Entryway makeover is done!

Happy Tuesday, all! It's a momentous day here at HMH. The entryway makeover is finally finished! Can you believe it? I've been talking about it since February, which means you'll probably be expecting some giant overhaul -- but really, it's a tiny space. I just got distracted working on some other projects -- I can't be the only one who gets easily sidetracked, can I?

Here's how our entryway started out. Sorry -- I forgot to take before pictures until I had already started taping for painting.

As I mentioned, it's a pretty small space, so it's hard to get a good photo. It has a beautiful slate floor that we absolutely love, but without a lot of natural light, the yellowish walls looked a little sickly and really did nothing to complement that floor. (I've talked about my odd dislike of yellow walls before...I know, totally weird). We enter here through the garage (on the right), and guests enter here too. It has a little coat closet next to the garage entry door, and a bigger closet for the washer and dryer. More on that later.

Since the entryway opens to the kitchen, and since we love the kitchen color so much, we decided to paint it the same light green/gray color (Ocean Foam by Behr).

Gettin' my paint on

All done! A night and day shot

After living here a couple months, we realized what we really needed was a flat surface to put things -- mail, purse, sunglasses, etc. Without it, we ended up walking into the kitchen to put our stuff down, tracking through mud and cluttering the kitchen counter. We tried finding a table to put against the only flat wall that isn't in the way of a door, but everything was too deep to fit the 15-inch space. Plus, the baseboard heater kept any furniture from sitting flush against the wall.

So, the hubs and I sat down and designed shelving that would attach to the wall, and ended up with cubbies. I wish I could give you more details on how to make this, but one day the hubs decided to tackle it himself as a surprise for me. Awww...

But it still needed to be finished. So I gave it a coat of primer...

We decided to paint it a fun color that would match the floors, and grabbed some samples from Behr. We ended up picking Juniper Ash (second from the left, I believe).

I gave the cubbies two thin coats of semi-gloss paint, using a small angled Purdy brush. I did this in the basement, so I apologize for the poor lighting.

 

Once it was up on the wall, I decided the cubbies needed baskets. I searched high and low at Michaels, HomeGoods and Target, trusty tape measure in hand, to find baskets that would fit the 6-and-1/4 inch cubbies, but no go. I thought I found something, but it was just a smidge too big. (The hubs informed me that, clearly, the basket was 6 and 3/8 inches long. Stupid 1/8 inch difference...).

 

Out of desperation, I shopped the house and shoved anything I could find in there...annnd...eureka! This cute little eyelet tote from Bed Bath and Beyond was just the right size. I jumped in the car and bought three more, but with my $5 off coupon, I really only paid for two....yessss.

I wanted to give the totes a little bling, so I decided to make some cute numbered labels using card stock from Michaels and some leftover ribbon from our wedding centerpieces.

We also wanted some easily accessible hooks for hanging the jackets we wear every day, scarves, hats, etc. It's not like it's that hard to open the closet door and hang up a coat, but it just seemed easier to walk in, put the mail down on the cubbies and toss your coat on a hook. We planned on DIYing this and even shopped for materials, but then we found this six-hook rack at Target on sale for $15, and it was just the right size. Too easy!

I wanted it to match the cubbies, so I took the hooks off, sanded it down and gave it two coats of the same Behr paint.

Our last wish? A place to hang our keys. (Wow, we're demanding!). There are plenty of horizontal key hooks out there, but we needed something vertical to fit the tiny wall above the light switch. So, we bought two packs of these at Target...

And then I set about making a little rack for them. I found a piece of scrap wood in the basement that was exactly the right size and shape. I even liked the little slant on the bottom. All I had to do was sand it down before priming it. Then, I gave it two coats of Behr silver sateen, using one of the $3 samples we bought to test in the office.

I knew I wanted to put the word "keys" on it, so I used Word to print out a template. I cut out the letters using a scrapbooking cutting tool, then traced them onto the key rack, cursing myself for not having one of those fancy Silhouette machines. I started wanting one even more while I was freehand painting the letters using a paintbrush two sizes too big for the project, the only brush I could find. Two coats later and it's not perfect, but it's got charm if you don't look too close...right?

Ready to see it all together? I bet you are. Ta da!

I love that it's cute but also functional. A kitchen utensil holder (I think?) from HomeGoods makes the perfect mail holder, and matches the brushed nickel/chrome accents on the totes and coat rack.

