Friday, October 01, 2010

Just down the hall...

*** 2 posts today folks... after this one... keep reading!***

Can't say I didn't warn you about the color...



Whenever people come over to our house and are taken on a tour for the first time they want to know how it's changed.  It's difficult to explain how interesting the color palette was before we moved in.  I've finally come up with the term "condiment colors".  The main rooms of the house were done in shades of mustard yellow, relish green, and as you will soon see, ketchup red/orange-- a BBQ nightmare.  Thankfully we had lots of helping hands when it came time to paint!


Paint made a huge improvement-- as did removing the mirrored bifold that didn't quite close all the way.  That closet door drove me crazy-- it was next to impossible to close, and if you managed to succeed... it was ridiculously difficult to open.  Not so efficient.  Like the rest of the house, flooring was next on the agenda.



Once the flooring was in, the real work began-- the finishing!  When it came to this step-- Doug and I spent more time in the hallway than any other room in the house because there are so many doorways-- meaning lots of cutting, lots of filling and sanding, and lots of painting!  But I think the finished product looks amazing-- I wasn't going to put the hallway in the tour, but sometimes I think it's my favorite part of the house because of all the long hours we spent putting it together last fall!  So, here it is!


When I saw how great the closet looked all trimmed out, I decided that I couldn't put doors back on.  It kind of looks like built in shelves.  Believe it or not, this is my linen closet.  I do keep extra pillows and duvets in one of the basement closets, but all of my bed linens are stored in here.  We did purchase a new bifold door for the closet-- so the day I can't keep it looking like this... the door goes back on.


I'll admit, sometimes I choose aesthetics over practicality.  I guess I'm a sucker for pretty things.
Amazingly... Caleb hasn't bothered to touch my neatly folded linens... and the closet has survived many bouts of hallway hockey.



Here's a few pictures that show off the amazing finishing Doug pulled off.  When we were selecting the mouldings for the house, we decided to go with a mix of modern and traditional-- flat modern baseboards and plinth blocks with more traditional architrave headers and crown moulding.  Whoa-- how's that terminology for you?  All of those art history classes have really pulled through for me!





A few weeks ago I mentioned that I made a trip to Ikea to pick up a few things for a project I was working on (see this post).  Here's the finished project... a family photo wall for the hallway!

I don't have a lot of family pictures on display in my house since there aren't many places to display them in my house.  The hallway is the perfect place for my pictures.


I am usually a fan of gallery walls that mix and match frames of different colors and textures, but the hall is pretty narrow and I wanted the pictures to blend in more so that I wouldn't be too prominent.  Ikea's Ribba frames worked out perfectly for me-- they come in lots of different sizes and they're cheap!  We had some of our favorite family photos printed in a variety of sizes, came up with an arrangement that worked for the space, and put them up!  Doug is the master when it comes to hanging pictures.

You'll notice that the big frame doesn't have a family picture... yet.  I decided to keep the boat picture in there until we have a family picture where Emerson is a bit older.



And that's my hallway!  Is it weird that it could be my favorite room of the house?

14 comments:

KDees said...

BEAUTIFUL job, Elissa! You REALLY have an eye for decorating. And, who cares if you choose aesthetics over practicality. It looks amazing. I LOVE the family photo gallery. You have inspired me to do something of the same, possibly for our basement. In our old house, I was a bit of a cluttery decorator. In this new house, I want to be simpler and look more like a show home. So, I've been afraid to decorate. The gallery look, especially with the same color frames is simple but very elegant. Love it!!!
PS. How did you find time to do two great posts in one day?

Elissa said...

Look who's talking... I seem to remember you pulling off three posts in one day recently :)

Gina said...

We're moving in to a fixer-up house in November and your renovation posts are complete inspiration for me! And PS: You are looking GORGEOUS!!

kelly ens said...

yep. love it.

Erica said...

I was admiring the photo gallery the last couple times we've been over! I too am trying to achieve something like that on the wall up the stairs...I also wanted to say that I am impressed that there is not ONE spec of dust on the floor in that photo of the baseboards :)

Dan and Lynn said...

Your house looks amazing! You've done a wonderful job (especially after seeing the before photos)! You definitely have a lot of talent when it comes to interior decorating.

Jamie said...

Yep, the hallway looks amazing - I noticed your gallery of family pics last night and really loved them!

Anonymous said...

Please, please come and decorate my house! I am so not a decorator but I love everyone else's houses and can't seem to figure out how to get those looks in my own house. Might help if I cleaned up the clutter...
Love to see the new pictures you post.
Aunt Char

Melissa said...

i agree - you have decorating skills! i love white, too! beautiful hallway!

Carol said...

Another great transformation! Keep them coming!

Trev and Rebekah said...

Love all the pictures

Unknown said...

Where did you get your cute baskets for the closet? You inspired me to finally organize mine!

Instantn0odle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Instantn0odle said...

What did you use for your floor?