Our Front Hall Restoration Project

We’ve been chipping away at this project for a few months and I’m so excited to finally be able to share it with you today! Here’s how our front hall restoration project turned out.

The main part of our house was built 120 years ago and contains the living room, dining room, front hall, and bedrooms upstairs. The home has been added on to a lot over the years and we’ve done a lot of projects to make all the parts come together and feel like they all belong to the same home. This house has really spent most of its life as a working farmhouse, so much of what we found when we moved in was quite basic and utilitarian. The finishes were mostly there for function rather than decorative purposes and a lot of the decoration and millwork that you see in our home now might look original, but was mostly added by us. The front hall is a little different, though, because I believe that this was actually quite a beautiful space back in the day. We found evidence of some lovely wallpaper and beautiful woodwork, which lead me to believe that this was quite an elegant space. So I thought of our work in this hallway as more of a rejuvenation project than what we’ve done in the rest of the house. I love how it came together, and to me, it really looks like this is how it was always meant to be. Here’s how our front hall restoration project turned out.

What We Started With Before Our Front Hall Restoration

This space has gone through a few transformations over the years. When we first moved in, the space had good bones, but it was hard to appreciate its simple beauty with the peel and stick tile floors and sad paint. We slowly freshened this space up over the years with new flooring, fresh paint, and a bit of trim here and there, but we decided that this year it was finally time to go all-in and do things properly, once and for all. Of course, every old space always has some quirks to it, no matter what you do. In our case, we have a very obvious thermostat in the middle of the wall, so I chose to deal with it with a little humor and frame it out (seen below). I also love the idea of using a custom neon sign to add a little levity to a space, especially a really traditional one. Yellowpop has some great ones if you’d like to make a cheeky addition to your space to highlight a funny little flaw.

Home improvement ideas for your next room makeover: Design Details That Instantly Make a Home Feel Historical

A Mix of New and Old Millwork

I had originally thought that I wanted  to eventually replace the railings on the stairs, but over the years, I began to realize that they were actually quite lovely just as they are. They may not be the most decorative railings ever, but their simple beauty allowed us to add quite a bit of new millwork without it competing with the stairs.

Wainscoting was added to the hallway many years ago when we first moved in, and we decided to carry that up the wall next to the stairway to complete the look. This is an old, steep, slightly imperfect stairwell, so we actually followed the imperfect line of the banister with the moldings, rather than try to make our mouldings perfectly straight, which would have really drawn attention to the imperfect angles of everything else. The end result is a space that feels harmonious and true to the age of the house.

The Finishing Touches on Our Front Hall Restoration

Once our new wainscoting was in and looking just right, we moved on to the wallpaper. The pattern I chose is from Claret and Key and is called “Clayton.” I went with the winter colorway, but changed the background to the milk color and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it looks in here. I’ve already received so many compliments on this wallpaper and I really do feel like it looks like it could have always been here.

We finished off the ceiling with authentic tin ceiling tiles and substantial crown mouldings from Decorative Ceiling Tiles. I shared a sneak peek in my stories and immediately received questions asking me if the ceiling and crown were original, so I knew we had definitely made the right choice. The ceiling tiles are the “Lilac” pattern, and the crown is called “Foster.” While the mouldings might look like they’re heavy, solid wood, they’re actually made of a lightweight primed Urethane, making them a bit easier to manage.

The bell jar light fixture is truly the light of my dreams. This is the Ternum pendant (size large because The Oversized Light Fixture Rule) from Residence Supply in a custom aged brass finish. I was able to send a picture of the finish that I wanted to the team at Residence Supply, and they worked with me to create the perfect finish for my light. I’m so thrilled with the end result and couldn’t be happier with how the light fixture looks in this space.

Sources

Pictured above: Lamp | Affordable Horse Print | Rug

Wall paint color: Benjamin Moore White Dove

Door color: Keystone Grey by Behr

Light fixture: Ternum Pendant from Residence Supply (Discount code COURTENAY10)

Tin Ceiling and Crown Mouldings: Lilac and Foster from Decorative Ceiling Tiles

Wallpaper: Clayton by Claret and Key

Doorknob: Hobson by Schlage

Rug: Vintage Turkish Oushak Rug from City Rugs on Etsy

Hall closet curtain: Lily from Three Girls Curtains (CREEKLINEHOUSE for 25% off)

 

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