Fixing up the Entryway

Over the summer,  I had to kill some extra vacation days and decided to take on a small project while we waited to get started on the big renovation. I just finished it up now.

Every fall, as we dig out the gloves and winter hats, it becomes clear that the entryway is a problem zone. Not only is it the first thing you see when you enter the house, but it's the gateway for all the stuff that comes in - a critical factor in the clutter-level for the rest of the house.

As far as the appearance - the floor tile is just ugly. I never liked the red tile pattern, which is partially cut off on one wall, and there are a bunch of broken tiles that make the house look run down. The walls are always scuffed up by strollers and the chair, so it just looks unkempt.

For organization - it just doesn't work as well as we need it to. There isn't a good place to store mail, bags, strollers, etc - so that stuff just overflows into the living room and rest of the house.

So - knowing I had a whole week at home to myself, I finally got my chance to fix it up.

closeup of broken tiles

view to the right - random stuff

view to the left - piles of stuff

the cut-off floor tile pattern

Tile
I tried to remove the old tile, but quickly discovered that wasn't going to work. A contractor once remarked that our house was built before cement board was invented, so the tiles are set in a bed of concrete that would need a jackhammer to be removed. I thought he was exaggerating - but after 2 hours with a hammer and chisel, I had barely removed the row of  broken tiles and decided to call it quits. Instead, I decided to just tile over the old stuff. I figure that a future owner may appreciate that the original tile is still there anyway.

Laying the tile was super easy - and then I just used tile snips to cut a bunch of the small tiles in half for the edge pieces. Grouting was harder than usual because the marble is not polished, so the grout really stuck on top. I ended up using some haze remover plus a couple hours gently scraping it off with a flat screwdriver. Lastly, I cut new shoe molding, stained it, and nailed it into place.

new tile goes down

gets grouted

shoe molding finally gets attached

Paint 
A quick coat of paint helped fix all the spots where the chair and strollers had marked up the walls, and the patch from where the air conditioner guys cut into the wall.

Stuff
I picked up a couple things from the Container Store to help better organize the space - with a mail sorter and basket to hold all the mail that comes in until it gets sorted. I also picked up another big basket for hats and gloves, and a new storage ottoman to replace the chair (which scuffed up the walls), while also holding umbrellas and helmets. We also switched out the massive running stroller and small umbrella stroller for one new one that serves both purposes and can collapse nicely.

new stroller and ottoman

Shelf
Lastly - I realized I could get more storage out of the bookcase by moving the shelf as far up as possible and then adding another shelf below. I just cut a spare board from the garage, stained it to match, and then screwed it in. Now there are two shelves for shoes, which is enough space to keep them from spilling into the living room.

third shelf fits kid shoes

mail sorter on top

So - still not perfect, but a huge improvement. Now that winter is here, we are much better prepared for all the hats, gloves, and coats.