I love the way the cubbies came out -- the color is so fun and it fits so well in the space! The hubs rounded the corner so it wouldn't stick out and block our way. The ends aren't really useful for storage, but make great places to showcase cute little trinkets, like this garden owl, which is stuck inside until spring actually arrives.

The 3 cubbie hides an outlet, which the hubs trimmed out so we could still use it. It'd be a great place to stow cell phones to charge -- right near the door, grab and go!

No, it's not crooked -- I am

And the baskets are great for stowing scarves, gloves (yes, we have still been using these here in Maine!), sunglasses, umbrella, etc. Actually, they're great for stowing clean recyclables when I'm too lazy to toss them in the bin in the garage (gee, is there a theme going on here?!) And there are four cubbies, which means that someday they'll be extra for a kiddo or two. 

Plus, their tapered shape makes them really easy to tip out, so you don't even have to pull them out all the way to get into them. Because that would be too hard. Lazy, remember? :)

Around the corner is the key rack I made. With four hooks, it'll be a good place to hang sunglasses too (since the hubs is always misplacing his...).

And I think every entryway needs a mirror, so I added this seashell one my mom gave me (which means it was free!). I like its size and the distressed frame.

To be honest, this entryway isn't really done. In a couple months, we'll be relocating our washer and dryer to the basement to free up that nice big closet for coats, shoes, etc. While I like having the laundry upstairs, it's poorly placed in the entryway, and I like to hang my clothes to dry, which means I have to cart them into the basement to put on a drying rack anyways.

Yes, I have some towels in the dryer to fold

Once the laundry area becomes a closet, we're thinking of getting rid of this existing tiny closet (door on the left).

I'd love to take off the door, open it up to a half-wall and add a little bench in there. The hubs wants to tear down the whole thing and open it up to the kitchen. If we do that, we'll have to relocate a baseboard and light switches, and perhaps reinforce the beam because it's a load-bearing wall (we think). We'll see what happens! Of course, that would mean saying goodbye to the cubbies and the hooks and all the things we just added...

But for now, we're happy with it.

I'm glad to finally have this done (for now, anyways), so I can focus on our office redo. Still haven't picked a paint color...*sigh*.

I'm linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party!

And linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch!

And if you made it all the way through this crazy long post, you deserve a cookie!

OMG I want one of these now so bad.... :)

UPDATE: You may have noticed that the river rock boot tray is nowhere to be seen. Yes, sadly, it just took up too much space in this tiny entryway, and we were always stepping around/over it. It did live under the cubbies, but the hooks are just high enough that I have to stretch a bit to reach them, and it was too much of a reach for this shorty with the boot tray sticking out in the way. :)

Once we move the washer and dryer, the boot tray may find a new home inside one of the closets. Or, I just have tons of river rocks to use on other projects!

Linking up to At the Picket Fence's Inspiration Friday!

It never hurts to ask

Do you ever have one of those fortuitous experiences where, while it's happening, you're just giddily thinking, "Wait, is this for real?" 

I had one of those experiences on Thursday. And it involved a dumpster.

I still feel kind of silly telling this story, but I know there are lots of other frugal bargain-hunters out there who will totally get this, so I feel like this is a safe space. :)

Anyways, it all began Thursday morning at work. My office is on the third floor of a building that has restaurant space on the first floor. We've seen that restaurant space turn over three times in that many years, and the new tenants were starting to demo the space. They had a dumpster set up in the parking lot and we could see them tossing things in -- drywall and lumber, mostly. Then I saw a big bookcase go in. "Aw, man," I said to my coworkers. "I hate seeing people throw all this stuff away every time they open a new restaurant. I'd totally take that bookcase!" 

My coworkers said I should go down and ask them if they had any other furniture they were planning to trash and ask if I could have it. No way, I thought. They'd look at me like I had two heads.

At lunch time, I took a little walk, and on my way back I decided to just do it. What's the worst that could happen? They'd tell me to get lost, and I'd feel embarrassed for like half an hour. I could handle that. So, I swallowed my pride and walked into the restaurant/construction zone.

"Hi, I work upstairs, and I see you're throwing some stuff away, and I was wondering if you had any other furniture or anything usable that maybe you don't want?" I said as sweetly as I could to the two guys tearing the place apart.

