going industrial...a little bit

We have a "2nd entry" area that baffles me.  

It's between the foyer or main entry area and the main living area. 

It serves no purpose really except that it creates a very small and short hallway 

with a huge blank wall.   There isn't enough room to put a piece of furniture there

and Mandi doesn't live close enough to build in a bookcase with some rockin' moulding for me.

I'm tired of looking at the blank wall so I decided to do something about it.

I'm going a little bold for a change; a little bit industrial.

I hung my collection of "3"s and "G"s, or at least the start of the collection.

I hope to fill it in a little more with some smaller ones.

It's a little crazy isn't it?  I like it but do I love it?

I don't know yet.

By the way, they are all hung very straight.  

You just can't tell it in the pictures :)  

Honest feedback anyone?

one more chalkboard never hurt anyone, right?

Remember my entry?  I think everyone agreed it needed a little something in that ginormous gap of blank wall staring at us.

Today, my husband and I went to a local antique mall for a couple of hours and I found a gap filler.

Sorry it's so blurry but the lighting was off.  You know, it wasn't dark enough for a flash but not bright enough for a great picture.  It just confused the camera.  You can still check out my large vintage chalkboard.

It was only 20 bucks and is perfect.

While we were there, I picked up this big "G".  It's about 2 feet tall and it's not old but someone did a darn good job of faking it.

There's some good chippy white paint on that big "G" and it's going to make me happy in my sunroom.

I also picked up these 3 little chalkboard tags with little keys and twine.  They were so cute and only $4 for a package of 3.  I have no idea what I'll do with them yet (except maybe make some of my own for even cheaper. Shhhhh, don't tell)

I may link this up to a couple of my favorite link parties in my list above or down on the right.  

entry room progress

If you've been following, you know I've been working on a makeover of the 2 room entry we have when you enter our house.  Well, we've made some progress and entry part A (the larger main entry) is almost finished.  Let's remember the before:

It was painted yellow, had a wooden bench, black mirror and a hodgepodge of stuff.  Although this was supposed to be a soft yellow, at certain times of the day, it became a blinding sunshine in your face yellow.  So, first thing we did was paint the room a soft neutral.  Now I have to add here, have you seen the latest issue of Country Living Magazine?  It's full of blinding sunshine in your face yellow walls and somehow their's looks good.  Mine didn't.  Okay, so here goes the thrifty "after."

First, we added this PB entry bench set.  Jennie had it and didn't want it anymore so she let me have it.  It was black.  You've seen it before I'm sure.

photo from Pottery Barn

I just gave it a coat of Kilz primer (in a spray can) and then a coat of white paint.

Next, I layered a red/white check quilt that I already had.  I love this quilt.  It looks and feels old but it's relatively new from JCPenney's!  I've had it about a year or so.

Then, I added accessories.  This is an old-fashioned ice cream maker that was my grandmother's. I remember many of my family members (including aunts, uncles, cousins) getting together at a park for a good ol' southern "fish fry" and then making ice cream after dinner, usually peach ice cream. We did this all the time growing up.   It still has all the parts but we just lifted those out, put them away in a safe place and will use the bucket as a place to put umbrellas.  Those new smaller tote-style umbrellas people carry now will fit perfectly in here without being seen.

I made a sign to go above the bench set.  I wanted a big red vintage sign but couldn't find what I wanted so I made my own using the technique I mentioned in a previous post.

This is the little, inexpensive mercury light we added a couple of years ago to replace the builder's standard brass fixture that was there.

This old metal toy horse was kept. It's been in the entry since we moved in because I didn't know where else to put it.  Now, I like it here.  The red and blue colors on it go well in this area now.

...and the details.  This cute simple mirror hung in my Dad's jeweler's shop forever.  It was the only mirror in the shop and the jeweler's used to check their hair in it before going out to visit their clients in Dallas.  (Someday, I'll have to post more about that.  It was an interesting time.) 

vintage bingo set and a flag we received for my uncle's military service

and old metal portable light with wooden handle, tiny stack of red books and a vintage blue glass thingamajig with a wick (I don't know what these are called but I have two; this one and a clear one from my Dad's shop).

We hung the sign, added a vintage-looking wire basket on top and a small woven red basket in the middle.

I painted a small vintage ladder white (but left the galvanized part as is).

So, here it is.  It's finished...for now.

What's left to do?  It needs something.  There is a lot of blank wall on either side of this area as well as between the bench and the section above it.  We most likely won't be hanging a bunch of jackets and coats here so the wall space will stay.  I guess this gives me something to hunt for when we go out junking!

Total cost for the last two weeks of work: less than $10 for 3 cans of Kilz spray primer.  Everything else, I already had.  If we add what I've purchased over the last year: light fixture $50. from Mothology (cool place!)  and the JC Penney quilt I bought on sale for around $60.00. 

I may be linking this up to my favorite link parties listed in my blog list above or down on the right hand side!

