We're rolling right along with renovations on our little farm house! For our latest update we decided to make a clean, catch-all space in our entryway so we'd have a place to put jackets, purses and little notes to ourselves about things we need to take care of before the next time we run out the door.
We recently introduced you guys to our air health solution, and we've gotten a ton of questions! Let's back up and take a closer look at this entryway situation, shall we?
This is a view of the space when you first walk into our home, before we added the accents. You may recognize it from this post about home security from awhile back. Guests open the front door and kind of plop right into the middle of our open-concept living room and kitchen. The bedroom, office and playroom is straight through that hall, and the office and master bedroom are off the kitchen, to the left-hand side. There's a little shoe rack right by the door, but other than that there wasn't any space for accessories.
There was no graceful way to put a console in our entryway. I envisioned one of those pretty spaces you see on Pinterest with a mirror and a short table that I could decorate during holidays. When I tried cramming that in here, though, it looked awkward and off-balance with the big pantry next to it. Those clamps at the end of the pantry were in the way, but they're necessary to hold our long baby gate in place.
Nate and I were actually inspired by those clamps, and decided to use this empty space how it would best serve our unique needs. We're not really trying to impress anyone with fancy decor, so we rolled with what we had.
The upcycled photo backdrop clamps screwed into the wall are super-sturdy. They give us both a place to hang or clip our things, while the basket serves as a nice catch-all for the occasional temporary project that I find myself embroiled in. The chair doesn't see a ton of use, but I do plop down there once in awhile to round up school paperwork or tie shoes. And our sponsor Amway's Atmosphere Sky Air Treatment System? That's my little workhorse, the centerpiece that greets me with a breath of fresh air every time I walk in the door.
Setting our new air treatment system up was super-simple. It was basically a plug-and-play situation with the Bluetooth on the purifier connecting to my phone and then syncing with WiFi from there. If all else fails, it has a touch screen display so you can operate it straight from the top of the unit.
I set it spaced away from the wall a bit to make sure it has room to really do its thing. And oh, what a thing it does! It's 99.99% better than HEPA filtration and is the ONLY air purifier among top competitors to reduce odors like cooking, pet, formaldehyde, mildew, and chemicals like ozone.
Overall, what I love the most is that it does the heavy lifting for me. I still vacuum and dust, of course, but if we have a busy week and I go a few days without scouring every nook and cranny of our home it's no big deal. The Atmosphere Sky detects the increased contaminants in our environment and kicks into high gear, so my allergies no longer have to.
In case you're wondering, the subway art sign was made by yours truly. It features a lengthy list of household chores that can be done anytime, by anyone. This is the perfect solution for spouses who ask you to “just tell them what you need help with.” I'm not keen on being anyone's task manager, so this has made my life five zillion times easier. Nate now knows where to put his attention if he has a few minutes to help out, and babysitters can see exactly where I expect them to pitch in during their downtime.
It was super-simple to make. I created a 2400×1800 pixel blank canvas in PicMonkey, turned the background black, and then listed a bunch of tasks, centered and separated by bullet points. I typed “Do Your Best” up top because I thought it was a bit more inspirational than “Household Chores.” This is sort of our home motto, actually. Whenever the boys are struggling with something, we direct them to do their best. And if someone's being mean to them? Well, other people may do their worst…but we always need to do our best.
It's a pretty good solution to whatever ails you in life, quite frankly.
I saved it as a PNG file and uploaded it to the Staples website to print as an 18×24″ blueprint. I then cut some particle board down slightly smaller than that size and slapped some black paint on it. Then, I used spray glue to get the sheet on there and sanded the overhanging edges and top of the paper to give it a bit of a worn look. A couple frame hangers on the back of that, and our entryway was ready to rock-and-roll!
Together, our subway-style task sign combined with our air purifier and chair-basket-clamp setup make for an efficient entryway that keeps our home running smoothly.
Do you have useful space in your entryway?