"No," one of them said quickly, and I felt a little disappointed. Then he said, "Well, we have that bookcase, did you see that?"

Yes, I admitted, and I did like it. But it was in the dumpster already, and was it dirty? Nope, not dirty -- it's right on top. Yes, but you don't have to climb into the dumpster to get it.

Before I could even get that last sentence out, the other gentleman had already pulled it out for me and set it on the ground. I gave it a once-over, trying not to see too excited about something they had deemed trash. "You want it?" the first guy, Tom, asked. 

Excuse the phone photo

It was a solid bookcase of real oak, so much better than the particle board one we have in our office now. "Umm, yes," I said, glancing at my tiny car and wondering how I would get it home.

"How about a wine rack?" he asked me. Um, yes please! As I've mentioned before, the hubs and I make our own beer and wine, and we've been planning on building a wine rack in the basement to store what we make, but of course that's not high on our priority list. Plus, have you ever seen how much wine racks cost? One batch of wine equals almost 30 bottles, and we've made two batches so far, with a third planned. Even buying the lumber to build a wine rack that would hold more than 50 bottles would be pricey. 

And this wine rack was huge -- nearly seven feet tall (my phone photo came out too crappy to share). Before Tom could change his mind about giving it to me for free, I enthusiastically nodded. Yes, I wanted it. Already my head was reeling -- how was I going to get this stuff home?

We carted the wine rack outside into the parking lot, and on our way passed a small beer sign with a chalkboard. The hubs has a few beer signs, and I knew he'd like another to one day decorate his brewery/man cave (when we finish the basement). Since I was on a roll and already proven I had no shame, I casually asked, "How about that sign?"

"Oh, that's for my kids," Tom said. "But there's another one, want to see it?"

Do you really need to ask? So he brought me back inside and showed it to me. And my heart. Stopped. 

This was a six-foot-long mirrored Shipyard Brewery sign, from a Maine-based brewery. Last year for this birthday, I took the hubs on a brewery tour there. These signs are hard to buy -- breweries give them to restaurants as promotional items, but whenever we've tried to buy one at a local fundraiser, the price has always climbed to $100 or more, and that was for a sign half this size. And here it was, ginormous, for free.

I giddily called my husband and left a message: "I just found you a giant Shipyard sign for free and a bookcase and a big wine rack but they are like six feet long and won't fit in my car and can you come down here and pick them up okay please call me." 

He called me back, wanting photos and measurements. He was hooked.

Tom was nice enough to let me have these things, but since he was in the middle of renovating the restaurant, he needed them out of the space ASAP to keep working. He was willing to leave them outside, but a nor'easter was headed our way the next day (more on that later). And they were too big to fit up the tiny stairs to my office. Which meant the hubs had to find something to cart these things away in, and drive the 30+ minutes from his office to mine to pick them up that afternoon.

Tom turned out to be the owner of the new restaurant, a Mexican place with an extensive tequila selection (I like the sound of that! I couldn't believe how nice he was, with me interrupting his work and making his business partner climb in the dumpster. He offered me other things too -- leftover beer glasses from the old pizza place -- and when I came back to pick up the bookcase, wine rack and sign, he'd piled up a couple other things he thought I might like. I was totally impressed by him and his non-judgment. 

I told him we had just bought a new house and looking to furnish it for cheap, and told him about our beer and wine-making adventures. He said he was happy to help "a good cause." Apparently helping a young cheap couple with no shame willing to take other people's trash with frugal tendencies is a good cause. Ha.

So, a few hours later, the hubs showed up with his SUV and his friend's tow-behind trailer, and we loaded our goodies in. I was dancing around the parking lot, thanking the gods for my good fortune, the generosity of these strangers and my husband's willingness to make the trek (I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have bothered if not for the giant beer sign).

For now, all our frugal finds have a new home in the basement until they get a little TLC.

The bookcase ended up being from one of our favorite places -- The Mill Stores. That's where we bought our dining room table, and where we probably would have bought a bookcase for the office.

I couldn't find the exact one on their website, but similar ones the same size sell for $120-$160. And ours was free! It needs a new back, since they cut a hole through it to fit it around an outlet or another fixture, but it will be easy to replace that. And it was finished quickly, so we'll likely refinish it. We're thinking of painting it black, to match the desk we want to get for the office.

I'm so psyched to have a new bookcase for our office redo, without spending $150 bucks!

