Entryway Update

While I feel like this space is still a work in progress, I fear it will be awhile before I actually get to do any of the things I'm wanting to put in here so I better just blog about it now!  As I mentioned in the previous post, I recently repainted the entire house.  This particular area was very dark (and green!) and needed some love!
When I painted the baseboards last fall it fell victim to the "pull paint off the wall when you remove tape" trick.  BUG ME!  In my awesomeness lack of picture taking I failed to get a clear picture of just that, but this should give you some idea...

Pretty hot, right!?!
And I also did not get a picture of the space BEFORE I built the table you see here, but here is a comparison of the paint before and after:

The paint took some time to grow on me, but I LOVED that it wasn't so dark and green! It really opened up the area and made it much more inviting in my opinion.  With a double decker trey ceiling that is easily 12 feet high, only a four foot ladder, and the goofy alcove, you can imagine the fun I had painting this space!

A pregnant person should NOT be on a short ladder painting this. Ha! This shows the contrast in the colors pretty good.

As always, there were several areas that were patched but never painted from the previous tenants that irritated me SO much!  I love seeing those go!!

That's probably what got me through repainting the entire house... seeing all these nasty spots disappear!!Like I said above, the table was a recent build and has been AWESOME because I finally have a place to decorate with seasonal and holiday decor.  I LOVE that! 

It was pretty drab without it, but after a year of searching and never finding exactly what I wanted I decided to give building a try and I'm so glad I did! My friend shared her expertise and within an hour and a half we had this thing completely built and assembled! 

Starting the building process... If you don't have a Kreg I highly recommend one!

My drawer is a "faux" one... I really had no need for it and just wanted the look! This is how it looked after the hour and a half!

I used THIS link from Pinterest and modified it to fit my space.  I left the shelf off the bottom for now, maybe when my kiddos are bigger and I won't fear them climbing on it or bothering whatever is on it I will add something, but for now it works great for me!
Finishing it took longer than I hoped because I'm crazy OCD and had a really hard time committing to how I wanted to do it.  I'm happy with the end result though.

See, even the pocket holes were painted. Took forever and NOONE sees it, but I know it was done and that's all that matters! Ha!

Paint and stain combo was what I finally decided.  I can always change it down the road if I want but for now it matches the rest of my house pretty good.

With the drawer handle.

 So while this post really doesn't show a great "before" with the table missing, I'm sure you can picture it.  There is one small wall that I have my eye on for a project, and I think there needs to be something above the picture frames on the right wall, but I have yet to pinpoint what that is. But for now, here is something that shows I am in fact doing things around here... blog worthy things, even if I lack the time and enthusiasm to blog about it! :)

Just a taste...

For proof that I've been busy painting I wanted to post some of these before and after pictures I took from just my hall.  The rest of the house is still a work in progress with decorating (or I can't find the "before" picture!) but this gives you an idea of what I've been up to the last couple of months!
Throughout the entire main living area of my house we have a beautiful chair rail that has a little darker color on bottom and a lighter color on top.  The colors always had kind of a greenish undertone to me, which I am not a huge fan of.  I was given the go ahead to repaint as long as it stayed neutral, so colors were up to me.  While I appreciated that, picking colors is SERIOUSLY the hardest part of the project in my opinion!  I second (and third and fourth) guess myself during the whole process, and I have to admit, even after it was all done it still took a couple of weeks for me to feel completely happy and satisfied.  What can I say, I'm my own worst critic!  Anyway, here is a good picture that compares what I started with to the finished product...

You don't realize how nasty and dinged up your walls are until you start taking pictures!  I couldn't believe how it looked until I did!  I knew there were a few areas that were bad, but c'mon, some of this is down right gross!! 

Better Before

And after! LOVE!

 And my favorite part was getting rid of the white paint that I had left on the walls when I repainted the trim last summer!

SO glad to see that gone!
This picture gives you an idea of the color I was working with.  Next to the new color it looked REALLY green.  I'm pleased with the change.

My favorite part was getting to FINALLY put up the "Masterpieces" wall I have had envisioned for months. 

 

My sister gave me this awesome vinyl (as seen on Pinterest) at Christmas time, and I had two of these frames already... pair that with my burlap obsession and I'd say it turned out pretty cute!  I love being able to switch out the different projects, and E loves seeing his art work on display as he comes out of his room!  He will pick one project out to talk about and relive the experience, which I think is really neat!
So there you have it!  A little glimpse as to why I have been MIA, and a taste of the fun things I've been up to!  It has really been quite the undertaking of projects, but has made this deployment fly by!  With my countdown to A returning and baby brother coming, I assure you more of these posts will be happening as things are completed!  I, myself, am looking forward to the "finished" product!!