Foyer Update Week 5

My foyer is coming together ( I think) as the clock ticks down for the One Room Challenge. I think that I can complete everything with the exception of replacing the upper light fixture! Several family crises have kept me from shopping for a light fixture so that is still on my list. Let me show you a few snipets of what I’m working on now.

I have had this antique Florentine mirror in storage for more than a year waiting for this project. I purchased it at Scott’s in Atlanta. The previous owner had a DIY failure of putting some type of paint or glaze over the gold leaf and decided to sell it.

I purchased Liquid Leaf at Hobby Lobby for the new finish instead of trying to remove whatever the added finish was. If I want to reapply real gold leaf I can do that later but for now this finish suits me just fine. You’ll have to come back next week to see how it turned out. I also used Liquid Leaf on the finials for the curtain rod over the Palladian window. It was easy to use and the one small bottle was enough for the mirror and finials with some left over. Quick drying, easy, and inexpensive; my kind of project!

I saw a Mother of Pearl trinket box at a showhouse in Charleston while I have been working on this project and knew that would be a great accessory. I checked the designer notebook in that room for the source and price. It was a whopping $245, a little more than I wanted to spend. A few days later I ran across this one on the clearance aisle at Homegoods for $12! Such a great price that I got 2. (I just saved $466!!)

This settee is way overdue for a new seat!

Since I long for lots of bright color, I chose this bright pink upholstery velvet for the settee.

I found this new planter at Homegoods too.

This is the new sheer linen fabric that I have chosen for the Palladian window covering.

I wanted to replace the rug with one with very subtle colors and pattern. I saw 2 different rugs that I like in two different shops. This is a small rug, approximately 4 x 6. Both of the rugs that I saw in shops were $1980. That was more than I wanted to spend for this spot. I searched Craigslist to no avail. I decided to look on Etsy and am so glad that I did. I found this vintage rug from this seller for $242. I was a little hesitant since the seller is located in Turkey but I decided to take a chance knowing that I have great consumer protection with my American Express card. I purchased the rug on Saturday night and it was delivered to my door on Thursday morning! Super fast international shipping which was included in the price of the rug. I am a happy customer and I saved $1738!!

Please check in next week to see the final reveal if I am able to complete it! I have another death in my family and some out of town travel between now and next week!

I’m linking to the One Room Challenge at Calling It Home.

Foyer Update Week 4

I am moving right along on my progress on the foyer. This week was devoted to painting. Before hanging the new wallpaper, I painted the molding above and below the wallpaper area so as not to have any mishaps on the new wallpaper. This week I painted the wall below the chair rail, the baseboards, the risers on the stairs, and the spindles, all 75 of them, and the newel posts, the doors to the coat closets, and the doors to the living room and dining room. It was a lot of tedious work. Now I am ready to get to the fun part. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

The photo above is a “before” shot and the photo below is the “after” of the same area.

Another “before” photo above and the “after” below.

And the last “before” above and the “after” below.

If you missed the previous posts you can click here for week 1,week 2, and week 3. I’m joining the One Room Challenge at Calling It Home. Click the link to see lots of great projects!

Have a great week!

Foyer Update–Week 3

I am continuing to make progress on my foyer update. To refresh your memory, this is what it looked like when I started.

One of the projects on my list was to remove the popcorn texture from the ceiling. I first stripped the old wallpaper and placed my order for new paper. I didn’t order until I was ready in case I needed to order more so that I could get the same “run number” if I did need to reorder. I ordered 2 more double rolls than I thought I needed and am so glad I did. Because of all of the waste in pattern matching, I used all of the rolls! I do have a large portion of the last roll left over but  had no unopened rolls left. The paper was on backorder for 2 weeks, so I worked on the ceiling and wall prep during that time. I also put a fresh coat of paint on the crown molding and the chair rail before starting the paper.

While the ceiling is not perfectly smooth, it is a tremendous improvement. I still haven’t decided on a new light fixture yet. The lower foyer light is a small crystal chandelier that hangs in front of the leaded glass fanlight window over the front door and I am keeping it.

After following the directions carefully for wall prep, the paper hanging went pretty quickly and smoothly. I am loving the new look.

I started with the longest strip of paper which was over the stairs and worked my way around.

Since I’m working from the top down, the yellow paint below the chair rail will be the next thing to go.

About 24 hours after I finished hanging the paper, I had an unexpected death in my family and had family coming in from out of town. We took down the scaffolding and cleaned up as best as we could. My aunt who was visiting went in to admire the project. Thankfully, she spotted a small area that I had missed! It was the small corner above the door to the dining room in the photo above. That was a quick and easy fix. Moving on to painting the lower walls, spindles, and all of the doors now.

