French Country Home Foyer – ORC (Week 8) – “The Final Reveal”

Eight short weeks have passed and here we are…the Final Reveal of our Foyer! Ok, truth be told, this isn’t really a Final Reveal, read on and I’ll explain.

WHAT IS THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE

The One Room Challenge™ is a biannual event every Spring and Fall and is currently in its seventeenth season. Each round, twenty design bloggers take the challenge and transform a space. Every Wednesday, the designers document their process while sharing their sources and professional advice over six weekly posts.

This season, due to the sheltering in place orders, the ORC will span eight weeks to give all the participants extra time to complete their spaces while staying safe at home.

The ORC has teamed up with Better Homes and Garden to bring you this highly anticipated event.

MY PARTICIPATION IN THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE

This round will complete my seventh season as a guest participant of the “ORC”. So many other talented people are also participating as guests, please check out their spaces HERE.

You can check out my all my prior renovation reveals in the links below

• Painting the Exterior Brick of Our Home
• Dining Room Renovation
• Home Wine Cellar
• Basement Bar Remodel
• Modern French Country Kitchen Renovation
• Master Bathroom Renovation

Foyer Renovation Progress by Week

• Week 1 – The before pictures of our home foyer.
• Week 2 – Inspiration and photos for the new design.
• Week 3 – The “initial design board” and my vision for the space.
• Week 4 – Curtains and carpet are removed.
• Weeks 5 & 6 – Painting the walls and ceiling from dark to light.
• Week 7 – Furnishings begin to arrive.

Let me start off by saying, “what was I thinking”?! Kids at home 24/7, most stores are closed, deliveries are taking much longer than normal, and we are concurrently building a pool and pool house.

Yes, I thought I could do it all but quickly realized that was not going to happen. Everything was taking so much longer than normal, so instead of rush the project, and take on additional jobs that may not be completed in time, I took a step back and got done what I could. So I welcome you to enjoy “Phase One” of our Home Foyer Renovation. I’ll discuss Phase Two a little later in the post.

The “Before” Picture of our Foyer Reno

The “Before”..outdated wall colors making the space feel very heavy. The carpet runner was covering up beautiful hardwood stairs and the choppy colors on the ceiling were adding to the overall drab feeling of the space.

The “After” Pictures of Our Foyer Renovation

The front door was given a fresh coat of paint in Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black. Watercolor prints with champagne frames were added to the sides of the door and a soft rug with pink and cream tones gives warmth to the entrance.

Since our foyer is very large, it needs a big table. This one if from Restoration Hardware but if you like it, you can find a great copy cat version HERE.

It’s actually a 60 inch dining table. I was glad I went that big, considering the space of the foyer, the size is perfect.

I added a chest to the left wall, this one is from Arhaus, but you can find a cheaper one HERE. Notice the blank space about the chest? Yea…my mirror has not arrived yet, not exactly sure when it will come in, waiting to hear back from the vendor. Please excuse the hover boards in the distance 🤦‍♀️

The pretty Annabelle Hydrangeas are from my garden and smell divine. I paired them with a blue and white ginger jar.

I also love great design and flower books, and recently purchased several to add to my collection. Elements of Style and London in Bloom are full of pages upon pages of gorgeous color and inspiration. Curling up with a cup of tea and a beautiful book is my idea of a great day.

After removing the runner on the stairs, we painted the risers the “Right White” a Restoration Hardware color and LOVE the look. Painting risers white is an inexpensive way to update any staircase. We did this too in our prior home.

The walls were painted “Ash” also a Restoration Hardware color but many paint stores are able to do a color match and get very close to the original. I like it because it has a hint of color but not over whelming and warms the space up immensely!

Our Home Goods store luckily opened back up in time for me to gather some accessories for my table.

More lovely Annabelle Hydrangeas from the garden grace the main foyer entrance table.

I added a few light pink roses to the vase for an extra pop of color. Hydrangeas and roses are one of my favorite flower combinations…beautiful every time.

A pretty marble tray and pink rose petals create a soft summer look.

Another beautiful hardback book has pages and pages of extraordinary roses.

And for my peony lovers out there, you will love this book! I also purchase Courtney Alison’s second book, which is as amazing and beautiful as her first one. For those of you who love french decor you will adore these beautiful french country cottage books as much as I do.

My biggest book splurge was by Tom Ford. Quite pricy and some of the pages are umm…shocking! Luckily it comes in a book sleeve, and is definitely not a coffee table book for the little ones to see.

I am going to have so much fun changing out the flowers for each season and adding new and interesting pieces to the table. This space has been empty for so long, it feels wonderful to have it furnished…well almost furnished.

The ceiling got a fresh coat of white paint. Unfortunately the chandeliers were not replaced. That will be part of Phase Two 🙂

Bentley loves the new space and especially the rug, he thinks we bought it for him 🙂

I’m so sad that Pier 1 is closing its doors forever. It’s been around since the 1960’s and has such beautiful home decor. I picked up this bunch of faux florals from the store but to be honest, the liquidation sale is not all that. I suggest waiting for the prices to really slash..many items are only 10% off at this time. The store will be open another 4 months, so you have plenty of time to try and get the best deals.

This picture is a bit dark, but it shows the newly painted ceiling white. You can see from the before picture that is was black and gold, pretty but heavy.

Notice that empty space under the window? Another items that has not arrived yet. I ordered a settee for the area but alas…no can do!

I hope you enjoyed my “partial foyer reveal”. I will update the post with pictures as my remaining items are delivered and you can check Instagram too for daily updates.

What will Phase Two of our Foyer Renovation Look Like?

• Adding wall molding to the entire area
• Replacing the two chandeliers
• Replacing the black iron balusters on the stairs
• Repainting the door a lighter color

Thank you all for following along, I hope you enjoyed Phase One of our renovation. This space is so big, I was nuts to think I could get it all done in eight weeks. My vision also changed as I was working through the design. I have learned not to rush a renovation, as I will have regrets down the road. The foyer has improved greatly but still has a ways to go to achieve it’s full potential!

If you are not doing so already, you can also follow along on Instagram HERE and Instagram stories HERE for daily updates and happenings at Happy Haute Home.

Denise

XO

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