Hello! I have been busy over here refreshing our front porch and entry. These are areas that weren’t so bad, but with a few tweaks, I’m loving them more than ever. Outside, on our front porch, we have the cutest little stoop. We live in a condo and the back corner is all ours. It desperately needed one small update.
front porch light
One of the glass panels broke on the exterior light. It wasn’t a big deal until a bird lived there all last spring. That sweet bird made a nest in there, pooped in there, and would fly out and scare you to death every time we came or left the house. The bird has long since left, but her mess remained:
Gross- right?! Because of the broken glass, we knew we wanted to update it. No more birds in our light. When we took it down, I found a little bird’s nest. I’m not sure why those eggs never hatched, which is a little sad.
For the replacement, we went with the Kichler Mount Vernon light. It is ridiculously improved now!!! I love the lantern look and the seeded glass is so pretty!
Guys, I love Kichler. They have beautiful lights and are sold at independent lighting showrooms, Lowes or select online retailers. I especially love their brass selection. We have used their lights in our dining room, bathroom, and now on our porch and entry. Outside, I did a quick clean up and we took some pictures to show off the new light.
One of my favorite updates outside was super simple! Right now a fun trend is to layer your doormat over a patterned rug. I used the Mohave rug we used to have in our entry and layered our Home Sweet Home doormat over it. The result is super cute!
This is an awesome blog post if you are looking for more doormat layering ideas. Let’s go inside, shall we?!
entry refresh
Last September, I totally redid my entry. New wood floors, white paint, picture molding, a fancy table. I loved it, mostly. Here’s how its looked for the last 14 months:
Not bad! And here is how it looked in 2015 when I started documenting my updates here (very bad). You can get a glimpse of the old lights:
before
Yes, the update was amazing, but I still didn’t love the lights. They were dated boob lights and looked awful. Also, after living in the space, it needed more functionality. There wasn’t a home for the dog leash or boots in the winter. Here’s how it is looking now:
after
This view makes me so happy! Let’s start off with the new light! It is brass to match the rest of the fixtures in our house. Because we have 8′ ceilings, we needed a flush mount light. I choose the Kichler Alton Flush Mount. Again, it has beautiful seeded glass and I love how modern it looks with the brass finish.
Our entry has two lights- one when you first come in the door and one at the base of the stairs. Here is the view of the other:
For the light bulbs, I choose an LED light in the color “soft white.” I love that they look beautiful through the glass and they have the most beautiful light when on:
I love having this light updated because this is what you see when you walk down the stairs. Yes please!
Let’s talk about the decor on the entry console. This was a fun update to do:
entry console
The hook to the left of the console is perfect for hats and coats.
On top of the console I added the prettiest art from Minted. I love having eternal flowers greeting me as I walk in the door. I am a traveler at heart, so I enjoy globes for decor since they remind me how big the world is. The canister holds our dog’s ball. I think every room needs a little whimsy and that’s where the giraffe vase comes into play.
Below the console is where I added a lot of the functionality. First up, a tray for my boots and a basket to hold the dog leashes and harnesses.
Lucy approves 😉
instagram photos
For a long time, I had printed Instagram photos hanging in our living room. They were behind glass so they were a pain to switch out. Plus, a bunch fell and I was too lazy to take the glass off, re-tape them, put the glass back on, and hang it on the wall. There had to be a better way! Here’s how it looked- you can even see the falling off photos- ugh!
We redid our living room so I took the Instagram photos off the wall and put the frame in the garage. My husband doesn’t mind my updates, but he did mention how he missed the photos. We both agreed that the way I had it didn’t work and so we brainstormed some solutions.
We decided that the photos needed easy to put on and take off. I thought about DIYing something, but honestly I am so busy I feel like I can’t breath. So what’s a girl to do? Amazon Prime. Yep, I bought three beautiful and affordable bulletin boards and used brass tacks to attach the photos.
Printing Instagram photos is super easy. I like to order mine online through my grocer. I just choose 4×6 prints, upload my square photos and make sure to select “do not crop.” Then the photos are printed with a white border, I trim them and end up with 4×4 square photos
So that is my entry update! It’s so nice having the space look pretty, have it all cleaned up for the winter, and more functional than ever. The new lights from Kichler and so nice and bright, plus they really add a fun touch of glam. I’d love to know your favorite part!
entry video
For this post, I have a fun addition, a quick video tour of the entry. Come inside, won’t you?!
Thanks for stopping by!
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This post is sponsored by Kichler. I love their lights! This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Laura Ingalls Gunn says
What a charming and welcoming entry! I hope you saved the sweet birds nest.