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This is how our entryway looked when we bought our house. Well, okay, not a mess like this – I snagged this picture very quickly one evening before we decided to bust out those wooden screens. It was kind of sporadic and funny actually…

My husband and I had been married a little over a year, I was pregnant with our first child, and we were decorating our Christmas tree in the adjacent living room. We had owned the house for about 1.5 years, having purchased it right before getting married. Neither of us cared much for the screens but we were both working full time and didn’t want to do anything too hasty by ripping things out. But suddenly that December afternoon we decided it would be a great idea then and there to take out those screens. My husband grabbed the sledge hammer and went at it!

This is how our living room originally looked, by the way. That is, after my husband installed the recessed lighting – it used to be much darker in there.

We busted out the screens and it already felt so much better – much more open and light. The wood from the screens ended up being many a garden stake, paint stirring stick, kindling, and more.

The slate floor was in not-so-great condition. It was chipped in some spots and the grout was crumbling in many spots with several large holes. It wasn’t particularly our cup of tea anyway so we had no desire to repair it. Rather, we eventually replaced it a year later with hardwood.

We waited to replace the floor until we did our kitchen renovation, then had the kitchen, living room, and entryway floors all refinished at the same time to match. Additionally, we replaced the baseboards and ceiling fixture and painted the walls.

At this stage we had been living here about 3 years. Projects take time, especially when you have young children, are on a budget, or actually have other things going on in your life besides home remodeling. It stayed this way for several years:

I eventually replaced the small cabinet with a longer table, ditched the coat tree, added an appropriately sized rug for the space, and dressed it up a bit. The wall was still very plain and lacking the character for which I hoped, but it seemed much brighter and fresher.

Dressing the space up for the changing seasons and holidays became a bit more fun, and the “mirror garland” was a new idea with which I enjoyed experimenting. I did my best to work with what I had.

I was still holding out hope that one day we would add an accent wall, but my husband wasn’t completely sold on the idea. At the time of the picture below we had been living here about 7 years.

Finally, for my birthday last Summer, I specifically asked for an accent wall as my gift. My husband and kids surprised me with a little note that stated I would be getting it. Now just to carve out time…

Fast forward to October. My husband had a week off work and lovingly spent several days crafting my long-dreamed-of accent wall. One last photo before the fun begins…

If you’re a details and specs type of person, here are the specs of what he did, as described to me:

• Since we have textured walls, he used 1/8″ thick masonite (hardboard) as the base so it would be smooth. If you don’t have textured walls you could probably skip that bit.
• The vertical slats are “mull casing” from Menards – 3/8″ thick x 2″ wide
• The board on top is a 1″ x 4″ that has been planed to 1/2″ thick (to match the thickness of the masonite + the mull casing), and had a rabbet cut out of it to fit over the mull casing.
• The pegs were [I believe] wooden Shaker pegs about 3.5″ long, ready made from Menards. Holes for the pegs were formed with a drill press.
• The bottom board is a 1″ x 6″ planed down to 3/8″ thickness to match up with the mull casing strips.

The panelling was then painted in Benjamin Moore “Van Courtland Blue” (HC-145). The girls and I went and browsed the historic color line from Benjamin Moore one morning and I picked up a sample of the one I felt was most promising (this one!) and I fell in love! (Poor lighting in this photo – you’ll get a more accurate color depiction in a moment).

Then it was wallpaper time! I opted for peel and stick so I wouldn’t have to mess with water and paste and all that. I found this one a number of months ago and bought it in anticipation of this project. It was more brown on cream than I had thought from the website photos (which definitely looked more gray on white), but I decided to go with it anyway and I think it really works.

Accents were added, like vintage crocks from my mom filled with dried bunny tail grass, a vintage quilt, and a stuffed pumpkin…

…this thrifted lamp with a thrifted pleated shade that I re-covered using a thrifted sheet (sense a theme here?), a flow blue plate hung from a velvet ribbon…

…an ironstone basin full of little pumpkins and preserved moss…

…Fall hydrangeas dried on the bush in our backyard and placed into an antique ice cream bucket…

…and a thrifted print that I trimmed down to size and taped into a foamboard frame that I’ve had for years.

I love it so much and I’d like to thank my husband for taking the time to do this for me (he really likes it, by the way!). I think it adds so much character and charm to our home and that we will enjoy it for years to come!

You can find the sources for this space (what few there are since most things are thrifted!) linked below. Thanks so much for reading!

Blessings,
Melissa

Sources:

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore “Van Courtland Blue, HC-145”
Wallpaper linked here
Entryway table linked here
Entryway rug linked here (Use code HYMNSANDHOME for additional savings)
Moravian Star Ceiling Fixture linked here

This post contains affiliate links for which I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Please click here for more details. I truly appreciate your support!