
Hi Friends! I’ve just been a paintin’ fool lately, and the amazing thing is…I’m nowhere near done yet! I have projects lined up from now ’till Halloween, I swear…which is just the way I like it, to be perfectly honest. I may complain about wanting a day off; but, the truth is, I thrive on busy.
So here’s my latest brainstorm. I was sitting on our stairs talking on the phone to my mom, staring at our foyer. I have posted numerous times about our foyer (like here and here and here). Each time, I think I’ve got it right, and after a couple of weeks, I think, “Naaahhhh, not quite yet!” So will this be the last furniture tweak? Probably not. But while I was on the phone with her, I had a brainstorm to use this piece that we’ve had for-EVAH (from Pier 1) under the mirror and shelf. Thing is, it looked really tacky. (See above pic?) This thing had been used at our old house in our tiny kitchen and housed various and sundry items like batteries, aprons, dishcloths, potatoes, onions, and leftover takeout stuff like ketchup packets and sporks. Seriously, it was a hot mess in that thing. It was the place for things that had no home. The place odds and ends went to die. Along with our root vegetables. Weird.
Even weirder was the fact that we picked that thing up and moved it to our new house and never changed a thing. It still held all of that stuff, and has been in our never-touched dining room for the last 3 years. And I’ve never dusted it. Seriously, people. If we needed batteries, we went searching in a piece of furniture that was also home to our spuds. I knew it wasn’t working, but just thought I’d get rid of it when we tackled our dining room and kitchen and I found a place for all of that stuff.
But talking on the phone with my mom, staring at our foyer, I suddenly thought it might work in a new place. Instead of chucking it, I remembered this picture I had pinned from Little Blue House on the Bay…

…and saw potential! So I got out my trusty spray painting sheet and spent all of 5 minutes dusting the thing off and spraying the frame black. Now here’s where it gets exciting…
Our daughters wanted to paint some rocks they found while I was working on this piece, so I went to my craft supply dresser to find them so paint. And lo and behold, I found some vintage-y numbered labels I had purchased but never used!

Here’s the finished product in its new space, although I’m still working on accessorizing, and I’ve got another project to show you, so I’m not taking a full-view beauty shot yet:

And a closeup of the drawers with their new labels:

Can’t say for sure whether or not this will be the last tweak to our foyer, but for now, I envision sunglasses, sunscreen, mittens, hats, and maybe even the camera being stored here for easy-access on our way out the door. As for the potatoes…they’re on the kitchen counter until I can find a place for ’em.
Now here’s a question for you…should I paint the shelf above so it matches?

I'll be the first to vote – paint the shelf black! I think it would look really nice. Great makeover.
Looks great! My opinion is don't paint the shelf above. I personally like when things don't match too much. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi there!
Thanks so much for pinning and posting my pic from my blog! How exciting to see it on someone else's blog!
I will be adding you to my daily blog list!
Thanks again!
Colette
Love how a small change makes such a big difference. I didn't notice the shelf above was a different color until you asked about painting it. If you're not sure you will leave the storage drawers in the foyer, maybe hold off on painting the shelf? However, a darker color would make it really pop against your green walls. Sorry, feel like I'm being no help at all! 😎 I'm visiting from the Craft-O-Maniac link party.
Christy @ Creating a Beautiful Life
Love the makeover! Yes, I'd paint the shelf. Thanks for sharing!
Allison @ http://www.allisonskinnyjeans.com
Yes by all means paint the shelf, black would go with whatever else you might put under the shelf. If it doesn't look right then paint the shelf again. It's just paint and a few minutes to sand and paint. Go for it baby. The drawer stand looks much better, I thought you were going to spray the drawers too, just a thought.
I'm visiting from a link on White Lace Cottage, so this is several weeks after your original post, but I was thinking it would look nicer if you painted the shelf, and then saw your question. I think it would tie things together better in your space. I like the contrast of the natural basket color with your cute labels against the black.