Our Yellow Foyer Reveal | Go Bold or Go Home!

This might end up being the most controversial post and/or project in the history of this blog.

Yes – today, it is Our Yellow Foyer Reveal.

And yes. We did just say yellow.

This space has seen a crazy evolution in the last two years or so. It has by far been the most challenging space design-wise and as such, has resulted in the most experimentation probably of any room (with the exception of maybe the living room.)

Let’s take a step back and look at the evolution of this space, shall we? You guys. This was Moving Day. 

Let’s just let that soak in for a minute, shall we?

So much has changed since then. See to the right? That weird shelf where the globe is? That is now our feature planked wall in our living room. See that brick? Ya. That’s not brick. It’s textured tole paint. *cough*

Okay – so here’s what happened. We just could. not. live. with that. Like at all. So essentially, within a month of moving in – we grabbed some wall paper on sale and just covered it up. Neither of us was really a fan of the trellis pattern we bought – but it cost less than $100 and it saved our sanity for a while. We knew we needed to assess the space. How we would use it and such – so a ‘cover up’ was all we could muster at first.

Until it stopped working and we started hating the cover up. Then we knew it was time to start fresh and create a space that was more ‘us’.

So here’s what it looked like when the makeover began. 

No matter what we did – it felt dark. And the pattern commanded so much attention that it really made the rest of the room/living room close in. Not to mention, it sort of felt ‘expected’. There was a time when every single design flip show on HGTV was covering a wall with trellis paper. Once something becomes so ubiquitous – for us, it sort of becomes boring. We’d rather live on the edge 😛

It was an even worse feeling when you were facing the front door. (Whoa tunnel.)And for a couple other ‘before views’ – here you go.

The first thing we knew we had to do was take down the paper. That took us about a week of on-again off-again team work. 

Once that was done, we primed and primed the crappola out of that mural. And proceeded to cover it up with our FAVORITE white – Jojo Whitewash* by PARA Paints. While we were at it, we also took down the weird curvy trim around the doors, removed the wooden bi-folds and rickety-ass shelves from the closet, and replaced the outlets and switches.

And here’s where we ended up. Sleek. Simple. … and yellow. 

Did we fail to mention we also created a focal wall with PARA Paints’ Sweet Mustard? Oh ya. We did that too. We know some people are going to have strong reactions to the yellow. And when we share this on Hometalk – commenters are probably going to say things like “Yuck!”, “Ugh!”, and “Just plain horrible.” – But you guys – it’s JUST PAINT. And it took us only two hours to do one Saturday morning. (We’re working on a how-to post so you all can use our stripe painting method) … and it not only invigorated the space with an entirely new feel and vibe, but it also invigorated US to try some new things throughout the rest of the house. So in all – sure, it was totally risky to paint our walls with even the slightest bit of mustard yellow. But the pay-off has largely been positive.

And, once again. It’s just paint.

As for the rest of the space. We replaced the trim around the doors and as you can see, we also painted that black pit of a front door. We both really wanted a new door – but it just wasn’t in our budget this year. So instead, we chose PARA Paints’ Coastal Views and it totally upped the ante as far as making this door sing. (Coastal Views is on the same paint chip as Midtown Skyscrapers – which is the amazing blue we put on our outdoor garden shed.)

The hooks on the left are our most recent Monthly DIY Challenge and work perfectly for bags and coats – and actually make good use of awkward space.

To distract from the fact that redoing the tile floor was also not in the budget (or timeline), we created a new, stylish drop zone in the old coat closet.

We added some graphic wall paper to brighten it up (you can see the Periscope video Erin did with her tips for wall papering small spaces!) and we slid our Ikea Hemnes shoe cabinet in there. Mostly, we use the drawer for doggy stuff and our keys and glasses end up on top – it works well.

For added style and personality, we hung a painting by Dan’s Grandpa, added in some local beach and antique treasures – including that authentic boat buoy which we bought on a recent trip to Lunenburg.

The little cubbies as you go up the stairs are now dedicated to burlap and wire baskets – one for Erin and one for Dan – and they serve to hold hats, umbrellas, scarves etc. We picked them up at Michael’s on a 40% off day.One thing we did not do that we wanted to was switch out the ceiling fixture. Right now, it’s an apothecary style lantern. It’s great, except because of where it hangs, it’s impossible to dust and keep clean. We got a great fixture at a local yard sale – but we didn’t have the right ladder to replace the fixture safely. The plan is to wait until we have the electrician come by and have him do it. (Sad face – we are staring at a huge electrician’s bill to upgrade a sooooo boring, but sooooo necessary part of the house. *le sigh*)

So that’s it!

Our foyer makeover is basically complete. We are moving on at lightening speed to another sad, sad, room in our house and we’re both excited to start spilling the beans on that too!

Here are a few side by sides to leave you with 🙂

Sorry – had to put that last one in 🙂 Photobombed by TWO of them! <3

Hope you’re having a great week 🙂

-E&D

Sharing this post with any and all of these fine link parties, including Remodelaholic.

This post may contain affiliate links. To see our disclosure policy, click here.

Have you see these other room makeovers?

---