Black Walls

As I've mentioned before, our home was built in 1937. It has tons of cool art deco features such as curved walls and an extremely deco molding above the front door. I knew immediately I really wanted to keep that feeling going, and what could be more art deco than black and white?

I had already painted the front hallway twice, but it just never felt perfect. I wanted to make a dramatic statement when you first enter, so I finally decided to take the plunge. This is why we own a home, after all. So we can make it what we want.

The color I used is called Gargoyle Shadow by Dutch Boy. Although I love Dutch Boy colors, I always have them mixed in Pittsburgh Paint. I really love the coverage they offer.

Alright, enough blabber! The reveal:

I'm really please with the heavy contrast. And my husband didn't freak out, either, so that's a plus! He actually really loves how formal our entry now feels.

With so much white. a bold color can be pulled off with ease.

What could be more trendy right now than a black and gold color scheme?  Our old door bell pops against the dark walls.

I moved my $6.99 Goodwill cherry blossom tree into the front hallway and now I feel like an extra in the recent Great Gatsby movie. (Still waiting for Leo to make his appearance. Ahem.)

More black and gold rears it's *trendy* head: our antique Ansonia clock that once belonged to my husband's grandparents.

And it frames our front door beautifully. We have mega-light coming in right now with the sun gleaming off of the snow, but had I taken a better photo, you could see how the leaded windows really pop with the black walls drawing your eye to them. Just take my word for it, ok??

I now need to get moving on some black velvet curtains that are going to frame our french doors. I need to tie all of this black paint into the living room somehow. A great excuse to use more black velvet fabric!! Thanks for looking!

Home Tour Sneak-Peek: The Entryway

So while I do intend to establish a proper home-tour page, we have only recently purchased this house (March 2014) and I am, after all, miss-managed. But the next few posts will offer a sneak-peek of a few far-from-completed corners of my home!

 

The entryway:

 

Before:

 

(Sorry, I stink at taking before photos. Imagine a sea of mustard carpet.)

 

Currently:

 

 

We ripped up the hideous dated carpet, painted the trim and walls, polished up the original hardware.

 

 

I am still debating on the paint color. While it is one of my favorite paint colors ever (Colonial Cobblestone by Dutch Boy), unless it's a gloriously sunny day, it can get a little dark in the hall. One problem in our home is the lack of overhead lighting, which is normal for the age of the house, but a constant pain in my behind.

 

See how pretty this color is in the sunshine? Sigh...

This table was a $5.00 garage sale steal. I am still trying to decide if it needs a makeover. The obviously laminate finish is chipped in places and the hardware is outdated but I kind of like that it matches the wood floors.

 

 

The rugs are by Mohawk and the dried rose wreath is a DIY by yours truly.

 

Future plans are to finish painting the spindles on the staircase (they are an off-white and I will paint them the bright white that matches the trim) and updating the pendant. I'm eyeballing some beauties from Ballard Designs.

 

Onto the next room!