project: easy front door makeover

Hello! Sorry for the radio silence as of late. It's been a combination of having a bunch of half finished projects that aren't ready to photograph, and being too busy to upload and edit pics of the ones that have been completed. I think I'm finally out of my funk, so today I'm going to share our super easy and affordable front door makeover! 

Our contractor put on our new door before I had time to take before photos, but when we purchased the house our entry door was a standard wooden door with a beveled glass panel similar to this. There was nothing wrong with the original door, it just didn't fit the aesthetic that I wanted for the house, so we replaced it with a steel craftsman style door. 

I debated for a long time on whether or not I wanted a door with a window, but ultimately decided I'd rather have the privacy. To make up for the lost light in the entryway, Charlie and I installed (ourselves!) a new storm door and love it. 

It had been hanging unpainted and damaged for three months (the installers put a big dent in it when they installed it, and it took this long for our contractor to fix it!) so we were anxious to give it a makeover. We chose to paint it Night Fall by Benjamin Moore to match our newly painted beams, and we replaced the hardware with this modern lockset by Schlage and these house numbers from Home Depot.

Our new house numbers were the easiest and cheapest part of the makeover, and I think they're my favorite change. Instead of putting a bunch of holes in our new door (and spending a lot of time worrying about everything being perfectly centered and leveled) I just attached two strong magnets to the back of each with Gorilla Glue, and used the magnets to attach the numbers to the door! It took me only a few minutes and completely transformed our door to the modern look I was going for!

We still have to finish painting, and I'm waiting for my new console and light fixture to arrive before I share final photos of the entryway. Stay tuned!

project: pantry makeover under $100

I've been eyeing inspiration for our pantry makeover lately, and when I saw this image of Caitlin Wilson's gorgeous pantry, I knew I needed a shelving system that had pull-out drawers.

via Rue

I also knew I wanted it to be all white. 

via Lonny

Our pantry was a nasty beige color that made it look so dirty that I didn't even want to put our food in there. The layout was pretty much identical to every other pantry I've had, but this color really bothered me.

The beige mixed with the yellow shelves felt old and dated and it had a weird musty smell that freaked me out. It also had plastic stick on baseboards which are just... no.

The walls got a good scrubbing and two fresh coats of white paint. We painted our living room ceilings in Behr Ultra Pure White, and used the leftover paint we had in here.

I had been planning on using the Elfa system from The Container Store, but once I started pricing it out I looked for other options. I ended up finding the Algot system from Ikea for less than $100! The Elfa system was going to be at least triple that, and since I'm weighing everything I do in the house to how much we'll get back in resale value, I decided it wasn't worth it to spend the extra money when this system would work just as well.

It took Charlie and I about an hour to put together, and would have been easier if we had the recommend suspension rail on top for spacing. We purchased one, but when we got home we realized someone had opened the hardware box and taken out two of the pieces we needed to hang it! It was a Sunday afternoon on a holiday weekend when we realized this, and you couldn't pay me to go to Ikea at that time.

We're almost finished, but still need to add new baseboards, paint the kitchen walls and trim white, and hang our new door and hardware. Our door is on backorder so we'll be doorless until late August, but I don't mind - It feels so good to walk by everyday and see the transformation.

We have a small guest bedroom closet that needs a major makeover, and I like this system so much I'll be purchasing another to use in there, too!

UPDATE: See our updated kitchen and pantry with it's new door in this post!

coastal getaway design details

As promised, here are detail shots of the beautiful beach home we stayed in last week:

This was the entryway that lead to the downstairs living area and looked straight through to the ocean. I loved the herringbone travertine floor and the white risers on the stairs mixed with the wooden tread.

This was the hallway from our bedroom that led to the upstairs living area and second floor balcony. 

A sweet little coastal corner moment.

One of the four baths. This was ours and the details were perfection. The two ledges above the sink, the woodwork around the mirrors and walls, travertine subway tile, and this medicine cabinet all came together to make this small bathroom feel special.

And last but not least, my absolute favorite detail in this house was the use of clerestory windows above the door to every room in the house.

Such a fresh, but simple detail that allowed the light to really flow and made the space feel so bright and airy. It was a totally dreamy house, and we're hoping to make it back here next year!