My little brother turned 30 this past week and for his birthday I decided to go all out. I bought him a sandwich. HE WISHES.
Actually I decided that this year I wanted to build more furniture for my own house and for people I love so I asked him if he would want something for his house for his birthday. Now if you know Tim….which I am sure you do….you will know that he is one of the most non-talkers ever in the world. Like unless it is motorcycles or engines or trucks, don’t expect more than a “yup” or a “nope” out of him. Sometimes you are lucky if you get a shrug. And he said “sure”. I would take that as a “ABSOLUTELY I WOULD LOVE THAT KATIE!” That’s the Timmy-translation.
The other thing you should know is that my sweet baby brother was a bachelor until this past year and now he and his wife live together in what previously was his bachelor pad. You can see the exterior of the house in this old post. And since Jessica is now expecting a baby girl (yes, I have been going nuts in the whole ruffle-butt-jammie aisle) she really would love to have the house feel a little more homey and less bachelor-y. That’s a word.
Since Jessica and Tim have had less than a year together in this house, their couple style is developing and I knew that from certain cues that they like things that clean lined, a little modern farmhouse and they love grays and metal. That’s where I took my inspiration for their foyer.
Their foyer was just recently painted this sage color (it’s Behr) by Tim and my mom…but he didn’t have a lick of furniture or decoration.
The wall itself is the only thing in the foyer….on the left is the wide open doorway to their living room and on the right is the hallway to the kitchen and the stairs.
And after I Katie-fied it, it looks a little like this….
I started off with the foyer table as the kick-off-point. I found this really cool console table on Restoration Hardware and knew that Tim and Jessica would like it….it’s simple, easy to clean under (they have two big dogs so they have to sweep often to keep those beautiful floors clean), and a great blend of wood and metal.
And when I say wood and metal, I mean….wood and wood. Yup. That base is just 2×2’s that are just painted to look like metal (tutorial on the finish coming soon!).
On the wall itself, I created a planked look that cost me $1 and it adds just enough interest to make this wall special and reflect that modern-farmhouse vibe.
Speaking of reflecting….did you see that mirror? It was a Goodwill find and I simply painted the 1970’s off of it. So simple and inexpensive!
I always say that if your space can swing it, the perfect recipe for a foyer is a table/mirror/lamp combo. It is the perfect base for any foyer because the table is functional as a drop zone and it can display things that reflect the people that live there. The lamp is great because light makes small spaces feel bigger and brighter (um duh katie) and generally foyers are small. And a mirror is helpful because it expands your space visually, adds light and gives you the ability to ‘check yo-self before you wreck yo-self’ on the way in and out the door.
This birthday present was affordable too. We definitely got a big bang for our birthday buck. I only ended up spending $84 for the entire makeover. The lampshade was definitely the biggest splurge ($20 for the shade + $9 for the Goodwill lamp that got a mini-makeover) but the light does look like similar to other baluster lamps that cost an arm, leg and half your dental work so it was money well spent. The mirror was a great deal and it has great close up details now. The table itself was so inexpensive and even though it was a little tricky to figure out the design, I can not wait to share that with you. The stuff on top of the table is very reflective of them….a mason jar with faux greenery (they had mason jars at their wedding), a picture of them laughing together, a little metal drop dish, and a big aluminum ampersand (it’s from Walmart). It all definitely shows off their love for metallics, dark wood and a smidge of rustic for fun.
And of course I had to get a photo of them together with the new space. Isn’t Jessica the cutest little pregnant girl? It literally looks like a mini basketball under her shirt! (and yes, my brother’s shirt was a Christmas gift from Jeremy and I and I laughed when I saw him with it on. Also…yes, he has an epic tattoo sleeve….we call it the Terminator arm. It’s all motorcycle parts and every time I see it, I study it like artwork. The shading is ridiculously good.)
So a fun little birthday makeover for my favorite little brother. After I was done, Tim said that next he wants a dining table. Maybe I will make him one for his daughter’s birthday 🙂
This week I will share all the plans for this makeover – including how to do the wall, lamp, mirror and the table plans so stay tuned.
Also – Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We are so proud to live right outside his birthplace and to be able to celebrate his message of love and freedom and peace.
It looks great, Katie! I can’t wait to see the tutorials – especially how to bet that planked look on the wall! xo
Love this! I can’t wait to see all the upcoming tutorials. That “plank” wall is fab! I can’t wait to see how you did that!
