Fall Decorating – Foyer/Mudroom

This week I directed my attention to our foyer/mudroom area.  We have been in this house almost two years now but so many things have taken priority.  Until lately, I haven’t been able to be really intentional with my decorating.  Intentional decorating takes a lot of thought – figuring out how to make a room really function for our needs and making it look  pretty.  I think that doing  “pretty” is easy.  But making a room functional and pretty – now that takes a whole lot of thought!

So I am going through our home, room by room, studying the flow, the light, the balance of colors and textures and considering how we all use the space – intentionally speaking that is!

So here we are at the front door.  In this house, everyone enters from the front of the home, via either the front door or a side door, both of which open to the same space.  Hence, my foyer doubles as a mudroom.

Both the front door and the side door are painted SW Black Bean  – a really dark brown which we like a lot.  To the left of the front door is the Pottery Barn Andover cabinet  – the only piece of furniture we purchased specifically for this house so far.

 The cabinet is home to our CD’s, keys, batteries, charging cords, etc.  I have an assortment of nature-related books on top because they sort of relate to the pond setting of this home.  For fall, I simply added a few turkey feathers to an old green bottle and some bittersweet for a pop of orange.  The lamp shade is from Target, recently found on clearance.  I like the graphic “feather” design – well that’s what it looks like to me anyway!

On the floor sits an old wicker basket that I found recently at the Habitat ReStore.  I’m not sure what it was intended for but I am using it to corral some of my decorating  magazines (I have a hard time parting with them, although I am getting better at purging) .  The top section is purely decorative with a few pinecones and an antler for fall.

It’s nice to be able to grab a magazine on my way out the door to soccer practice!

The right side of the front door (which is the left side of the side door you see in this photo) is where we hang our coats, “grab ‘n go” bags and my son’s book bag.  My husband made the rack out of some salvaged wood that was here on the property.

 An old wire utility basket hangs off a couple of the hooks for outgoing mail and library books. This same idea could be done with any kind of basket or hanging bin.

 The plaid jacket was something I thrifted a few years back for $1!  It makes an appearance every fall.   It’s a man’s jacket but it fits me like a glove.  And, I love how it looks just hanging out on the hook.

 You could do the same with a plaid scarf that’s been hanging out in your closet.  Lesson:  raid your wardrobe for home decor!

 I cozied up the bench a bit with an Ikea faux sheepskin.  These are great where ever you need to soften a hard edge, add texture or just cozy up a space.  Our cats love it, too.

 The pillows are purely decorative but this was a spot where I could add a bit of fall color  – the black and white plaid pillow is by Allen Lippes for Target. I love the large scale buffalo check done on the diagonal.  The green velvet  is Pottery Barn, thrifted last week for $3!

Under the bench, I use two old gym locker baskets – one for my little guy’s shoes, gloves, hats and soccer socks.  The other one is for his daily school papers which get purged about once a month.  I made canvas liners for the baskets to hide the clutter.  I have a third one of these baskets and I’d like to use it if only I could find what box it is in.

So there you have it – my fall foyer and mudroom combo!

Thanks for stopping by!

Debra