Modern Entry Plans Full of Storage

Slow but sure, the main floor of our new house is coming together as we’re wrapping up the ‘big things’ in this remodel. The floors are done (woohoo!) and all of the interior doors are done (heck yes!) and now we’re working on replacing windows and exterior doors. That means it’s time to get planning the entry way! This entryway isn’t anything grand, it’s small and a little bit awkward and there’s not much we could do to restructure it and make it more spacious. 

The stairs are right to the left of the door and the house jogs into a bay window to the right (so taking the closet out would mean walking right into the dining room instead of a separate, though small, entrance) and the thermostat is smack in the middle of the only wall that makes sense to add art to. But I’m up for a challenge. After all, the split level entry we made over in our last house is still one of my favourite spaces we’ve done and that was a challenge too!

So today I’m sharing the design plans for the space that are well underway already. I can’t wait to show you how it’s coming together over the next month or two!

First, shall we take a look at the ‘before’? You can see all the before photos of this place right here if you’re interested!

Yep, there she is in all of her glory! See how it’s open to the rest of the house while still being so cramped? Try walking through that space with three children under your feet while carrying your coffee and a carseat. And try storing shoes for all 6 people that live here! I’m so excited to be tackling these challenges to make it a super functional and storage heavy place while making it feel even more open to the rest of the house. 

Inspiration image sources: Iron Railing via Studio McGee, Black Door via Faux Martha, Storage Bench via 204 Park

Here’s the plans again. We’re painting (such a slow process with littles around!) our whole main floor (for the most part) a nice bright white from General Paint called Expert White. I chatted more about how we picked the paint colours for our whole house right here if you’re interested. We also ended up reflooring our whole main floor because we couldn’t find any of our discontinued flooring to finish the space off when we moved the kitchen. Having the tile in the entry separated the space from the rest of the home even though it was open- this continuity has already made such a difference, I can’t wait to show you! Speaking of difference, we took out the bulkhead and widened the opening to the dining room a bit too when we did our kitchen drywall! Little change but biiig difference. 

Another thing that we hadn’t planned on doing when we bought this house last year is replacing the railing. Buuut as we started pulling out the tile we quickly realized that only the end posts on the railing were actually secure… the rest were just notched into the flooring! They all started falling out as the tile came up. So not safe for our little ones so I was able to get my dream railing- a modern black metal railing that’s totally up to safety standards. 

That black railing will match the black door hardware we are doing in the entry (the handle shown is the Shlage Bowery Knob which we’ve put everywhere in our main floor!). We are also trading out that dated door and window combo (you can’t tell from the photos but they have brass inlay designs) for one with even more glass and modern black hardware (we’ve chosen this one!). Speaking of black hardware… I can’t wait to replace that white hanging light with a flush mount farmhouse style light (shown as well!) that was a smoking deal on Amazon and carries the black fixture theme up to the ceiling. 

Since it’s all black and white and wood… we’re adding some texture in fabrics and decor (still deciding… maybe some hanging plants?! I’m thinking of reusing these planters) but mostly since it’s a small space, we’re adding STORAGE. The closet right there had some DIY cubbies and a long hanging rack that really didn’t do much to hold all the shoes we have in here. We are partnering with Imagine The Room again to create a hard working closet system that is custom suited for this awkward closet. I can’t wait to see how it turns out! We are also on the hunt for the perfect storage bench that doesn’t look too storage-y for the entry way. 

Alright… that’s the plans! I can’t wait to pull it all together over the next month and share it with you! We’ve ordered everything, now it’s just time to put in the sweat and get it done. Wish us luck!