I’m so excited to finally be sharing the first room from our main floor reno. We started demo last January, and completely redid every room except for our front living room. (We had made over that room a few years earlier for the ORC. You can see it here!) With some delays and after waiting on some products we were finally ready to photograph it at the end of 2021. To be honest, I didn’t mind waiting a bit longer for some of the pieces I had originally picked out. We had waited 5 years to do this reno, and a few more months to get the products we loved really didn’t bother me!
the Before
Here is how the space looked before. It actually looks so much larger in the photo then it was in real life. There was about 4′ from when you walked through the front door before you hit the foyer closet. There were too doorways on the left and right side that opened into the living room and family. Across from the front door there was a narrow hallway that had a doorway into the kitchen. You can imagine it was a tight space when we were coming in and out of the home as a family!
the Plans
You can see in the existing plan how closed off it was from the rest of the house. A lot of the space was also taken up by storage in the kitchen.
In our new plan, we completely opened up the foyer into the dining room. I love that so much light comes through the house with that wall gone! We had to keep the front door centred on the exterior of the home, however I kept the foyer doorway centred on the patio doors off of the dining so that it would be a balanced sight line when you walked in. I’m always amazed how much of a difference a well layed out space can make. We didn’t sacrifice any storage in our kitchen but were able to fit in a much larger entry.
the After
When we opened up the wall between the old kitchen and foyer, we found out it had a ton of plumbing and HVAC running through it. We were able to move everything over to make the doorway opening, however it ended up making the wall about 18″ wide. It was a detail that wasn’t in the original plan, but I’m so happy how it worked out. We finished it with a soft curved arch and I love that it is the first thing you see when walking into our home.
Getting a new front door had been a change I was excited about making since we moved in. I knew how much it would improve the curb appeal of the house. Its still one of my favourite things to see when we drive up.
We went with our front door hardware from Emtek, and it has been such a game changer! We chose one of their Motorized smart locks, so we are able to lock and unlock it wherever we are from our phone. It’s been so helpful that we are able to check after leaving our home if we remembered to lock the front door or not. They have so many really beautiful designs to choose from with the same technology. I love the simple and elegant design of the style we went with, and that it comes in a matte black finish.
On the ceiling, we used Metrie’s 5-1/2″ Oak flat stock to give a wood shiplap detail. We blocked the ceiling before drywalling it to make sure the boards would have enough support, and then were able to use small finishing nails to hold them in place. You really don’t have to have 10′ ceilings to get aways with adding in this kind of detail. Ours are only 8′ tall, and I love the warmth and texture it adds into this small room. It was also a really simply DIY that Steve was able to install in an afternoon.
We continued the step bevel baseboard and casing from the rest of our home. I chose this style 5 years ago when we started the renos in our house, and I’m still a huge fan of it!
I painted the walls in this room with a lime wash paint from Kalklitir. I used their ivory colour which was a bit lighter then our Benjamin Moore White Dove walls. The texture it adds is really subtle but so pretty!
Originally in the design, I had planned to put a closet in the front hall. However with the mudroom just around the corner, I ended up going with just a spot for a console table. To still give us a good amount of storage, I went with this Metal dresser. I’m always surprised with how much room it holds! The bottom two drawers are for extra shoes and the rest is filled with day to day items.
After deciding to go with black for the main furniture piece, I was on the hunt for a mirror that would bring in some more neutral tones. As soon as I came across this woven rattan mirror I was all in! It was the perfect detail to add into the space.
The decor pieces used to style the cabinet are all from Annie & Flora. I had been eyeing this table lamp from the market for way too long, and am so glad I found a spot to include it in our home! The base has a matte stoneware look that feels so classic and timeless.
This space has already gotten so much use by our family, and has made such a difference when we leave and come back home.
Thank you so much for following along on this reno, and I can hardly wait to show you our mudroom and kitchen reveal over the next two weeks!
-Alyssa
