The Entryway

For us our dream entryway would be a subtly elegant, warm & welcoming place for happy hello hugs, where our guests can toss off their coats & shoes and feel right at home...instead it was a stark square of blah.

Yep, blah.

No lights. No lightswitch. Subfloor paired with yellow paint in the closets.  Oak door with gold hardware. Buh-lah.

Enter a craftsman husband and some Pinterest inspiration.

Dream.Come.True.

Now for the process photos...

D ripped out the closets which exposed a second beam in the entry and yanked out the drywall so he could add wiring later. 

That yellow is just...wow. 

So the box in the pic is the back of our pantry.  Initially we were thinking that framing around the pantry all the way to the top of the ceiling would look really clean, but once he exposed that beam and we saw how open it was, we decided not to add the additional framing and wall.

Time to fend off a nosy wife and dog so he can get back to wiring.  He cut into the subfloor to run a wire from the location of the light switch, which he was going to add, to the second light.

Once he ran the wiring for the lights and the switch he hung the drywall.

Also at this point I primed the door and we started experimenting with the color.

He also patched the spots in the closets where drywall was missing.

At this point our paint trials were on both walls, I think we tried at least ten colors.  Let me tell ya, the color samples look SO different on the wall & SO different in the lighting of our home than they did on the paint swatch. Trial and error people, trial and error!

After hanging the drywall he added a skim coat, then textured the walls about halfway down.

Everything up until this point in the process felt like it took FOREVER. I mean FOREVVVVVER. The next steps were SO gratifying since each one was a noticeable improvement.

We chose the color Dawn Gray from Behr Marquee for the door and D painted it - http://www.behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/MQ5-28

D changed out the hardware on the door, he chose this entry set in flat black along with the matching hinges, it took a couple of hours to install and was absolutely worth every moment - http://emtek.com/Tubular-Entrysets/lausanne

At this point he put in the floors, we chose the Enderbury Hickory laminate flooring since it was the closest match to the flooring we had - http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-Enderbury-Hickory-8-mm-Thick-x-5-3-8-in-Wide-x-47-6-8-in-Length-Laminate-Flooring-25-19-sq-ft-case-367551-00089/203139509

Then came installing the lights, we chose these lantern style lights - http://www.homedepot.com/p/Designers-Fountain-Cape-Cod-Wall-Mount-Outdoor-Bronze-Lantern-HC0303/202937476 

I really like to add manly touches to keep our home comfortable for D, I think it is important that our home looks and feels like a reflection of both of us (Tangent: If you are obsessed with candles like me, but want your husband to not fake sneeze every time you burn it, check out this candle, it is AMAZING - http://www.amazon.com/Decoware-Richly-Scented-Tobacco-2-Wick/dp/B00FZFLU8G)      

We caulked and primed the ceiling then painted it with Behr's Swiss Coffee flat paint - http://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-Premium-Plus-1-gal-Swiss-Coffee-Flat-Zero-VOC-Interior-Paint-101201/202761504

We chose Behr's Dolphin Fin flat paint for the walls - http://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-Premium-Plus-Ultra-8-oz-790C-3-Dolphin-Fin-Interior-Exterior-Paint-Sample-790C-3U/202182496

We really wanted some rustic finishes and decided to trim out the door and the opening with reclaimed wood.  I found a lumberyard out in Placerville, Ca which worked out perfectly since D had a job out there, he chose some great pieces that came from an old barn - http://www.millwoodreclamation.com/

The guys at the yard power washed some of the pieces and left the rest with chipped paint.    

We played around with the side to top ratio on the trim, for the large opening we went with 6" on the top and 4" on the sides.  

Lastly he built the board and batten wainscoting - he used 1/8" backing board, primed 1x4's for the boxes, 1x2's for the cap on top, 1x6 for the base of the trim, a doorstop to separate the base of the trim and the boxes and 3/4 round base shoe.   

All of the trim was painted with the same color used on the ceiling, except in a semi-gloss finish - http://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-Premium-Plus-1-gal-Swiss-Coffee-Semi-Gloss-Enamel-Zero-VOC-Interior-Paint-301201/202761528 

A couple of my favorite details are the smooth texture that he added to the ceiling beams (filled in a huge gap in the one on the left too!) which gave the beams a clean smooth finish, the vintage light bulbs and lastly the shelf D added in the bench opening, I just love the pop of the rustic wood against the clean, white trim. 

What we splurged on:
The lights, bulbs, lock set, reclaimed wood and the doorstop

What we learned:
Be flexible.  Our overall vision for the entryway stayed the same but some of the details changed - definitely for the better!  It was actually really fun getting to toss around different ideas to decide on a design that we both love.  

What I learned: 
Be patient.  These things take time, in our case, this took about seven weeks start to finish.  

What now: 
A break.  That man put in some work, it is time for him to sit down with a cold one and catch up on some football and hockey!  We are still on the hunt for the perfect bench, but it might just have to be something we make.   

Also, Christmas!!!!! 

We are looking forward to enjoying this entryway by filling it with friends and family during this wonderful season! 

Hope you are staying warm and inspired! 
D & H  

Hi!

Welcome to our blog!

This is me, I'm Heather

and this is my husband Donald

This year we bought our first home in beautiful northern California and are in the exciting, exhausting and seemingly endless stages of fixing it up.  He is a carpenter and I love interior design, so the possibilities seem endless!  

His creative process is methodical and calculating while mine is brash and fearless.  His finished work shows his craftsmanship and attention to detail, while mine is just, well finished - it's funny how the balance of our personalities naturally plays out in our projects!  

I've wanted to share some of our DIY projects on a blog but only in a way that it would add to the substance on the web, not the clutter.  

Something I don't want to add to the web is a shop - we create things because we love the process and we love the results.  It's fun coming home after work and investing our time and creativity in things that inspire & challenge us, that make our home special, that make unique gifts and that give us time together to learn and grow - the kinds of things that you can't buy at a store. 

So here it is, our blog of vetted projects.  Our bad ideas.  Our good ideas.  Someone else's good ideas that we tried to make.  Someone else's bad ideas that we wish we were warned about.  Probably some occasional pictures of our dog Laila because she is just so darn cute.  

I know right?

Everything on this blog is ours, and we want to encourage you to make it, and make it yours!

~D & H