Here's the wine rack. It needs a good cleaning, and it's a little wobbly, so it'll need to be secured to the wall. It also only has enough cross pieces for two of the four compartments (it looks like they stood up bottles in the other two boxes, judging by the dust circles.) But it will be easy enough to make more cross pieces if we want them. Our wine cellar is off to a good start! And it was free! This 120-bottle rack from Wine Enthusiast is $139. Holy savings.

And of course -- the sign. I'm sure my husband will be bragging to his buddies about it. And I love that it's a local brewery.

What else did we end up with? Another wine rack, this one about four feet tall. This one would be nice to keep in the dining room, I think, once it gets a fresh coat of paint. Wouldn't it be cute in white or a bright, fun color like teal?

And the awesome Tom also gave me this bucket. I have no idea what it was used for -- it has holes drilled in the bottom. But it's super cute and I know I can find a way to use it. Maybe as a planter? A big centerpiece? It too needs a good cleaning.

So, that's my crazy tale of free finds. And to think I almost didn't bother! I'm glad I did. We will definitely be patronizing Tom's restaurant when it opens. That's what I love about Maine -- people here are so nice! And just about everyone understands the desire to reuse, repurpose and rescue items with some life left in them.

These scores on Thursday made it a little easier to handle Mother Nature's April Fool's -- nearly a foot of snow (!!). I hope it melts super fast, because I'd really like some spring now, thanks.

Do you have any zany stories about rescuing some unwanted items? I'd love to hear them!

I'm linking up to Frugaliciou$ Friday at Finding Fabulous!

A little bamboo box

Remember last week when I posted about this cute little bamboo box at HomeGoods, and how I thought I could totally DIY it?

Well, I did, but it was harder than I thought it would be, mostly because of my own stupidity. I should go easy on myself. I was kind of making it up as I went along, after all!

Anyways, I started with a bamboo placemat I had at home. I bought it years ago at Target and actually used it as a photo holder: I hung it on my wall and tucked photos in between the slats. It was cute, but the photos didn't ever really want to stay in place, so I had a sole bamboo placemat and nothing to do with it.

Enter -- the jewelry box! This jewelry box was cute, but not really my style (I totally forget where it came from). I was planning on taking it to Goodwill, but I decided to give it a second life.

First, I measured how much mat would cover the box and marked it with a pen.

Next, I took some hot glue to the seams of black thread to reinforce the placemat. I realized that the only thing holding the mat together was the thread, which was tied to a large piece of wood on each end. But I was planning to cut that piece of wood off, meaning the thread would unravel. A little hot glue (OK, maybe a lot) would keep the pieces of bamboo and the thread in place.

Then, I got to work cutting the mat down to size. I used the coping saw I bought my husband for Christmas. Merry Christmas to me too! This took a lot longer than I thought it would -- those little bamboo slats didn't like to hold still and splintered easily, so I had to go slow.

Finally, after making all my cuts, I was left with this.

Then, I got to work gluing all the pieces to my jewelry box. I used the larger wood pieces to disguise the sides, and they ended up being practically the perfect height.

So, long story short, I got the whole thing glued up and realized I cut the mat way too short -- the edges didn't hang over the sides of the jewelry box enough, and the lip under the lid was still visible. Not cool.

I was about ready to throw in the towel, but then I decided to see if I could use what was left of the may and start over. Luckily, I had enough left to cover the jewelry box, AND the thread would be symmetrical. Score! I got the saw again and did some more cutting. I yanked off what I'd already done, and hot glued my new pieces to the jewelry box.

And yes! This one came out good! At least, I think so.

The HomeGoods box had a fancy little tassle on it, but I was too lazy to try and figure out how to DIY something like that. Instead, I tied a couple buttons from my collection together with some black embroidery thread and glued it to the front of the box. Charming, isn't it?

Here it is on my bureau, with my DIY necklace holder in the background. Our bedroom has lots of green, so this little box fits right in.

Here's a side-by-side comparison.

Not bad, eh? Especially considering I bought nothing for this project. Otherwise, you'd be hard-pressed to make this for less than HomeGoods' awesome $7 price tag. But there's just something about making it yourself that's so much more satisfying than swiping your debit card, you know? Of course you do. :) Plus, the yellow wasn't really doing it for me.

I'm linking up to a bunch of great parties! Stop by them all and see what others in the blogosphere are up to! Click on the button to go to the party.