debris and assorted skeletons of long-deceased beasties) was about 18" below the level of the kitchen floor. It was a pain to step up every time I hauled wood into the house. I think my temporary floor is a great improvement. Eventually we may get around to doing something more formal. Or not. Hey, it meets the old-house standard of being a fully reversible change! L....See Moreold house - need ideas for tricky front hall/stairway
Comments (21)I was about to suggest radiator covers and then teacats beat me to it! I would do a radiator cover and then mount a shelf and appropriate sized mirror over that. I am going to be the naysayer about hooks on that wall at the bottom of the stair. You don't have a ton of space there, and that means that the bottom of the stair will look even smaller and more crowded when you have a bunch of coats hanging on the pegs or hooks. I would use that wall for the 14 pix that you discussed. Use the upstairs wall to do the family geneology items. By the way, I don't think the window at the top of the stairs looks high at all. It is in proportion to the upper floor. Once you hang artwork on the wall to the right of that window, it will connect with the window and make it all work together. The topiary you have there only accentuates the height of the window, as it is still taller than the top of the topiary. If you want something there, I would look for a small arts and crafts style plant stand and put a large vase or a plant with trailing ends like an ivy on the stand. Or you could stand a large vase in the corner with tall twigs and grasses coming out of it. Your home is fabulous - I am SOOOO jealous. It feels like a place that I could just walk in and be at home....See Moreremodeling1840
4 years ago
PRON Dobos Architecture
4 years ago- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoI agree move the rug out of the entry if you want to protect it change the mirror to a piece of art Something like these would work or how about a really cool wall paper in that little alcove
cerileen
4 years ago
Jilly
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoThat rug is fabulous and I love your other decor.
I agree with you about not doing a bunch of little squares (art) ... especially with the glass design of your pretty front door. Too much repeat.
I’d try a tall, narrow canvas or framed art for the left side, or a couple of colorful woven baskets for texture.
.On the right, something small and simple, like cute hooks, or key hooks, etc. Maybe a trio, if size permits.
This place has some really neat ones (I’m not familiar with them, found it in a search, just using as an example):
https://www.knobco.com/category/wall-hooks
.
Where your pot is, maybe something just a bit taller ... basket, small plant on short stand, umbrella stand.
Macrame wall hanging ...
cerileen thanked Jillyshirlpp
4 years agocerileen
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
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IdaClaire