Thanks for bearing with me for the 5+ months it took to “complete” this upstairs hallway update. It was my New Years Prezzie-lution. I am so thrilled with the way it has turned out! For your reference, here is the before shot with the terrible builder-grade light fixture, an old rug and my lonely mobile:
And here is the after, TAH DAH:
Now, for a few of the details. I love the butterfly prints that hang on either side of the console table. Thanks to a great post by Jenny at Little Green Notebook, I found these for free while searching the New York Public Library’s digital catalog. I printed them on my little ole HP desktop and popped them into $20 Target gallery frames.
I found these adorable foo dogs at Homegoods for $7.99 each. Love these guys!
The tray holding my travel guides on the console was a $10.48 red-tag Target find!
I am madly in love with this artichoke table lamp from Shades of Light. It’s perfectly framed by the long dormer and I adore looking at it each time I go down the stairs.
To be honest, the rug selection was the hardest part of this project. I wanted something fabulously neutral, so it would not compete with the gallery wall, colorful lamps and bright foo dogs! After a few tries, I settled on this seagrass rug from Ballard Designs.
I like the way the color of the seagrass almost melts into the color of the hardwood floors and the green band complements the runner on the steps, as well as the rug in the front hall and the fabric on the pelmet box in the dormer. Don’t be alarmed, the white ball of fur on the step is Annie, the sleeping dog!
Things I Learned During the Hallway Update :
1. While I love looking at perfectly styled tables and spaces in glossy pictures, for me, a clear tabletop is a clear mind. I tried “styling up” the console and the little dormer table with items that I loved such as little vases with greenery or little picture frames, but it just didn’t feel like me. It felt cluttered and suffocating. The books and foo dogs were just right, and I didn’t want anything to detract from that lovely artichoke lamp!
2. Items with lots of contrast and texture are not neutrals. I originally bought this jute rug from Ballard Designs for the hallway.
I loved it and mistakenly thought that it would provide a great neutral feel to the space. When I laid it down, the contrast and texture competed too much with the rest of the space. Which leads me to my two next lessons:
3. Rugs do not have to “steal the show.” I am a rug person and love for the rug to be the centerpiece of every space. Due to the runner on the steps and the colorful composition of the space, the rug had to be neutral. But neutral does not have to mean boring — the seagrass rug is perfect!
4. If you don’t love something, don’t keep it. I almost just kept the jute rug because it was only $79, a pain to ship it back and an additional $8.95 in shipping to return. But, the more I lived with the rug, I realized that it was not right for the space and I didn’t love it. It “stole the show” from the items that I DID love. So, back to Ballard it went. And it was the right decision.
Source Info:
Paint — Benjamin Moore, American White
Console – Chloe Console Table, Pottery Barn, $299
Stained Glass Lamps — Sundance Catalog, circa 2003
Artichoke Lamp — Shades of Light (similar), $175
Dormer Table — Antique
Ceiling Lights — Brushed Nickel Flush Mount Ceiling Fixture, Overstock, $74.99 each
Area Rug — Seagrass Rug, Ballard Designs, $89
Stairway Runner — Custom, Carey Burke
Foo Dogs — Homegoods, $7.99 each
Gallery Frames — Target, $15 – $30 each
Mobile — Gift, similar
Tray — Target, similar, $19.48
I love that the space can grow with me. I will be adding to the gallery walls and may search for two chairs to paint and recover for each side of the console. I would also love change out the gold door knobs throughout the upstairs to brushed nickel lever handles.
Soooo, what do you think?
Stay tune for my next project: conversion from nursery to big girl room!
