I’ve always been a firm believer that your main entrance sets the tone for the rest of your house. Because of this belief the only logical place to start the renovation was in the foyer. The foyer is a small room approximately 4 foot by 4 foot. Which also means it should take the least amount of time to complete. It had the same brown shag carpet as the living and dining room. It had an irredescent wall paper and the original layer cake chandelier.
Original foyer – prior to moving in
I began by removing the carpet to see what condition the wood was in underneath. It was painted in a deep red around the edges and left natural in the middle. I decided that I would lay new flooring over top to prevent damage from wet boots and shoes. I went with a wood laminate. Super easy to install you just cut them to size with and exacto knife and ruler and click the pieces together. This project only took about an hour to do and the cost was approximately $120 (I purchased two boxes of flooring so I can remove and replace damaged boards over the years). I added some quarter round to the floor to give it a polished look (1/4 round was less than a couple bucks).
The next project was to remove the wall paper. A daunting task if you’ve never done it. The previous owners left the steam machine (wall paper remover) with the property. Which meant I did not have to buy one. Simply fill it with water and steam away. It took about 2 hours to have the walls stripped and washed. Under the wall paper was bead board and in decent shape. I decided the best idea was to prime the walls to make them even and to avoid any bleeding from the wood. I went with a light grey that compliments the wood laminate flooring. To finish off the foyer I did a fresh coat of white paint on the trim and the door frame.
Decorating is the fun part. I love to find good bargains at antique and second hand stores. The white metal coat rack was from a garage sale in the summer for $2.00. The umbrella holder was from an antique store in Campbellford called The Collection Co. for $25. The white metal mirror was from the Cobourg Habitat for Humanity for $10.00 and the wood shelving unit was from the Myersburg Flea Market on County Road 30 for $5.00. The curtains and the floor mat remain from the previous owner as they were in great shape. The small decorations (Plant, Letter M and tray) were all from Homesense and ranged from $7.99 – $19.99. I did a trade for a set of books which only cost me a small bag of chips to help fill up the shelf.
In total, the foyer only cost about $180.00. Considering the entire foyer had to be done from top to bottom and that I reused the paint and primer in the Kitchen this wasn’t to costly.
The next renovation will be the Powder room and sunroom. Stay tuned.
My Country Farmhouse 