Category: Entryway

The Entryway with its New Sideboard

Hey now! The entryway is looking like a real, finished space!

We do a lot of walking in this neighborhood, so we use the front door more often than the back. I had a runner along the wall for a while, where we would line up our shoes, but once the weather turned colder, we needed more storage for hats and mittens and the like. Plus our mail (and everything else) was piling up on the dining room table. Now everything has a home in the entryway.

This house is well-suited to solid antiques and quirky pieces of furniture, but sometimes IKEA does the job (and does it well). The sideboard I chose is somewhat plain, but with the addition of some knobs and a vintage rug beneath, I really like it. Plus if it was too precious (read: expensive), I wouldn’t feel so great about using it as a glorified shoe cabinet.

The kids backpacks are inside on the left half, along with two pairs of shoes each. I added cushioned shelf liner to the bottom so that it could be removed and cleaned if needed. Normally their hats and mittens are inside too, along the the top shelf, but when August and Eleanor saw me taking pictures, this happened.

Our shoes go on the right side, and my purse can go inside too. More often than not though, I leave it on the chair (which is supposed to be a spot to sit down and put one’s shoes on). The tray holds mail, and the basket is for Brandon’s wallet, phone, and keys.

Vintage scouting trophies, because why not? The kids like them.

There are a few things to do still. The rug needs a thin pad underneath, and the floor outlet would blend more if the cover was wood instead of plastic. I’m a little worried that something will happen to the painting, since its within easy reach of the kids, so I’d like to frame and hang it. I’d also like to bring in more blue elsewhere, but that’s something that could happen in the larger context of the space with the adjoining rooms. Or if I come across another rug that I like equally but that fits the space better (longer), I can swap it out and find a new spot for the blue one.

Maybe I’ll paint (the walls, not the wood). Maybe I’ll add some art near the door. The house will grow and change in time, but for now, the entryway is done.

p.s. Here’s what the space looked like this morning after we went out to play in the snow. Clearly, I took the other pictures after I tidied up a bit.

And this is why I want to get that painting up. Too close for comfort here!

December 9, 2013
Choosing Storage for the Entryway
Mittens, gloves, hats, and scarves are taking over our dining room chairs and table. It’s getting cold out and the dining room is the next space beyond our entryway, so everything is landing there. I’ve been planning to add some storage in the entry, below the stairs, as we do have some space to work with and could use the added functionality. The entryway vignette below would be entirely welcome in my house! Too bad it would never work (even though I do already have a framed vintage botanical print).

First of all, that particular table is a dining table. We have some space to work with, but not that much. That’s easy enough to remedy by substituting a sofa/console table, but the second reason it wouldn’t work is that while it looks great, a simple table is low on practicality. We need storage, and that setup offers none. Baskets could be added, over even one of the random old treasure chests that came with our house, but I’d like something with doors or drawers. Third, the paneling below our stairs is beautiful, but this is a very wood-heavy Victorian and more wood is probably the last thing the entry needs.

Mixing woods can be done, but it would have to be done carefully and I’d prefer to contrast the details of our woodwork with a more clean-lined, modern piece in a painted or lacquered finish.

