The Family Room Entrance

I thought I would show you the progress we've been making on our family room entrance.

In an effort to keep this as inexpensive as possible, we actually relocated a shelf we weren't using from another part of the house.

It's a very simple shelf with a peg rail across the bottom.

 You can see in the photo where the shelf was. It was in a hallway off the family room, towards the playroom. You can also see it wasn't really being used where it was.

I think when I work on this little hallway, I may use that wall to create a gallery wall of family photos.

We kept it as simple as possible - Oliver's leash, my market bag, a small ironstone tray for keys, a basket for mittens and Willen's backpack when he's home.

Now I just need to sew a simple cafe curtain, and find an old bench.

The Family Room Entrance

January always brings with it the desire to freshen up our home.

I'm fairly certain I'm not the only one who suffers a sort of fluff-your-nest syndrome when the house suddenly feels a tad empty with Christmas stored away once more.

Rooms take on the feeling of a blank canvas, and I feel inspired to begin some of those projects that have sat on my mental to-do list for far too long.

January also brings with it snow.

And snow brings a plethora of boots and other winter things that can leave an entrance feeling overcrowded and chaotic - especially with little ones.

This is our side entrance. It's in the family room, and it's the entrance used most often as it's connected to the driveway.

Previously, I used this space for two sitting chairs, however, when I rearranged the family room to allow space for the Christmas tree, the chairs got placed elsewhere in the room. The rearrangement actually feels much more natural for this space, and with the tree now gone, I've been left with a space I need to fill.

My first thought was to move my desk in front of the window, but when I measured it out, I felt it would be too cramped.

So, I sat for a while and thought.

What did I actually use this space for?

- coming in the door, taking off shoes, a handy basket of slippers, dressing to leave the house

What isn't here that would make doing these things easier and more efficient?

- hooks for backpacks and bags, trays to keep my floors clean, a place to sit when getting ready, storage the boys can reach for things like hats and mittens.

I have roughly five feet of depth to work with.

And I have a large window and radiator in desperate need of some paint to work around.

Here are some inspirations for what I'm drawn to for this space,

[via thedesignfiles.net]

Simple shaker style peg hooks.

[via thelifecreativeblog.com]

The possibility of a built-in under the window, which would double as a seat and hidden storage. This isn't likely though due to the cost of building it, and it being situated in front of a radiator.

[via Country Style Magazine]

Simple shelf with hooks.

[via houzz.com]

An antique bench that would run the length of the space.

Before I begin though, I need to look through the rather large collection of things in storage downstairs and see what I have that I could use first.

With the holidays behind us, and a relaxing week away, I'm feeling refreshed and ready to work.

How gorgeous is this? This was my view for the past week... I rather miss spending the day in the sun with my book. Though I missed my boys tremendously.

Happy Earth Day

 Every year, on Earth Day, our local garden center hosts a sale on all of the previous year's nursery stock. Each year I make plans to attend. I've always had luck finding a variety of Hydrangea or some other perennial for 70% off.

Some of the varieties I've purchased over the years at this sale are PeeGee, Bombshell, Little Lamb, Limelight and Annabelle.

This year I happened to find five more PeeGee Hydrangeas. They were on sale for $10.

While there, I also picked up another White Japanese Peony Tree, 3 Annabelle Hydrangeas, 3 "Snowflake" Oakleaf Hydrangeas (a variety I've been looking forward to adding to my garden) and a few pots of "Cheerfulness" Narcissus. 

I can't get enough of this variety of Daffodil. I'd love to go back and pick up more to plant for Spring next year. I don't have any bulbs in the garden and these are so beautiful. I think they would look lovely around the tree in our backyard, and maybe a few little clusters in the front beds.

For now, I planted them in my containers for outside our front entrance. They really are so cheerful.

Their soft green buds unfurl into white double blooms with bright yellow centers.

I was also thrilled to see that our Lilacs along the West side of the house have budded.

This is the West side of the house. You can see the Lilac bushes between us and our neighbors. Right now, my entire front yard is a mess. Late last Fall we decommissioned our septic tank, and hooked up to city sewage. This was an awful job. The crew did a wonderful job tying down my Lilacs so they wouldn't have to cut them out, so thankfully we can still enjoy them. The grass in the front on the other hand, was completely torn up. We're still unsure as to what we are going to do with it; sod or seed.

However, in an attempt to start to clean it up, I edged in gardens this afternoon. I still need to order soil to finish the beds, but in the mean time, I've come up with where I would like to place the PeeGee and Oakleaf Hydrangeas I bought today.

All in all, what better way to celebrate Earth Day than in the garden?

A New Bench and Living Room Rug

I woke up one morning about six months ago to a lovely red bench sitting by my front entrance. Ryan had already left for an early meeting and was ecstatic when I called asking how it had appeared. He was on his morning walk when he came across it. Seeing it's potential, he came back home, grabbed the car and drove to pick it up.

It's been sitting in my basement waiting for the perfect fabric.

Today I finally got around to recovering it while Willen was at school. It wasn't hard and I'm very happy with how it turned out.

I found a pretty charcoal toile fabric on clearance at our local fabric store. It was $8 a meter. I purchased some with the intent of making a couple pillows or something simple, but when I got home, I realized it was meant for my bench.

The bench has it's original label and was purchased in New York.

It's a Chippendale style bench that had been covered in this lovely red fabric.

I first removed the seat, and stripped it of it's fabric. I took off two layers, but only stripped down to the last professional recovering.

There will still 3 other fabric layers underneath that. You can see the slightest hint of the original fabric. I liked it the best out of all six.

I've never really done much covering, so I just did a simple fold of the corners and stapled the fabric in place.

This particular toile felt very appropriate with Autumn coming.

It was a very simple update, but it makes a huge difference.

I also found a rug for our living room. We haven't had one for over a year. I had an idea of what I was looking for, and had been looking but hadn't found anything that was a inexpensive enough without being cheap.

I finally found this one on clearance at Home Sense. It's a sisal rug with a fabric trim and it's 6' x 9'. It was on sale for $148. I was beyond excited. It does a good job anchoring the room.

And since I have the bench at the front entrance for now, I moved my parlor table back to it's original spot beside my chair.