The Entryway in Our NEW Home: Before and After 

I know you’ve been waiting SO patiently for this blog post – well, some of you NOT so patiently and I LOVE you for that because it gets my butt on a burner to get it done!

BUT FIRST, I want to share a story with you.

In the home previous to our last, we were super happy, but Kylie got twitchy and needed some new blog posts to write about we grew out of it. So, we shopped for a house and stumbled across one with an AMAZING 180-degree ocean view…so we bought it.

Now, if you were to ask me WHY we bought it? I would say that I DON’T FRIGGIN’ KNOW! Or maybe I do. I think we were excited that we’d arrived at the stage of our lives where we could AFFORD a house with an ocean view and it WAS gorgeous – it just wasn’t us. At ANY point in the bargaining process, I could’ve dropped it like a hot potato, I wasn’t at all emotional about it. WOOP WOOP WOOP, RING THE ALARMS!  I get emotional about everything – especially anything wine or house related, so the fact that I was nonchalant should have been my first sign. I ignored my gut instincts big time.

Sure, it was pretty – but it wasn’t us

FLASH FORWARD to 2 months after we moved in and you’ll find me crying in my office over a bottle of wine with a straw, wondering WHO’S HOUSE I WAS LIVING IN BECAUSE IT SURE AS HECK WASN’T MINE!  I know, first world problem, right? But seriously, in the months we were there, the energy of this house changed the dynamic of our whole family – and it wasn’t for the good. So, I put my anxiety to good use by painting and decorating the bejesus out of it and we put it up for sale. And yes, Tim deserves a medal for his patience and bravery.

FLASH FORWARD 2 more months, we have an offer on our hell house (also fondly referred to as our ‘summer home’) and have purchased our DREAM home! Seriously, we used to walk by this house all the time (as it’s in our old neighbourhood) and like the creepy house stalker I am who drives by houses at nite so I can see in the windows, I’d say ‘OH yes, you will be mine, one day you will be mine’. Seemed like a pipe dream, or a wet dream, but either way – by November it WAS mine…or ours I suppose (wink wink).

The exterior is being painted AS I TYPE!

And while it was our dream home, it wasn’t looking much like a dream. It was ‘fine’, which is a great word to describe hair, but not a place you want to call home. It was time for a lil’ KLC and there was NO BETTER place to start than the entryway!

BEFORE: Whale I’ll be damned, those were ugly. And seriously, this shows how gloomy the house was.

AFTER: And the heavens shone down! Or maybe it was Jen Wynia Photography’s flash – either way, I’m lovin’ it.

ABOVE PHOTO: The uber-talented Jen Wynia Photography

There is just nothing that I don’t love in this space. The cabinet is even more beautiful in real-life with its staggered hexagon wood doors and the new oak floors from Goodfellow hide EVERY sin. I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to flooring and kitchen cabinets and prefer oak to any other wood.

BEFORE: I LOVE dark walls – but not here. They were sucking the life out of the space and extended right into the living room. The dark wood flooring was scratched and worn out from 2 large dogs and the overall vibe was early 2000’s.

AFTER: It’s like my soul breathed a sigh of relief – or I had gas. Hard to say.

This photo NOT by the uber-talented Jen Wynia, but by the quasi photography-challenged, Kylie.

What do you think of those gray doors? I went back and forth on that for a while and finally settled on BM Revere Pewter as a nice tie-in to the kitchen. I just couldn’t wrap my head around white doors in this home and wanted something a bit lower maintenance and unexpected – without being weird.

The walls are BM Edgecomb Gray, lightened by 50%. I couldn’t find an off-white greige that I loved, so I made one! It has subtle undertones and whispers of colours without committing to anything but being soft, subtle and neutral. I’m in LOVE with this paint colour!

BEFORE: Just in case you wanted to see those lovely whales a lil’ closer…

AFTER: And nothing finishes off a wall like a Ken Kirkby –  my fave artist. It was a TOTAL splurge, but both Tim and I LOVE this piece as it just makes the space with it’s west coast vibe.

And yes, the lampshade is crooked, I just want to see if you’re paying attention (clearly I wasn’t). As for the stairs railings, it would have cost a small fortune to redo them, so I kept the black spindles and painted the dark wood newel posts and handrails in SW Urbane Bronze, a wicked dark greige with a green undertone.

Oh – there’s more…but you have to WAIT! We’ve done almost the ENTIRE house – everything but the 3 main bathrooms and the laundry room, so over the next few months, I’m going to share each space with you and the HUGE transformations they’ve undergone.

And for a gal who hits a 4-year expiry date on every home, we’re finally in a home that I can see us staying in for many happy years, watching the girls (and Doug) grow up and making memories to last a lifetime.

Chat soon,