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Entryway Update: Before and After

May 22, 2019 by Jessica Leave a Comment

These past few months have been full of home projects and at times it has been a little overwhelming. I am no stranger to all of this, so I knew it would take time, but that still doesn’t mean I wish it could go faster (and easier!) at times. Looking back over these entryway update photos helps me realize I really have done a lot and it will all get there before I know it.

This is what our entryway looked like before we moved in. Not horrible, but very plain and really lived in. All the trim and doors were beat up and needed repainting (still need to repaint the doors though hahaha), there were remnants from wallpaper still from a previous removal attempt, and all the outlets/switches were almond colored and really dirty. The previous owner had put in new light fixtures, but they still felt kind of outdated and dark.

As you can see above, I started in the dining room and worked my way to the entryway. I scraped off wallpaper goo, replaced light switches, and then added faux board and batten wainscoting using 1×4’s. I had really wanted to add some wallpaper, but my husband was not on board with that at all so I stuck with paint. The blue color is Valspar Northern Sky (5001-3B) and I used Behr Ultra Pure White on the trim. It works out for now because there would have been so many interesting cuts to make if I did install wallpaper. But, I would love to try it one day. You know, the stick and peel wallpaper that can come back off easily.

I took a while to decide upon a light fixture. At first I was determined to find a vintage style with crystals, but then I decided upon a flush mount style and came upon this pretty light. It is sold on a few different sites, so I looked around and found the best price on Wayfair at the time. This can change, so always look around and find the best deal when buying light fixtures. I love love love the shadows that it casts when the light is on. I feel that adds to the character of this little area even more.

It’s nice to have the first room people see pretty much done. My last two items for here are to paint the doors, like I said before, and then at some point we are getting the floors redone. They are wood and have just taken a lot of abuse over the years and it’s time they got some love too.

Fireplace Makeover

December 13, 2018 by Jessica 2 Comments

I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on some of our new home projects. It’s been a patience growing time for sure but it’s worth it now seeing things starting to come together. One of the very first projects I took on was this fireplace makeover. I wanted an instant gratification project to get me motivated and this fireplace makeover totally was that. The two main things I did was paint the mantle (we plan to have hardwood floors in here and with the wood beams and windows we were feeling like there was a lot of wood) and then add a white mortar to brighten up the brick. I love brick, well pretty brick, and I liked the color of the actual brick just not the yellowish tan mortar that was used on it.

Before beginning, I vacuumed the brick and wiped down the mantle. I prepped the mantle with a light sanding and did another wipe down with a deglosser. Then I taped it off so I wouldn’t get paint on the bricks. I painted it with Behr Ultra Pure White in interior semi-gloss enamel. It was straight off the shelf, but I always have them shake it up for me at the store. For a piece like this, I paint an area of it with a brush and then go over what I can with a roller so it looks nice and smooth.

It took me three coats to get the coverage I wanted. Now, I think two coats would have been okay, but I’m picky and really wanted it fully covered. I also did two coats of matte polycrylic on the top shelf to protect it from all the things that would be placed on it.

For the mortar I found this at Lowes. It was the only white mortar that wasn’t in a giant bag. I could have tried somewhere else, but I just bought it and gave it a try. I used a plastic bucket and mixed up a little bit at a time with water. This allowed me to work in small sections without it all drying up in the bucket. Oh, and as always, I went for a peanut butter consistency of the mixture before applying.

I used a small plastic spatula to put the mortar on the cracks. I thought about using a grout bag and piping in on the lines like I have done on brick backsplashes, but this was such a large area I felt this would be easier.

This method worked well and let me be a bit creative with the placement and such.

As you can see, it looks kind of messy and lumpy after first applied.

Once I had done a small area I went over the mortar with a damp sponge. I tried just dabbing it with the sponge and then I tried gently wiping over it. I ended up preferring how it looked when I gently wiped it. I was able to finish this mortar part in about four hours and that included going to pick up my kids from school. It went a lot faster than I thought it would for sure. I have done quite a few backsplashes and other similar projects so I felt really confident in what I was doing and with the material I was working with.

It brightened up the room so much and we are all so happy with it. I also like that if I wanted to add more mortar later for a german schmear look or even paint the brick I can still do that. We have had about 8 fires since I finished this and so far it’s holding up really well. I’m aware that I might have to freshen it up periodically, but I’m okay with that. That’s part of having a real fire no matter what the brick/mortar is. After I did the fireplace I painted all the trim and walls and have decorated some. We even changed out that old ceiling fan last weekend, after I took these pictures of course lol. So the last two big items is to figure out that track lighting situation above the fireplace (we are considering can lighting so it doesn’t compete with the main light) and then to get the flooring changed. My girls are loving the carpet for now though. They think it’s so soft! And I’m glad they are enjoying the comfort of it 😉

Maddox Home: Living Room and Entryway Makeover

August 29, 2018 by Jessica Leave a Comment

As y’all know, we moved from Louisiana back in May. It was a whirlwind and there was a lot that I wasn’t able to get done before I left. One thing that didn’t happen was to take pictures of my friend’s living room and entryway that I helped her make over. Fortunately she sent me some pics she took so I can finally share some of the projects that we worked on. I have already shared her kitchen makeover (see it here) and am excited to share this part now. If you are on instagram, you can check out #maddoxhomemakeover for some in progress pics I shared on my instagram account.

My friend really loves how Joanna Gaines and the farmhouse look she creates, so we went that type of style. It flows really well with the farmhouse style kitchen which is good since they are open to each other. It is so light and airy now!

Here are the main things we did that you can see compared to the before pics (which are below):

-We painted the walls in the living room Agreeable Gray (SW7029), the faux shiplap in Alabaster (SW 7008), and the foyer walls in Silvermist (SW 7621).

-I created a faux wood beam over the drywall drop down that separated the rooms (not sure what that is technically called?). It was so easy to do and really adds a wow factor! I was inspired by this diy wood beam by Jenna Sue Design Co. The length of the wood we ended up using to create seams where they met were a little large, so I ended up just staining some wood pieces to go over those instead of using metal. I stained them with Minwax Early American which is the same stain used on the vent hood in the kitchen.

-I ripped down some of this thin plywood to create strips to make a faux shiplap wall. Here is a great tutorial on how to do all that. It only took 2 (or maybe 3?) sheets to do this one feature wall and the entryway.

-We rearranged her furniture for better flow and shopped her house for decor. She bought a few things to add, like the big clock (from Hobby Lobby) above the tv and the corner chair (from Marshalls) and foot stool (from Wayfair), but most things were just paired down from what she already had.

-I made a sofa table to go behind her sofa. This gave her a place to add some extra lighting.

-I changed out her ceiling lights for her. She picked out this one for the living room and the foyer light came from Lowes too but I can’t find it online.

-She repainted her tv cabinet with chalk paint for a quick change.

-New curtains and curtain rods were added.

Isn’t it amazing what a difference just those changes make? I forgot to get pics of the foyer before we did that, but I believe it was the same pinkish tan color as the living room. The hooks make it a lot more functional and it’s become a cute drop off zone for their shoes and coats now. My friend still has some projects she wants to do for this space (like get new flooring), but her and her family are absolutely loving the change it made. It feels so peaceful and the amount of light they get is unreal! The colors really help make that more noticeable now too. I hope this inspires you to create and get to working on that to do list 😉 -jess