A closer look at the design decisions being made in a fixer upper entryway - See exactly what will be happening with the walls, flooring, and decor as the makeover progresses.
MACTAVISH HOUSE | Updated October 29, 2024
The demo is completed in my soon-to-be entryway and I am so excited to finally be able to show you my vision for the small space. After a lot of time spent tearing the room apart and quite frankly making things worse than what they were before, it feels good to see the possibility of things cleaned up again.
MISSED THE START OF THIS SERIES?: Have a look at the Before Tour to see where the room started.
My plans had to change from my original design for a couple of reasons that I'll explain below. I'm going to share both plans with you today so you can see how things evolved. Please know that when you are doing any design project that it is important to be flexible and make adjustments along the way if necessary!
In case you've missed the start of the series, here is a look at what this former pantry looked like in my fixer upper:
WALLS AND FLOOR
This former pantry space is a very tiny room, but my goal has always been to make it feel as large as possible.
- One of the best ways to give the illusion of a larger space with little natural light is to paint it white. While darker colors are cozy, white allows what little light there is (either natural or artificial) to bounce around and expand the space.
- The other way to help make this space feel larger is to add as little material layers back into the room as possible. If you read my week two post, I mentioned I took two layers of ceiling tile and hardboard off of the ceiling and removed two layers of subfloor and two layers of linoleum from the floor. Although no one layer was very thick, when you put six needless layers together, a little extra headroom is found.
To cover the long empty wall where the cupboards were, I'm doing a vertical board and batten treatment to tie into the bumped out section created to hide the heating duct in the corner. (You'll get a better idea of what I mean in the next post in this series.)
As for the flooring, to contrast with the white walls I wanted to do black tile on the floor in a herringbone pattern that would continue into the adjoining bathroom.
To make an easy install, I chose a groutable vinyl tile. It was easy to work with for my faux fireplace build and still felt like real tile. Not only is it easy to cut, but the vinyl is much thinner than a real stone tile, so I wouldn't loose much floor to ceiling space. It would also transition nicely into the old threshold installed going into the kitchen.
I ordered the tile from Lowes and as you can see from the inspiration picture below, it was dark with shades of black and gray. But when I opened the box, it was more lighter gray with swirls of tan and an occasional shade of black. I think there was maybe one tile in the box that looked like the product image online. Things rarely look the same in real life as they do on a computer screen.
This had been the only vinyl tile option I could find that would work, and I had picked it up from the store just as the pandemic stay at home orders were starting, so I didn't have the opportunity to continue in-store browsing elsewhere.
Instead of looking for more tile, I decided to go with restoring the hardwood floors I had found under the subfloor. While I don't love the idea of walking into the house with wet and dirty shoes and stepping onto wood flooring, it will work for now. And I actually like how it looks better over the tile idea anyway.
BATHROOM DOOR
To solve the issue of the bathroom door opening into the entryway, hitting the light fixture and scraping at the old uneven floors, I have decided to install a barn door.
So many readers commented on my before tour about using a barn door or pocket door to solve the issues. It was nice to see we were all on the same page.
I haven't ordered the hardware yet because I'm having trouble deciding whether I want to go with black like you see pictured or if something like aged brass would add nice contrast with the stark black and white color palette. Opinions?
I'll be sharing more about what I'm doing with this door in week six of this series.
LIGHTING
I've looked through a lot of lighting options lately for this space. It is hard to find something compact that won't stick down too far where people will be walking. There should typically be at least 7 feet of space underneath a fixture in a traffic zone, but that is difficult in a abnormally low-ceiling height area like this one.
I had my heart set on something with visual interest and finally found a flush mount Moravian Star that I like and am crossing my fingers that it will work.
There were some suggestions about installing wall sconces instead of a ceiling fixture. I love that idea, but unfortunately it won't work in here at the moment. I'm dealing with an old home and the ceiling fixture is the only wiring in the room to work with. There are not even any outlet plugs. The wiring for those sconces would also end up on the outside of the wall since I'm doing the board and batten directly over the old exterior walls to keep from losing more floor space adding studs to the wall.
DECOR
Aside from the flooring, the other departure from my original design came with my rug choice. I LOVED the one in my planning, but it has been out of stock since before I started shopping this space, and I suspect with the way things are at the moment with the supply chain issues, it won't be restocked any time soon.
I finally gave up waiting and have gone with a Joanna Gaines rug instead. Options are limited here because I need something larger than a 2x3 entryway mat size, but a runner is too long.
In addition to the rug, I will be refinishing a $2 mirror from Goodwill, building a rustic wood console table that rivals one from Restoration Hardware costing over $2,150, and adding some vintage hooks to the wall for coats.
The only thing I'm still hung up on is finding a small bench or chair. Nothing I've found online is quite right and most of the stores in my area are still not open for second-hand shopping. I feel like if I choose a wood framed chair, it is going to make the room feel unbalanced where everything on one side is wood against the black door on the other side. I found an aged brass garden stool but I'm not sure if it would be a strange addition.
It is refreshing to be able to dream of what a space can look like after a coat of paint, new flooring, and a little staging, especially when the current state looks pretty grim as in the case of this fixer upper.
In the next post of this series, I will share the progress that has been made now with paint and a refinished floor. If you love a good before and after, I think you'll be pleased.
More Posts in the ORC Mudroom Makeover Series
WEEK ONE: Entryway Before Tour - See what this space looked like before the demo started.
WEEK TWO: Demo in the Entryway - See at what is uncovered beneath layers of dated paneling, linoleum, and ceiling tile.
WEEK THREE: Entryway Design Plan - You are here!
WEEK FOUR: Cleaned Up and Painted
WEEK FIVE: Building a Console Table - Follow as I DIY a table inspired by Restoration Hardware using boards saved from my childhood sandbox!
WEEK SIX: Barn Door Project - Adding a track to an old door saved from this house for the bathroom
WEEK SEVEN: Mudroom Entryway Revealed
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