Entryway Refresh – Inspired by a Peacock Print

Larisa’s entryway refresh plan aims to help the household stay organized and add some peacock-inspired style.

Table of Contents

• Entryway Refresh Step 1: Declutter, clean, and assess
• Entryway Refresh Step 2: Organize
• Entryway Refresh Step 3: Let’s add some color and style!

As I laid out in our September Entryway Refresh Challenge Post (scroll down to the Larisa’s Entryway section), I have three basic goals for my entryway refresh:

1. Control the chaos… for good
2. Clear the bench (so we have somewhere to sit and put on our shoes)
3. Upgrade the style

Here’s the before picture.

It can’t go anywhere but up, right? So, here’s the plan:

Entryway Refresh Step 1: Declutter, clean, and assess

It’s clear that the entryway just can’t fit everything we want it to. The Gatorade has to find a new home, as do the bags. Shoes will be limited to the ones we wear frequently for that season. And we need a solution to all the keys, wallets, chapsticks, etc.

As a side project to our entryway refresh challenge, I’m also looking at my nearby coat closet, as a place to put some of this stuff. What a mess. Living in Maine, we have to have all the things – gloves, hats, gators, non skid things for the shoes when it’s icy, snow pants, rain gear, bug bafflers, scarfs, lunch bags, and masks! (oh my!)

While I considered really putting some $$ into this project and buying these organizers from Amazon, I decided it didn’t really need that big of a solution. I think a hanging sweater organizer ($30) will work for most of our winter gear and it has a zipper so things will stay clean and in place. AND by getting all the winter accessories off the closet shelf, there’s now room for our bottles of Gatorade and jugs of water.

Entryway Refresh Step 2: Organize

Shoes, shoes… why do two people have so many shoes?

I found this shoe rack in the coat closet. It’s a nice shoe rack but it was smothered by coats so you couldn’t really see it. So I’m showing it the light of day. This will work better than the sad, small shoe rack that was under the church pew. We’re getting too old to be bending low to put our shoes away. We need to make this easy or we’ll never do it. So, since I have it, I’ll be spray painting the chrome shelves with Rust-o-leum Oil Rubbed Bronze so it’s matches the other decor in this area. It’s not totally necessary, but what the heck?

Bags: Reusable shopping bags we’ve decided to leave in our cars. Now all we have to do is remember to take them back out to the cars after shopping. So that takes care of that!

Ephemera: All those essentials that you need by the door so you don’t forget them – keys, wallets, chapsticks, hand sanitizer, etc.

Right now, all this ephemera sits on the bench in a pottery bowl. Since I want to clear the bench for sitting, I’ve decided to make a hanging crochet basket that I can hang from the shelf above. This is a good solution for me because 1) I love to crochet and 2) I think crocheted items make things more cozy. And you know I love cozy.

Entryway Refresh Step 3: Let’s add some color and style!

As I mentioned in my first post, I wanted to use a peacock picture I have in my entryway as inspiration for adding more color to this area. As another opportunity to add something cozy, I decided the church pew bench needed a cushion, and maybe even a box pleated skirt. I found this fabric at fabric.com and I liked how it included peacock blue, and also sage green and orange, which would tie the paint in the entryway and living room together as well. Oh! And it’s outdoor fabric, so even with raincoats dripping on it, it will be ok!

I’m still waiting for my order to arrive, but I bought some cushion foam at Joann’s and had them cut it to the right length. I had to cut the width myself, which I did with a serrated bread knife. It’s not perfect, but any jagged edges can be smoothed over with batting and fabric, so I’m not too concerned.

Other new décor

I decided that I needed a rug (more cozy!) especially as winter is coming and there will be lots of wet boots and coats in our futures. I ordered this inexpensive jute rug from rugs.com , which I think will add some subtle texture.

The shelf

I love the shelf in this area. It’s pretty new – one of Jon’s famous pipe shelf creations. I try to keep it up with seasonal decor, but it sort of devolved over the summer. I took this opportunity to refresh it with some new houseplants from Jill and I found this great Mexican vase that has a blue bird on it, which I think goes perfectly with my peacock theme. I’ll probably keep tweaking this throughout the month, and maybe even add a pumpkin or two to make it seasonal.

Not bad for a week into the challenge, right? I still have 3 more weeks to sew my bench cover and skirt and to keep getting organized. Stay tuned for next week’s update to check on my progress.

Are you following along and doing your own September Entryway Challenge? Be sure to send us your photos to makers@timeonourhands so we can see what you’re up to!