What a thoughtful and wonderful gift!
Every Single Bit of that foyer is amazing! You are truly talented! Christmas present is hysterical and SIL is gorgeous!
Beautiful! But where does the lamp plug in?
We have to run an outlet for him….we thought the wall had one! Ha! The good thing is that it’s easy for my handy electrical loving boy toy to do….talking about Jeremy there! 🙂
xo kb
Looks amazing. ..you have a lucky brother! x
WOW!! This is so beautiful! The look on your brothers face tells you he´s very happy with his gift 🙂 Can´t wait for the tutorials 😀
I know what you mean when you say you have to translate what he says….my husband is like that. When I´m asking for his opinion on something and he says “It looks ok”, then that´s like if I´d say “Wow! Amazing!!” 😉 We women sure are lucky to have the ability to translate things like that 😛
Thanks for an inspiring and oh so funny blog!! It´s nice to know there are others with my kind of humor out there 🙂
cute 🙂
What did your brother end up doing with the outside of the house?
The outlet would be my fave part of this gift – we procrastinate on those kinds of projects all.the.time. And you can never have too many outlets! I’m really interested in the wall tutorial – at first glance I thought you had added planks. Looks great!
I love the dimension that the wall gives now! It’s perfect for the furniture!
Looks great!
Ya know…I didn’t even look! I know that they didn’t paint the front door yet – all they started was the sanding part!
xo – kb
Omg!!! Will looks just like your brother. So adorable. The room looks great too.
I know right?! 🙂
Tim is actually really handy (he works on cars for a living and he laid his own flooring in here, did his own kitchen, etc.) so the functional part of renovations is easy – he just doesn’t know how to decorate 🙂 He said that if Jeremy doesn’t do it soon, that he can put it in now that he knows where the lamp will live…but Jessica was like “let’s just use the lamp in the baby’s nursery!” – I guess I will have to see what happens now that it is outta my hands!
xo – kb
Gorgeous as usual! 🙂 Did u you make the table? Mind blown! Tutorial please!!!!
Wait?!? So it the wall not actually planked? Can’t wait to see how you got that look for $1! Bravo!!!
We’re expecting the tutorials and wish you good luck!
Will doing out the outlet muck up the wall? Will you have to redo the sharpie wall? Would love a tutorial
Wow!! Best birthday gift ever! My bday is in May in case you wanted to make another table lol
I can’t wait for the tutorials; does the plank wall look good closeup? Because it looks amazing in the photos! Now I’m searching my house for a place to try it!
Oh man, I don’t think I could let someone else decorate a whole area of my house. I definitely would be one of those people from Trading Spaces who sobbed when she saw a room she didn’t pick out. Not that what you did isn’t lovely, but did you all sit down and plan it out before or did they have no idea what was coming?
The lamp has either no cord or you photoshopped it out?? Not practical. I wanna see what it looks like with a ugly yellow cord hanging down through the back of that table.. not as cute.
They saw the table first and then I showed them the mirror and lamp. Both are pretty generic so they had no problem with them. I think some people with very specific taste would have an issue with it (I know I would) but you have to understand that they are newlyweds with a baby on the way (very overwhelmed with getting ready for that!)…they don’t have any decorations yet (they don’t care what it is if it’s free!). Also I did ask them about the planked look thing and they were cool with it. I definitely checked with them and they loved it later 🙂
xo – kb
If it’s done correctly, it shouldn’t mess up the wall. And it’s not sharpie 🙂
xo – kb
The key to this is definitely placement of cord….have you not seen the outlets over the side and with the cord running down the leg of the furniture? And the cord is still visible in these photos…just zoom in 🙂
xo – kb
I have plans to invest in some better power tools over the next year or two, specifically so I can do better at building furniture! I did put together a sofa-table for us, which was easy since Lowe’s could do all the cuts for me. Well, the first thing I would do with a miter saw is replace a LOT of our cheap, skinny door and window trim. I wish the original trim had survived the previous owners. 🙁
You are the best big sis ever! What a fantastic present. You did such a good job on the entire thing!
I love love love the table!! Great job! I can’t wait for the tutorial!
This is downright GENIUS! I love it and saving in my files for that one day I find the perfect spot in our house to implement it. Thanks for sharing!