Back in December, I listed out the top five projects I hoped we could achieve in 2017 and, over the past few weeks, I’ve gone into a bit more detail about the first four projects (see here, here and here). Now, for the fifth project, I’m going to share a bit more about upgrading the entryway and why we’re doing this in the first place. Hint: it has to do with Daniel being a klutz.

As I previously mentioned, a lot of our focus on our entry, from the outside to the foyer, has been on making our house seem like a happy and fun place. We have a funny doormat, a brightly colored mailbox, a happy front door and then, when you walk in, a yellow fireplace in the living room on the left, and a sculptural red coat rack in front of you to the right. The only thing that I thought really needed to be changed was the paint color since the foyer, staircase and upstairs landing are the only areas that we still haven’t painted and the foyer light for something worth looking at. Both are things we could have done years from now if I could wait that long. But what I hadn’t counted on was Daniel, who has slipped down the beautiful oak stairs several times and said we needed to put a rug down before he killed himself. I balked at that because the flooring is so pretty and I liked how there was nothing on the staircase, which let the stained glass window take all the attention. And then I got to thinking: if he wanted to add a stair runner, what else should we do?

Coat rack

Our entryway, including the foyer and staircase to the right.

So here’s my thinking:

1. Paint: The entryway, staircase and upstairs landing are all one space (even though they are on two floors) and are painted the same ugly off white the entire house had been painted when we moved in. I’d like to finally finish this painting job and make it slightly brighter. We’ll probably go for Behr’s Powdered Snow, which is the white we have used everywhere else in this house.

2. Shelf: I’d like to add a shelf over the radiator so we can actually use that space. Right now, we barely use the bench in that area for what’s it’s for (sitting on) and put everything else on there (our bags, keys, mail, random other stuff). I think by adding a shelf, we’ll have a proper place to throw mail, keys and random other stuff so that the bench can be for our bags and butts.

3. Lighting: I want to replace this lighting fixture for something beautiful but not too beautiful. I know that’s a weird thing to say but hear me out. You can only see this lighting fixture when you’re standing in the foyer and maybe – I mean, maybe – from when you’re sitting on the couch in the adjoining living room or looking down the staircase from the upstairs landing. I want something that’s prettier and more modern than what is there now, but not something that’s going to blow everyone’s minds from every vantage point because there are so few vantage points…Okay, I lied. These are beautiful.

4. Artwork: The staircase is the one area where we have high ceilings so I think it would be a good idea to emphasize that detail. I have a long wood carving from Haiti that we haven’t been able to find a great place for in this house. It’s currently in the garage as part of the Boss Bar artwork, but I think hanging it high on the wall on the top half of the stairs could help give some impact to this area. You’ll notice it when you walk in the house and it’ll draw your eye upward. We’ll just have to determine whether it’ll be dangerously easy to knock off by a person running up or down the stairs or a dog and her tail.

5. Runner: Finally, the piece de resistance, the whole reason we’re even talking about doing the entryway this year, the rug to keep Daniel from slipping down the stairs. If we’re going to have to cover up these beautiful floors, then I want to do it in a way that has true purpose, is a stunner, something that you look at and go “wow, what a beauty.” I know that’s a lot to assign to what is essentially a rug, but it’s going to be one of the first things you see when you walk into the house and something that is used an incredible amount, so why not make it unique and pretty to look at as well as incredibly functional? I have thought of a lot of options, but I can’t stop thinking about this one, so this is my north star when it comes to finding/creating a stair runner this year:

So what do you think of this entryway project? Any ideas for stair runners for us? Comment below!