Entryway Refresh

When we first bought our historic Federal Colonial home, it was truly frozen in time. While it needed a LOT of work, it had so much character and potential. And one of the things that immediately captured our hearts was the entryway with this curvy staircase.

The most obvious priority was to remove the decades-old stink carpet… as charming as it was. It was SO much work, and there were SO many staples. But it was worth it! We even had gotten a head start on giving this space a fresh coat of white paint when this pic (below) was taken.

In the absolute trenches of renovation (we’re talking zero kitchen for 9 months), we had our nationally renowned photographer friend Dan McClanahan come in and capture a family picture of us in our “natural habitat”. It was soooo fun! And I even painted the stairs whimsical colors for the occasion. This photo won national awards, and we were so honored to be a part of it!

But continuing on in the evolution of our entryway, alas the rainbow stairs were never meant to be permanent. And luckily its a quick change, because I’ve casually painted them several times over the past few years. At one point the risers were a dark rust. Then I painted the walls gray and the risers this royal blue… at which point we also had to tear out the old plaster ceiling to do new wiring and plumbing for the master bathroom that was going in above this space. Still a vibe though, right?

To be honest, I was really just waiting for true inspiration to strike. AND IT DID. I zeroed in on having some type of vibrant/floral wallpaper on the ceiling. And once we finally had a true ceiling in place (and preserved the original medallion) I started brainstorming wallpaper ideas.

For a long time, I was having a hard time finding the perfect wallpaper for the entryway ceiling. It needed to be perfect. But finally I found the most beautiful (and perfectly obnoxious) floral wallpaper.

The blue is suddenly TERRIBLE. Haha! It’s one of the few colors that’s not even remotely present in the floral wallpaper. I knew I wanted to pull a color from the wallpaper for the stairs, but took me awhile to decide on a coral-y peach or terra cotta color from the flowers. I had ChatGPT draw up what it might look like, and I fell in love!

Now the hard part of choosing the actual perfect paint color. I got some paint samples from Dutch Boy that included everything from more orange-y to peachy to pink-y…

Once I got paint swatches painted on a stair step, I realized that I really couldn’t go wrong! But I wanted to choose one that would be elegant, yet be surprising and cheerful when you walk in our front door. I waited so I could see the color samples in different lighting before I made my final decision.

Ultimately, I decided to go with the color that’s second from the left. The perfect muddy pinky-peach! The exact color is Dutch Boy “Shelled Peanut”, and let’s just say I have no regrets.

Can. you. even. handle it?! Now I just need to figure out what to do with those gray walls. The coolness of the gray is vibing with all this warmth. Would you do more of a “greige”? or a straight-up tan? Another option is taking another shade from the wallpaper. It could even be a muted green of some kind? Sage?

As you can see, I’m taking suggestions. But also, I’m not in a hurry, because it’s my house and I love just living in it until I feel confident about my decisions. Weigh in below in the comments!

~Bethany