Updating an Entry Way and a Gallery Wall..

I've been working the last few weeks on updating my entry way. It was the first room I decorated when we moved into our home more than 10 years ago. The first thing I did 10 years ago was to paint my entry walls in a two-part Ralph Lauren leather wall/glaze technique that required a lot of patience and a few adult beverages.








In fact, my leather glaze technique on my entry way was pretty much the first and only large DIY project that my husband and I had "attempted" to do together. Unfortunately, he threw in the towel minutes into the project because he didn't care for my slightly elevated tone. I had strongly suggested that he move his butt and work faster stippling the wall because my glaze started drying too fast. I can even show you where the elevated "discussion" happened causing my glaze to dry:





Yep, my dear husband left me hanging mumbling something about me being too "bossy". My point to him was women who DIY together understand "elevated" instructions as code for "hurry up sister, my wall is about to be jacked up"! Any girlfriend would never get all "sensitive" and stuff but rather she would kick it up a notch, right? Ok, well thanks, I knew you would agree with me! ;)

So anyway, this wall is kind of symbolic to me for the above reasons. We chuckle about it now and I went on to finish the whole thing myself, which really makes the wall special to me. However, I have been torn as I have been working on the room about repainting the entry way or not. Dear husband says he's ready for a change (hmmm, flashbacks?). My girlfriends are divided. Some say that I shouldn't even think about painting it and some say I should have repainted it years ago. I was on the fence about the wall, so I decided to just start revamping the room to see if the modern touches really update the leather/dark wall.


The first thing I did was to switch out my old traditional rug and find something fabulous that really popped and was an updated design! If ever anything showed how my taste in home decor and style has evolved over the last 10 years, these two rugs show my evolution:






I fell in love with these fabulous modular carpet tiles made by the company FLOR that you attach and turn into a rug. These tiles are from the pattern Sophistikat in Palm color. Here is a picture of the original pattern:






but when I received the tiles, there were so many different design possibilities, I just created my own that worked in my space! How cool is that! This product is such a fantastic concept that I did a whole post here with more details and an easy tutorial if you're interested. You will not believe all of the choices that FLOR has to offer and I can't wait to show you some of my favorites.

The next thing I did was add more wall decor to finally complete my gallery wall:








I did a post last week on how to paint the glass in frames to create chalkboards and featured some of my chalkboards on my new gallery wall:





If you missed the easy chalkboard on glass tutorial, you can find it here. I also added some gold leaf large letters that I picked up at Hobby Lobby for $5.00 each (they were 50% off).

I made a scene in the middle of Hobby Lobby when I stumbled across these fabulous antlers:





I loved them in black but decided to paint them cream to really stand out against my dark wall.


Thank goodness for great spray paint! It opens up a whole new world of possibilities and turning something that doesn't quite work into the exact color that we want! I just primed these guys with professional Rustoleum spray primer (fast drying) and let them dry for about an hour. I then spray painted them with Valspar paint in the color Biscuit. I love how they turned out:







I finished the room off with a new modern bench that I recovered and I added three ceramic planters with gorgeous silk orchids:








I love orchids and wish that I had a green thumb so I could truly enjoy them. Instead, I have to get creative with really good silks and I did a post several months back on how I mix silk orchids with naturals to make them look real if you're interested you can find it here.

I still have a few more touches to add to my entry way but overall, I'm pleased with the updates in my entry way and I feel better about that dark leather wall. Sometimes by adding a few updated pieces, a room can really be transformed. I think bringing in the cream and the modern pieces really helped. I may still change the wall color down the line but for now, I think it works.

Don't forget to check back on Monday for my post about my new rug and Flor carpet tiles. Also, tomorrow I am so excited to guest post on one of my very favorite blogs, Tatertots and Jello! If you have the chance, I would love for you to come visit me over there tomorrow.

As always, thank you so much for your comments, emails and notes! I so love hearing from you and would love to know your thoughts about my leather wall!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers!

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