Foyer - Paint, Architecture, and Organization

I've been thinking about redecorating my foyer for the last month or so.  I know I want to build a bench from the old green shutter panels I bought for $2 each.  I know I want to replace the curtain on the closet with bi-fold doors that have some character.  I know I want a rich color on at least the wall everyone sees when they come in.  And the inside of my closet needs some major organization.

Whenever I start a project, aside from determining my budget, I assess what is going to stay, what will leave, and what will I change.  For the foyer, I already have flooring I like.  It is porcelain tiles in very good shape.  I'm not planning on changing out the entry door and I don't plan on changing the color of the base board molding since it is the same throughout the living room and most other rooms of the house.  This, in part, will drive my color scheme.  I have some material I purchased a few years ago when I bought my living room couch.  I will finally be able to use it to make a cushion for the bench.  It provides me with several rich colors to pick from to enhance my bland background.

So serious!

After 2 coats of paint

 
A Painting we will go!  The color is called 'Spicy Hue'.   It's a shade from the Sherwin-Williams color deck I purchased a few years ago for about $21.  I use it often to decide on color schemes.  Home Depot just programmed the color number into their computer and out came my color in Behr paint.  (Sorry Sherwin!)






Preparation is everything.  I have the majority of my materials on hand.  I've laid out all the shutters, door panels, and shelving boards in the garage so that I can paint and stain as needed in a fairly ventilated area.

Materials gathered for paint and other treatments.

On to organizing that closet.  Remember the before picture?

Before painting

Before this project started

I took inventory of everything I wanted to store in this closet, then decided what containers I needed to hold everything.  I added a shelf above the current one and one below.  I bought some canvas open containers to hold hats, scarves, gloves, etc.  I found a great deal at Shopko for 4.99 each.  I added a vertical divider to house the coat hooks my other family members like so much.  I painted the back of the closet, the vertical divider, and the top shelf.  I plan on staining the other horizontal surfaces for a bit of contrast.

After painting

As for adding new closet doors:  I was trying to think of creative ways to embellish my old, plain, hollow core bi-fold doors that we had saved before putting up the curtain.  I could paint them, wallpaper them, add decorative molding, paste material on them...my list was all over the place.  I really wanted to find solid wood panel doors at the Habitat Restore (a.k.a  CHEAP!).  It wasn't until about 5 trips there, that I found an alternative that I could work with.  They are still hollow core, but they have a raised panel design with some faux wood grain which didn't look bad.  They cost me a total of $4.  I bought 2 new rubbed bronze door knobs there for $2 later (then had to find replacement screws to handle the depth of the door - under $1).   You get what you pay for.  I'm mad at the doors at the moment...you'll see why when I cover the work on them in my next post.





The good news...the interior of my closet is usable and nice to look at.

Hope you'll come back in two weeks to follow my progress.  All comments are welcome.  Just click on the comments link (either 'no comments' or '# comments' depending on how many are there).