The feel of that entryway above though, that’s still good! There’s still plenty of inspiration to pull from it. As I mentioned above, I have a similar botanical print. It may not go in the entryway itself, but it will probably be on the first floor nearby somewhere. The other elements — a light, a pretty bowl, some decorative vases, books, and a place to sit — are just the result of good styling. Easy enough to incorporate with a different piece of furniture. So, speaking of, here are fifteen sideboards, buffets, bars, dressers, and credenzas that I’d considered, including the one that I bought. There were more options (!), but it was getting a bit ridiculous to present all 442 of them here.
1. Lubna Chowdhary Tiled Buffet, West Elm, $699
  The metallic finish is nice, but the squares would compete with my paneling.
2. Amsterdam Cabinet, Ballard Designs, $999
  WANT WANT WANT. Just not for the entry.
3. Broyhill Brasilia Dresser, Chairish, $2400
  Mid-century doesn’t play so well in a Victorian, though this is beautiful.
4. PS Cabinet, IKEA, $99
  I had one of these little guys as a dining room buffet years ago in our apartment. LITTLE is the key word here.
5. Dupla Credenza, CB2, $499
  Cute, but probably too cute.
6. STOCKHOLM Beige Sideboard, IKEA, $379
  (It’s in stores but not the US site yet.) Kind of plain, but good proportions.
7. Tree Rings Cabinet, Anthropologie, $398
  I’m so into this little cabinet! Again though, too small.
8. Rustic Raw Mango Storage Console, West Elm, $499
  Nice, but not enough storage.
9. Moro Dining Cabinet, Room & Board, $2299
  This comes in five wood finishes, and I’m sure one of them would look fine in the entryway. I love it, but it’s pricey.
10. Mid-Century Dresser, Chairish, $499
  Another great vintage piece that would look fantastic… in a different house.
11. BJURSTA Sideboard, IKEA, $249
  I’m not feeling the blocky legs, but it isn’t bad.
12. Fuel Red Credenza, CB2, $499
  Super glossy with rad proportions, but a bit low to the ground.
13. Traveler Chest, Anthropologie, $1698
  This wouldn’t look right against my woodwork, but isn’t it interesting?
14. Metal Bexley Bar, World Market, $529
  Looks cool empty, but would look cluttered with the kids’ winter gear.
15. Circulation Chest, The Land of Nod, $799
  I’ve been crushing on this since it came out, but like the first option, those little squares would compete.
I’m going with number 6, the STOCKHOLM beige sideboard. I don’t want anything too precious, since it’s going to be used on a daily basis by the whole family, and I’m hoping the sideboard will hold up. It’s not my absolute favorite of the bunch (that would be a toss-up between numbers 2, 7, and 9), but the style, scale, and price are right. There’s potential for modification down the line with paint and/or beautiful hardware, but I think it will look great as-is once it’s in place and styled up a bit.

Which would you have chosen?
December 2, 2013
The Victorian House: Entryway, Double Parlor, and Dining Room

Let’s just get this out of the way: I have no plans to paint the woodwork in the house. I know that I have become notorious for painting wood because I did it to the trim in my last house, but that wood was awful. This wood is not.

Onward! Pictures of the house! Here is the front entryway.

I KNOW. We’re still pinching ourselves.

To the left of the entry is the first parlor. Hello, charming curved windows!

The pocket doors between the first and second parlor mostly work. I imagine they’ll be open most of the time though.

Continuing on, to the second parlor. We have a fireplace! I’ve never lived in a house with a fireplace before.

Another pocket door that almost closes all the way. (Not bad for a house from 1891.)

The dining room is on the other side. The beams are not original, but they were well-matched to the existing honey oak trim. The freestanding breakfront wasn’t going to be included with the house, but the sellers felt it should stay and surprised us by leaving it.

Here’s the dining room, looking back toward the entry. The door on the left is a coat closet, beneath the stairs. You can refer to the partial floor plan I shared yesterday and everything should make sense.

The white walls are such a beautiful blank slate. I have a million ideas for the house, but our furniture won’t be coming until Friday and I want to see how everything starts to come together before making paint/wallpaper decisions.

Tomorrow, I’ll share the rest of the first floor. Wallpaper ahoy!

August 26, 2013
The Victorian House’s Floor Plan: Entryway, Double Parlor, and Dining Room

Photos are coming tomorrow, as promised! I wanted to put a partial floor plan up first though so that the rooms will make more sense.

I’m not going to post a full floor plan of the new house, because that kind of thing makes me a little nervous when it comes to the bedrooms and such. I think it’s helpful here though, to at least understand how the parlors (fancy!) align with everything else. It’s a pretty standard Victorian, which means it can seem like a jumble of rooms if you’re not familiar with them.

That’s to scale. The doors will all be open most of the time, save for the front door and the one to the closet under the stairs (accessible from the dining room). The rest of the main floor also includes the kitchen, a bathroom (with a shower, no tub), my office, and access to the basement and backyard off of a back stairway.

That’s a little incomprehensible to me, by the way. Who has a second stairway in their house!? The Huxtables, that’s who. You should have heard me and my mom on the phone, when I initially told her about this house. We were giddy over those stairs.

August 25, 2013