A {Welcomed} Entry
How do you welcome guests in your home?
What is the first thing a visitor sees when they enter your house?
Does it welcome?
In our home, we enjoy a comfortably, eclectic mix of urban & country...
...provided by the decor sensibilities of artist & farmer.
Here are two of our {Entries} and a few ideas to help you
Welcome Guests into yours.
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Entry ways are the first part of your home visitors see.
For this reason {Entries} should be neat, stylish & welcoming.
Being the first area of the home entered, unfortunately, creates the the tendency, at least in our home,
for this room to become a catch-all of people's junk.
The kid's school bags, coats, and shoes can ALWAYS be found here.
Brent's work gloves, are usually, here too.
One of Jamie's purses and at least two of her school bags {teaching=baggage} are dropped as she enters the door.
(Unless they make it to the dining room table the other inevitable catch-all in our house)
We are lucky that directly off the back entry of our home, is a large walk in closet where we can put the above mess and shut the door so that our back entry usually looks like this...
{The Back Entry... a little bit country & farmer}
Our back {country} entrance is the commonly used entrance by most family & friends.
This is the work-horse entrance that greets three children home from school & in from farm explorations, fort building & chores.
This is the entrance that sends the farmer & artist off to work each day and embraces us when we finish a days work.
It's the honey I'm home entrance...
...and there is no place like our HOME!
In our back entry we often try to have a plant or two to great family & friends with a little life.
We also have a carved log chair in our entry that is definitely a statement piece, as well as, a great place to sit & put on or take of shoes.
These are two of our recommendations for creating a welcomed entry {found below}
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In our entry we have a sign that Jamie {MADE}...
by adding a coat of BHG, antique white colored paint to an old sign board...
and adding vinyl letters placed on top that read...
"Welcome friends & family"
How is that for being obvious?
{Don't forget to create a welcomed Entry outside too}
The exterior entrance of the your home is also a great place to add a welcoming feel with decor.
We love seasonal decorating, and my exterior entrances all reflect the current decor.
The photo above is the back {country} entry to the farm...
Decorated for spring with bright, colorfully-bold, greenery that says to guests...happy spring.
This wreath was won for free.
Decor that has no cost = happy Steffls.
We hope this entry says, "Welcome to our happy HOME!"
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{The Front Entry... a little urban & artist}
The front entry is somewhat stark in contrast to the back country entry in that guests are greeted only with an original abstract mixed-media painting, created by Jamie.
We have a large closet here that helps hide the inevitable clutter. Storage is a must in an entry! We are blessed to have the space to store items out of sight.
We let the finishes of this space do the talking.
Again, as stated in other posts, still not loving this tan wall color,
chosen to match the brick... which we eventually painted white (arghhh).
Thinking it would be more farm fabulous in a white shade or greiges?
For now it stays.
In our {urban} entry we see...
Our beautiful barn door which you can read about here.
The barn door is art to us & is an {Entry} to the master bedroom which you can read about here.
This is one of our major pieces of art inside the foyer.
We have a built-in ledger board that acts as a shelf for a few of our favorite pieces...
•A framed banana leaf print from our honeymoon to the Caribbean.
•An antique vent cover, bamboo for luck
•Two antique scribes
•Two Y's for printmaking???
&
•Another green {vintage} bottle as decor. This one is for chilling wine...
For Our Front Entry a New Door...
To Greet & Welcome.
{Don't forget to created a welcomed Entry outside too}
The front entry, decorated with a wintry mix of greenery, cut from the farm & created by Jamie...
...using a thrifted horn and clearance ribbon...
{farm fabulous frugality}.
{Tips}
To Create A Welcomed Entry in your home
1. Clean out & De-clutter.
The entry is about entering. It should be beautiful & set the stage for the rest of your home. Get rid of anything that serves no purpose. If you have many items stored in your entry or entry closets try to find a different storage area to put them. The entry below is to die for and a perfect example of beautifully minimal.
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| via Pinterest |
2. Include a place to sit near an entry.
An entry should have a place to sit for guests and family members to take off shoes if needed. There are so many options for decorative furniture that can serve as seating. Have fin searching for that perfect entry bench at a thrift store, antique shop or online at places like www.westelm.com
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| via Pinterest |
3.Make it all about storage.
This amazing piece of furniture was created by Erin at a Charming Nest. Check out this great DIY blog for some other great ideas for the budget minded. Erin actually shows you exactly how to build and paint this with built-in via IKEA furniture and parts from your local DIY box store.
4. Practice minimalism.
Carefully choose artwork for your entry because that one piece sets the tone for your entire home. Select furniture accents that complement the art.
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| An entry directly into a living room via Midwest Living |
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5. Make form follow function.
Any furniture piece or built in should serve a purpose. These purposes should be Beautiful but their main function should be storage & organization.
When we remodel the kitchen...This will be my inspiration for our back mudroom, minus the chandeliers which are too fussy for this farm.
It is time to make an EXIT!
{Find} something.
{Alter} it.
{RePurpose} objects.
{Make} your world fabulous!
{farm}
The Steffls
