Painting my Entryway

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It seems I’m on a painting kick. After attempting to paint my living room last week, inspiration struck again, and I decided to paint my entryway!

I have to admit my decorating has been spurred by the upcoming holiday season. As lots of folks know, I’m crazy about Christmas so I wanted to tackle a few random projects to make Bayberry House feel more like home before I decorate for the season.

Here’s what the hallway looked like before I painted it…

Tour my new Modern Colonial Home in Pittsburgh, PA. Inspired by Charm's New Home. #moderncolonial #inspiredbycharm #hometour

Tour my new Modern Colonial Home in Pittsburgh, PA. Inspired by Charm's New Home. #moderncolonial #inspiredbycharm #hometour

… and here’s how it looks now!

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

A major difference, right? Which I’m loving! And thankfully (unlike in my living room), I won’t need to repaint it anytime soon. #winning

Sidenote: There’s some weirdness around the existing light fixture. I will be repainting the ceiling as soon as the new light fixture arrives. Fingers crossed it’s SOON!

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

I’ve been busy pinning inspiration for my home on Pinterest (You can follow along here.), so it’s exciting to start seeing things come to life.

I’ve been hesitant to do any big projects since my upcoming kitchen renovation will affect almost every room on the first floor of my home. However, given that the process is now delayed because of contract issues, I just needed to start making progress.

Anywho, in this space, I decided to add a chair railing and paint the top half of the wall a deep navy color and the bottom half white. So last weekend I got to work, first cutting and then hanging the molding.

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

I’m not an expert at hanging molding, but I did do a few projects in my last house so I was excited to give it another try. With the molding in place, it was time to paint!

The beautiful navy is Farrow & Ball Stiffkey Blue-Estate Emulsion and the white is Sherwin Williams Pro Class Extra White Semi-Gloss (This is my go-to white paint for moldings and woodwork.)

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

This was my first time using Farrow & Ball paint, and I was pleased with the results. The color is rich and the matte finish looks smooth and subtle. The entryway is definitely much more dynamic and inviting now.

Down the road, my plan is to add box molding to the lower half of the walls. When I do the kitchen renovation, I will be installing hardwood flooring in the entryway. I’m also going to replace the closet with custom built-in cabinetry. Both of those changes will require molding to be removed, so the box molding will need to wait until all of that is complete.

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

For decor, I’m thinking of having a gallery wall of sorts (similar to this) go up the stairs. I’ll probably use a mix of vintage paintings and family pictures, but all of that’s still TBD. For the holidays, however, you can bet I’ll be wrapping that stair railing in some sort of garland. ‘Tis the season!

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

And after a few days of work, my entryway has a whole new look! What do you think?

Oh, and yes you may have gotten a few sneak peeks of my new living room color. I found a winner! I’ll be sharing the details later this week. Stay tuned!

A look at my newly painted entryway. Color: Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

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36 Comments

  1. Hi, love this and will be copying, love the stain on the stairs too ( ever thought about doing that) is it stain to the bedrooms? no carpet at the top?
    Thanx linda x

  2. Hi! Love, love, love what you did with the space! I saw that you ended up changing the color, but I thought maybe you’d have some good advice for picking a paint color!

    I have an entryway that looks identical to yours (my house is an 1960s colonial) and I’m trying to add a pop of color to the entryway like you did. Most of my home is hues of tans and browns, with the mudroom being a beautiful dark olive green and my downstairs bathroom red. What pop of color could I use in the entryway that isn’t green or red? No more browns or tans, for sure. But I’m afraid a navy like you used would be clash with tans browns, as well as disrupt the earthyish tone feeling I have going in the house. Any advice would be much appreciated! You have SUCH a good eye for beautiful colors and how they work together!

  3. I happened to be looking for new hallway idea’s and your project came up for suggestions on my Pinterest board. I love the colors you have chosen. I did however notice that the picture’s you posted are exactly the same layout as my grandparents house they had in Valley Forge in the mountain. What I loved the most in the house was the big window in the dining room. We would see deer coming from the woods behind my grandparents house while you were eating…the other was the big brick fireplace they had in the room off the kitchen…oh and the beautiful slate floors like you have in the entry way….so thank you for letting me walk through the memories I had of that house. If it happens to be their old house….that’s kinda cool and you guy’s have done a beautiful job

  4. Thank you for including the following, “the white is Sherwin Williams Pro Class Extra White Semi-Gloss (This is my go-to white paint for moldings and woodwork.)” I’ve been trying to determine if I should paint the entire bottom half with semi-gloss white and you had the answer. Looks beautiful 🙂

  5. This is exactly what I’ve been looking to do for my home! I should send you a pic-but our entryways are identical (your before pic ofcourse) 🙂 Question for you- how did you handle the right side of the stairway with the banister? Did you use a chair rail on that side OR did you leave it without and paint the entire right side of the stairway blue?
    Beautiful work!
    Jess

  6. Yowza! Sexy, smoldering navy colour made classy by the white paint pairing. Please confirm you have plans for a larger entry rug because the current size just doesn’t seem like you. And since blue is not a Christmas friendly colour (IMHO), show me what you’ve got Michael!

  7. Congratulations……the blue in your entry hall is stunning. Most especially with the existing slate floor!! Are you sure you want to change that to wood?? I am enjoying your new home décor journey and look forward to future renovations.

    1. Well, it was a tough decision. If the slate was in better condition I wouldn’t touch it. BUT it’s in really bad shape, so going all wood makes sense to me.

      xo Michael

  8. I’m really curious about the upper stairwell wall… the upper wall straight ahead of you as you head down the stairs; did you carry on the blue up there too?