Plans for My Back Entry

The back entry of my house when I bought it was a strange warren of lots of cabinets. The landing at the top of the stairs right as I would come in was especially strange, with a combination of angled corner cabinets topped by a cabinet that disappeared into a corner. Very strange!

Although all the random cabinetry didn't really make sense, it was relatively new and I had bigger fish to fry when I first bought the house, like making a useable kitchen and getting a functioning bathroom upstairs, so the back entry was pretty much left alone. The only thing I did was paint the walls green to match my kitchen (they were originally cream) to cover up the smoke smell in the room. The picture to the left was taken after I had painted.

Last year I started to tackle the area and ripped out the little section of cabinets on the landing and replaced the Pergo flooring with some grey slate linoleum tile. I originally thought about using real slate tile, but I live in the Midwest and with snow and rain this back entry with a few stairs has the potential to be wet a lot and I was afraid real tile would be too slippery.

Anyway, that is as far as I got before I lost momentum and stopped working on it. My long term plan is that I want to create a useable entryway with the little nook that now exists where the cabinets were. I want to build a bench with shoe storage and then have some hooks on the wall for coats and shelf for baskets of gloves and scarves.

Unfortunately, when I pulled out the cabinets I found unfinished dry wall so I have a long way to go. Here is what I want to do:

- Mud, tape, and sand the seams and screw holes on the unfinished drywall
- Prime and paint walls
- Replace the window trim
- Build shoe bench and install
- Back the wall with beadboard and add hooks
- Paint the bench, beadboard and shelves white 
- Build a storage shelf and install
- Add baseboards
- Sew a cushion for the bench
- Sew curtains for the window 

I'm thinking of painting the walls a pale avocado color that will be a bit lighter than my current color and still work well with my kitchen. This entry spot has some nice natural light with the window but as you turn the corner it gets a little dark and I want to lighten it up. I think that with the white bench and shelving and the grey flooring will make a nice combination.

What do you think? What are your must haves for a back entry to make it useful?

Comments

[Veronique]

Hi Lisa,
Love all your ideas.
I don't have a back entry but if I did I would probably add a key hook and maybe an unbrella stand.
No matter what, I'm sure your redesign will spruce things up and make it homey.
Keep up the good work.
Veronique

[Mary-Lou]

WOW that is a big project. My one suggestion is when you think that "x" is enough hooks, add two more. When we made some changes to our back entry we added a shelf/bookcase and it has become a catch all for stuff - some days it is handy, some days it is the source of my stress against clutter and once you have it, hard to remove it. Now I must go and find homes for the pile of stuff - why are there two cigarette lighters, neither of us smoke?!?!?!?

[Lisa]

Veronique- Thank you so much! A spot for keys and umbrellas is a great idea. Thank you for the suggestion!

Mary-Lou- Thank you! Adding extra hooks is a good idea. I'll have to keep that in mind as I plan things out.