Flickr Find: Entry Hall

Entry Hall, originally uploaded by Red Jet Whistle.

This photo got me thinking about landing spaces. You know: a space for your stuff when you walk in the house, where you drop off everything you’ve been carrying with you and start the activity of just… being at home.

I’ve lived in places that didn’t have space for a landing area — only a small amount of room in front of the front door — really the living space opened up right into the hallway. But now that I have a functional foyer, I feel like that minute to decompress makes a difference. And I can always find my keys.

What about you? Hallway? Vestibule? Or are you, like so many others, cursed with a front door that opens up into your couch?

Nesting Up: Entryways

This is a guest post by Emily Power.

When my mother and father were house hunting ten years ago, I had never understood my mother’s adamant desire for a mud room. But now I get it. I feel the mark of a real house, one built with intention and thoughtful planning, is a house with ample space for an entryway; an area to collect your belongings as you decompress from all that stuff out there. Our house does not have that. Our front door opens into the middle edge of a large rectangular room that works as our dining room/library/living room. But we’ve improvised.

Our wild wild west house came outfitted with a log beam held up by two other logs. I’m not a huge fan of the stain of the wood but the beams naturally create a sort of room divider. We worked off of that. You can see one of the logs hiding behind the coats and leashes hung upon it.

The open front door creates a little nook. We stacked three salvaged factory drawers that we bought at the Chicago Antique Market on Randolph Street this year (tickets won through BackGarage!) and –voila– we have a sort of hallway table.

I think it suits us well as I prefer everything to have its own place. It just makes me feel better.

• On the top shelf, the thrifted lamp gives us extra lighting in the dining room. We use a kikkerland ceramic egg tray for our key drop (I found this at my favorite Goodwill in St Paul, MN).
• The second shelf a bowl holds our sunglasses and biking gear (gloves, hats, lights).  And until we can find someone to convert them to digital, it’s also a resting spot for old reel-to-reel tapes from Jonathan’s grandfather (anyone know of anyone?!)
• Before we had the third shelf, the limited space by our front door was littered with boxes of my etsy sales that needed to be taken to the USPS. This was annoying. Now I have an outbox.
• And finally, a shoe cubby! Just like in primary school.

Things in progress: new blinds and curtains and a lamp shade from (or inspired by) Ms. Hightower.

Emily is an urban homesteader who recently arrived in Denver via Minneapolis by way of Chicago. In an attempt to not become a pack rat she has opened two shops on etsy: ollie’s vintage and cookshop denver.

Tricked Out Entryway: Hale’s Lions

Admittedly these lions are not second-hand, but they’re still wicked cool.

What makes them even cooler? Hale got them at a truck stop gas station on the road between Chicago and Milwaukee. They were just $24.99 a piece. He and his friend purchased them at 3:30 in the morning and he swears they were not drunk.

Raar!

Has anyone else ever seen these sweet stuffed heads anywhere? Gas stations? Carnivals?