Ladyplace: Sprucing Up the Entryway

Anyone who follows me on Instagram has seen the updates happening in my home. I've gotten a lot done - the only big project left is painting the bedroom which I know will happen one random Saturday when I feel like it. As for the rest of the apartment, I'm in that stage of editing. Changing out things I thought would work, rearranging furniture and accents, seeing what works best where, completely eliminating plans I had to try something new, probably in favor of something easier.

This most notably happened in the entryway, which I thought I wanted to paint black and white striped.
Alas, I realized that was too lofty a task to take on, and I had the idea for a gallery wall in mind all along. I thought it would be too busy with stripes behind it.

Behold, the entryway when I first moved in...  not where the desk is, but that area in the back right of the photo. It was essentially a holding room for items I didn't know what to do with. I quickly sold the large Ikea mirror...

...and picked up a rug off Joss and Main and this little console table from Overstock. Note that's one of the two doors into my bedroom.

Rearranged it a bit to be more eye-catching when you walk in. Lovely, yes. Alas, nothing special.

So as you've seen with my living room gallery wall, I've amassed a sizable collection of black and white art, most of which is my own (so can we really call it art? sure we can). I still had a good selection that didn't make the cut for the living room display. Black and white photos from my travels, my European monument sketches, art I picked up in Paris, a New Orleans street sign, a page torn from a J.Crew catalogue... you know. High-end, museum quality stuff. So I opted to hang it all floor to ceiling in the entryway. Completely fill the space.

Not going to lie. I think it turned out awesome.

(Please excuse the crappy quality photos. This was shot in the middle of the day - that's how little natural light my entry gets.)

Either way, as you can see, my rug was NOT holding up for this high traffic area. Between all the snow, the thaw, the rain, dogs, my boots, etc., the light jute quickly stained and has been getting worse by the day.

Commence Sprucing Up Scene 2.

Enter my new polka dot rug from Lulu and Georgia!
(Technically called the Pinhole Rug on their site.)

IT'S SO FLUFFY!

I knew I needed a dark color to mask all the dirt settling in this area, and the polka dots are too fun. A perfect alternative to my original plan for stripes.

Now I just need a larger mirror. Still dreaming about this gilt guy.

Can't wait for John and Maura to step in and photograph this space properly.

But for now, Tucker approves. And that's saying something.

See how other bloggers, including Danielle, styled their Lulu & Georgia goodies on the L&G blog!

And... you can do some sprucing of your own with Lulu and Georgia! Just use the discount code NEWYEARSPRUCEUP20 to get 20% off your purchase now thru Sunday, February 2nd! Yay! Free honey for everybody!

Ladyplace: Plans for the Entryway

I love that my teensy apartment has a formal entryway. I find the separation of rooms charming, and I want to make a Wow! impact for guests when they arrive (and to put a smile on my own face when I walk through the door). Wallpaper is out of the budget and the question, because let's be honest, who knows how long I'll even live here... but I'm thinking stripes are a perfectly suitable alternative!

Behold: the inspiration

I definitely want to do vertical since it's a small space and no single wall is especially long. And I want slightly wider stripes (like the powder room shot above) - I'm worried thinner stripes will feel like a jail cell.

My entryway has been nothing special at all since moving in. Mostly a holding area for my old coffee table, shoes, and dog paraphernalia.

Until FINALLY, I was able to get a perfect entryway table. It was difficult finding the right size because it  couldn't be too deep, and I definitely wanted it to offer some kind of storage. I knew I wanted a light color since I was going to put black on the walls. 

This white wooden 3-drawered option from Overstock works perfectly!

It's also available in grey and a washed mint, both of which I was considering. But ultimately, I knew I wanted LIGHT and BRIGHT.

As you can see, that door straight ahead leads to my bedroom, but I've decided to leave it permanently closed since it's the only wall space in the bedroom that fits my dresser. (As you can see in my full apartment tour before I moved in, the bedroom has two entryways.)

You can also see I'm finally getting my letterpress European series framed properly thanks to affordable custom framing at Framed and Matted! Those will be hung here in the entry. But more on that later.

Still lusting after this French gilt mirror from Wisteria (which is conveniently out of stock). 

Not sure what I'll do about the rug. The jute one I got off Joss and Main simply isn't the right size and the door gets caught on it. Fooey. Maybe a flatweave from Dash and Albert. Don't know... we shall see. This is a heavy traffic area and the rug will get very dirty. But now I'd be hesitant to put dark or a pattern on the ground since I'm going striped walls.

Help! What do you all think?!

UPDATE: per reader Annie's suggestion, I moved some things around and instagrammed the new arrangement. LOVE it. The door looks like a great architectural accent instead of a secret, unused door. Thanks, Emily!