Before & After: A Navy Blue Entryway

Drumroll, please!  After much hard work, we’ve finally completed painting our entryway.  I know I just mentioned it to you guys last week when I revealed the cane chair, but I’ve had the paint since September, trying to slot in a weekend to get this done.  The reason it took so long is because I wanted to hire a professional, but after getting a couple quotes, I just thought I’d be happier with myself if I just did it myself (because doing it myself was free).   I used ‘Naval’ from Sherwin Williams (it’s part of their collaboration with Pottery Barn) and love the way it turned out.  I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner!  The Navy is just the perfect hue – not too royal, it has a very neutral undertone which goes well with both my black and brown accessories.

The color it was before is called ‘River Mud’.  I’d painted it back in 2007 when my husband (then boyfriend) and his male roommates lived in the house.  It worked well for a while, and was a warm, nice transition for the men to get used to a bit of my female touch.  Not that the men didn’t have style, but I thought I’d scare Matt away if I came in with my design guns blazing!  I liked the way the khaki walls went with everything (like a good trench coat), but just needed a bit of a funkier change.

It was one of those changes that I kept walking by and thinking, “I really like this”.  Matt would walk through on my first coat and chime in how much he loved the change.  It makes the white woodwork really pop and even makes the dark walnut floors seem richer and more luxe.

After I painted, I was really excited to decorate the space.  The rug and center table stayed, but everything else was swapped out.  Keep reading for more photos and close ups of the accessories!

I think gallery walls are easier when you include various different types of art.  I included a basket and a decorative tile tray in mine just to break it up.  I think I’ll keep adding to it and eventually work it up the stairs.  I didn’t want to force it, though, and wanted enough space to pick up some good art here and here.  I’d love to get a Hugo Guinness print one day, but they’re so pricey!

The navy travels all of the way up the stairs and into the second floor landing.  I love this little telephone table and deer vase that I perched on the halfway point of the landing.  Isn’t the vase just fabulous?  I just bought it in Steamboat last week and new it would make me smile every time I walk by it.

So… How do you like it?

p.s.  I didn’t use the longhorn head in the entry like I was originally thinking, but I DID keep it…. photos to come!