Our Rancher: Before & After - The Entrance.

I know the title reads "before and after", but the series of posts coming your way are truly more of a "then and now".  Why is that?  Well because I'm never done re-decorating and styling our home. I mean, you already heard my dreams to renovate our 1954 cabinetry.  Yes, one day I will see my kitchen dreams come to life!!  But, anyway, I digress...

Back to the fun stuff...the transformation thus far!!

Our home was a little...ummmm...frightening when we bought it.  "Hot mess" is a phrase that also came to mind.

Ahhhh, our diamond in the rough!  Our home was so far from welcoming.  We took it from dark, overgrown, stained, cramped and closed off to happy, light and bright!

Much better, don't you think?!?

Next up...the living room portion of our "great room"!

Front Porch Painting & Quick Update...

In my last post I mentioned that things have been B-U-S-Y around here lately {life, merger at work, blah, blah, blah}.  Sadly, that means the blog has taken a backseat, but have no fear...we tried are darnedest to keep up with house-related projects.

One of those projects was a quick {well, only on my part...thanks Dad} update to our front porch.  When we purchased our home, we painted just about every square inch of it because it looked like this.  Ahhhh!

Don't worry...it looks more like this these days, so please don't let the nightmares of a big, overgrown, green blob keep you up at night. ;)

I know some people aren't the biggest fans of painting wood or brick, but in our case, the old red steps {refer to the creepy picture above} just weren't doing anything for our house.  They needed to be painted, and we were super happy we did it.

It's been about a year and a half since we painted them, and after tons of use and abuse, the red brick was showing through in some places.

So during my parent's last visit a few weeks ago, my dad asked what he could do to help us around the house.  I kindly told him nothing, and then proceeded to fan him and feed him bon bons jumped at the chance for him to re-paint the steps.

I've said it a million times, but I will say it again...it's crazy what a difference some paint can make!  The steps look so good after getting a fresh coat of grey.

And during a recent trip to Tar-jay, I came across the cutest gradient door mat {reminiscent of the pink Clara rug that YHL decorated with} that perfectly matched our teal front door.  Obviously, I didn't resist and threw it in my cart.  It helped that it was on sale. ;)

Add a few dahlia plants in my new IKEA planters...and our front porch is ready for spring! :)

Freshline Prints

Little by little, I added some touches to our entryway so that it wasn’t so “bleh” when you glanced towards the front door.  First was the mirror that took entirely too long to hang, then I added a fun pop of color to the front door and now I’m revealing what was in those frames hung to the right of the door.  I realize that it looks like there was already something in them, but what you don't know, is that I didn't change anything from the second I bought them.  Yup, I hung them with whatever pre-packaged "photo" came with the frames.  Classy, huh?  At least they weren't banished to our guest bedroom with the rest of the frames I purchased during a 50% off sale at Michael's. ;)

After a very non-scientific evaluation of the space between the end of our barn door track and the front wall of our home, I figured that two 8 x 10 frames would be the perfect fit next to our front door.  I knew I wanted some grey and yellow “home-themed” prints, and I also knew I wanted those prints to come from an Etsy shop that I love, Freshline.  I poured over the many beautiful things the shop owner, Colleen, has to offer, and carefully narrowed my choices down to just two prints… the Skeleton Key with Your House Number and the Welcome Sign – Home Sweet Home.

The pictures were already in the exact colors I desired, so I just had to request for them both to be printed in landscape orientation.

I placed my order and impatiently waited for the prints to arrive.  They were definitely worth the wait.  Both were just what I was looking for and fit perfectly into our home!

If anyone is looking for some beautiful, modern prints to hang in their home, I highly suggest you check out Colleen’s Etsy store!

Now, if I could just find a fun doormat for the entryway, I’ll be all set!!

Anyone else have a favorite Etsy store?!?!

Bye-bye Blanco!

I love white.  It's clean, it's modern...it's light and airy.  But too much of it is just plain boooooooring.

Enter this area of our home....

White ceiling + white trim + white door + ginormous white barn door = bleh.  Okay, maybe “bleh” is a little harsh.  Let’s use sterile instead. ;)

So with a little paint and a little effort, our front door went from boring white...

...to a fun, icy blue!

Of course the addition of an old mirror and a couple new frames also helped to spruce up the space a bit.  Sometimes I am still amazed at how a splash of color and a couple accessories can make a space feel more and more like home.

Yay for crossing more things off the "to-do" list...no matter how small they may be!! :)

That Took You How Long???

I really can't believe it took me several months to hang something pretty next to our front door.  What makes it so bad is that a) I always knew what I wanted to put up and b) I already owned the mirror, and had it in my basement since day one.  {It was one of the first things I bought for our old townhouse.}

Heck, it even took me a couple days weeks {no lie} to hang it once I brought it upstairs.  For the longest time, it lived on the couch.  I'm pretty sure Perny didn't appreciate the company.  He's not a fan of things that can't pet and snuggle him. ;)

Finally, after realizing I was sick and tired of having nothing on the walls, I got busy hanging some stuff.  You saw a couple things I was working on here, and shockerrrrrr...they are still not hung.  But at least this blank sliver of wall went from this... 

To this!

And for those of you who don't follow me already {retroranchreno...follow me!}...here is a shot of the area, a la Instagram.  I just love how the fancy, intricate mirror looks next to the bold, modern pattern on our curtains.

It's SUCH a transformation, right?!?!  I'll give you a minute to catch your breath after all that excitement!

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Obviouslyyy, I'm kidding.  I know it's not a knock-your-socks-off transformation, but every little bit of decor makes our place feel more settled, and more like home.  Since I took these pictures, I've even hung two frames in that area, and bought some paint to slap up on the door.  Of course, I haven't gotten around to adding pictures to the frames or actually painting the door, but every little bit counts, right??  :)

What Were You Thinking?!?

That was the exact question I got from my contractor when he saw the color I was happily rolling onto my front door.  I know the color choice may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love the punch it gives to the front of our straight-forward, little rancher.

The Evolution of Our Front Door

Here is how it looked when we bought the house...


Here is how it looked after we put on a new door and new door hardware {aka - still in need of door paint, caulk, trim paint and new lights}...


And, here is how it looks freshly caulked and painted...

I know we could use some prettier house numbers, a colorful door mat, and don't even get me started on our pitiful {lack of} landscaping...but let's just take a minute to remember what our house used to look like.  Anything is better than the hot mess that it was!!

And honestly, I cannot get over how our front door looks when it's opened up into our living room.  I am loving my "what were you thinking" decision!

What do you think?  Too much?  Would you go more subdued? 

PS-The barn door I discussed in this post is installed!!!  All I need to do is paint it and add a handle.  I can't wait to share it with you!