How not to measure

Most of the time when my pal, Jennie and I find things that interest either one of us, we are together.  Sometimes we're not.  If we are not together and see something that we know the other has been looking for, we will let the other know. We might even buy it for the other one (the other one will of course reimburse!)  For instance, after I found my french laundry basket, Jennie began looking for one.  I was at an antique mall with my husband when I spotted one for her.  I called to let her know about it even though she was home recovering from back surgery.  She returned my call and was excited about it so I went back to the antique mall the next day after work to get it for her.  I delivered it to her house and it was exactly what she wanted.  

Well as some of you know, I've been redoing my entry, parts A & B.  In the entry part A, there is a niche.

Do you see it there on the left?

I'm not a fan of niches really.  I never know what to do with them.  I'm not a huge beautiful silk flower arrangements kind of girl because that will collect dust that's hard to dust and I'm not a thorough dusting kind of girl either.  I had put a shelf in the middle of this niche to break it up and had put a few things in it but just never loved it.  So, it's getting a little makeover as part of the entry makeover.  I originally wanted to put this little display into the niche but it wouldn't fit (too big.)  So I began the hunt for something else which brings me back to the starting point of this little post. 

Jennie was out stuff hunting with out me and found a chair she thought would work.  She called and tried to describe it to me and it sounded great.  However, I had difficulty grasping the size of it (because after all it is a chair...what people sit in so it can't be that small) and I don't need another thing that's too big or doesn't work.  No problem because 99% of the time Jennie carries one of these in her purse:

Of course this was the one day she didn't have it but she did have that trusty iPhone, so she said she could take a picture and email it to me right then.  I said "don't forget a reference marker so I can judge the size".  She sent the picture with this reference marker:

Now, if that is a normal sized hand (and I know her son whose thumb that belongs to and he is a normal sized kid), then that chair must be itsy bitsy. Jennie said it is appears to be a child's or doll's chair but it is a bit bigger than it appears in this picture.  So, she decided to take another picture with a better reference point:

Yep, that would be Jennie's leg and foot.  We both were thinking that a foot is about a foot long.  So, the seat of the chair is about a foot wide which gives me better perspective.  Then I realized Jennie's foot is not a foot long, not 12 inches!  She's only like 5'8 or something and I think she wears about an 8 or 8 and a half shoe.  (I must admit here that although Jennie and I both have a couple of degrees, neither one of us are good at math.)  You know what, Jennie?  Just go ahead and get it.  The chair is so cute and I'm sure it will fit.

So she got it and dropped it off.  Guess what?  It fit! 

Here's a sneak peak:

I'll post the rest of the niche makeover later in the week.  This part just needed a post of it's own.  The moral of the story?  Always carry around one of those little tape measures or always keep at least one leg shaved with a good tan and cute shoes because you just never know.

(I did get Jennie's permission before showing off her leg. It's a good leg though.  If it were my leg, this post would have never happened...NEVER)

entry parts A and B

After I posted about my completed dining room, I mentioned that my next project was our double entry area.  The entry has two parts; we'll call them A and B.  Part A is the area you first see when you enter the front door.  The new dining room would be on your left.  Going straight ahead from entry area A, you pass through a 2nd entry (part B).  This area is worthless.  The only reason it is there is so a small (tiny) hall can attach to it.  The tiny hall has 3 doors; garage entry, hall closet and door to the laundry room.  This whole area should have been reconfigured to include one door that leads to a large laundry room only.  Oh well, that's a project we'll do after we win the lottery.

I started redoing these entry areas.  I'm not finished but thought you might like to see what I've done so far.
Here are the before pics (and you may need your sunglasses to view):

Standing at the front door, here's what you would have seen.  I am taking the picture standing in entry A.  The next little section is entry B.  Beyond that is our main living area and then french doors lead to a sunroom.  Both entry areas were painted yellow.  When I first did it, I loved it.  It looked like sunshine when you entered the house.  Now, not so much.

Standing in entry B looking back at the front door/entry A.  It all makes my head spin.

Standing in the dining room, looking into the entry A.

Here's the first part of the after.  First, we painted the areas a softer, fresher color.  It's the same color we used in our main living area.

Looks better already!

I've had this bench for years.  I got it for free from a teacher at my school who was retiring.  It looks good from a distance but...

up close, it's a bit of a mess.  I like the rustic nature of it but not the finish.

That's better.  I didn't sand or prep it, just painted.  I wanted it to look imperfect and to show it's age like it was just given a fresh coat of paint.  I put it in entry B.

I added a couple of crates, one below and one sitting on the end.

The one under the bench has "PINEAPPLE" on it.

In the small crate on top, I added a small, round McCoy vase with flowers and a china painting by my mother.

I still have a lot to do but it's coming along.  I have things to hang above it and the whole entry A to do.  I have ideas!  I just need time to complete them.  Hopefully, we'll see a lot of progress over the next couple of weeks.  By the way, total cost so far...nothing.  We had all the paint leftover from other projects and the stuff scattered around the house.  I think I'm going to be able to completely change both entry areas for nothing using leftovers.  My husband hates doing these kinds of projects but he loves the pricetag.