If you missed my first post on this project, you can read about it by clicking here and if you missed the second post you can read it here.  I’m participating in the One Room Challenge to redecorate a room in six weeks at Calling It Home. Click here to see lots of inspiration!

I’m also linking to Grace at Home at Imparting Grace.

Foyer Update–Week 2

The race is now on to transform this foyer in six short weeks! You can read my Week One post by clicking here.

I’m replacing the wallpaper that has been here since we built this house 28 years ago. Because it is difficult for me to find someone to tackle the labor in this project in my very rural area, this is a big DIY project. I’ve done lots of wallpaper before and my mother and I did this 28 years ago. Actually, my mother did the work on the highest part the first time. The biggest challenge is the height in the open area.

I also decided to take this opportunity to remove the popcorn texture from the ceiling. The popcorn has already been removed in most of the other rooms but this one hasn’t been done yet due to the difficulty in getting to the ceiling two stories high.

The top layer of paper came off very easily. I just found an edge at the seam and started to pull.

Then I sprayed with water which caused the paper to come loose and release from the wall. You can see in the photo above where the paper is starting to bubble up and loosen. There is a steamer in the photo below but I didn’t need to use it.

This section went pretty quickly.

I was able to get all of this done before bringing in the ladders.

I was able to use an adjustable ladder to get some of the paper going up the stairs.

As you can see in the photo above, it made a huge mess. The bottom layer of paper came off in all sizes of pieces, some of them tiny.

This is the dangerous part. I had to use a walk board between two ladders to get part of the paper down and to scrape the ceiling in the corner. I used scaffolding to reach the ceiling in the center. Safety disclaimer: THIS IS NOT SAFE. My son who is a construction management professional walked into the room and said “Mom, this is not safe. Walkboards are not allowed on job sites. You are supposed to be tied off when doing any work more than 6 feet above the floor.” My brother in law walked in and said “Do you know how many OSHA violations are in this room?” I would not recommend any one do this. I did what I could with the equipment that I had. It is my private residence and not a commercial job site.

Scraping the ceiling goes pretty fast. After covering the floors, I used my spray bottle of water again to spray a small section of ceiling. I held a baking sheet in my left hand and used a wide putty knife in my right hand to scrape the ceiling letting the popcorn texture fall onto the baking sheet. I then dumped the material from the baking sheet into a trash can then started on a new section.

While this job required a considerable amount of patience, it was well worth the effort. I’m ready to be to the fun part. Hopefully I will have pretty pictures next week! Click over to Calling It Home to see the progress on the other projects.

Foyer Update–One Room Challenge

I have finally gotten to a project that has been on my “update” list for quite some time…….years to be more specific! This foyer has not been updated since this house was built 28 years ago! Needless to say, this project was long overdue. Because the foyer is open to the second floor it is quite a challenge to decorate. I’ll let the photos do the talking.

The original wallpaper coordinated with the dining room wallpaper which will eventually be replaced too.

Because it is a very tall room with a lot of open wall space I will be replacing the wallpaper with another paper with a large scale trellis print.

All of the spindles will be painted white and the existing white trim will get a fresh coat of white paint.

The plan is to keep the same furniture but update the mirror, lampshades, and rug. The small chair will probably get a new seat.

The coat closet doors on either side of the front door and the doors to the living room and dining rooms will all be painted white.

The yellow “Sugar Cookie” paint below the chair rail will be painted a neutral color to coordinate with the new wallpaper. Hopefully I will be able to find a sheer fabric for a new covering for the Palladian window. It has to be covered to keep the sunlight from fading everything.

I’ll be keeping this settee as I built it from 2 of my grandmother’s old dining chairs about 28 years ago. It was one of my first upcycle projects copied from one I saw in a magazine.  It will get a new seat too. I also plan to update the plant and the planter.

This ceiling is one the the last few in the house that still has the popcorn treatment. Now is the time to remove it! This light fixture will also be replaced if I can find a replacement that I like. The One Room Challenge has a six week timeline which will really push me. Because I keep things a llllooooooooonnnnnnnggggggg time, I like to find things that I really love which sometimes takes years to find. That being said, I will check as many things off this list as I can but have no idea if I will be able to pull it off in 6 weeks. For some crazy reason it is much easier for me to pick out things for someone else’s home than it is for me to pick out things for my own home. Click over to Calling it Home for lots of inspiration every Wednesday and Thursday for the next 6 weeks. It always provides great inspiration and eye candy.

If you are interested in some other updates I’ve made to this home you can click here to see the kitchen update, here to see the guest room, and here to see how I updated the built-in cabinets in the den.

I’m also linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.