The $17 Foyer Makeover

Oh, am I excited for this post. Mostly because something that I had really been wanting and on the look out for FINALLY fell into place and it ended up be so quick, cheap, and easy I could cry. Tears of joy, that is. Let me first set the stage for you… here is our foyer:

That picture was taken during our moving process. I think it is one of my favorite parts of the house. In our last house, I always wanted a place right inside the door to be able to decorate with seasonal things and personal nic nacks… a “welcome and come on in!” spot. Well, for the longest time, the foyer in the new house sat empty and barren like the picture above. I was just waiting for the right hall table to come along, but every option I looked at was either waaaaay too much money or not the right size for the space. Also, we had come to the conclusion that we needed something with drawers to stash things like keys, chargers, wallets, etc… all the things that you need when you’re running out the door and can’t seem to find anywhere. So yeah, add “drawers” to the laundry list of our dream hall table. Finally, I saw this guy at Hobby Lobby (which, by the way, a new Hobby Lobby just opened 20 minutes from our house… watch out, wallet) and he seemed to fit the bill perfectly!

I was even prepared to pay the $120 to bring him home- a pretty good price for a piece like that, but still not exactly cheap- because I was so tired of searching for something and coming up dry. It was seriously the same week that I had reasoned with Mitch that THIS was the one and I wasn’t going to be able to find anything better/cheaper that a miracle happened. I was on my way home from work one day, tired, and ready to be home. Every so often, I’ll drop by the Habitat Restore (we are HUGE fans of the Restore) because they always have new pieces coming in and out of the store. If I’m on the hunt for something specific, I’ll even stop by once or twice a week because nothing ever lasts long there and their inventory is constantly changing. That day, though, I just wanted to get home and had to convince myself to just check because you never know… and GUESS WHAT?!

This dream of a hall table was sitting right in the first aisle I looked down! You should have seen me full-on book it over there to stake my claim. Oh, and to check the price to see how much green it was going to take to bring this baby home. $40, friends. FORTY DOLLARS.

I almost cried right on the spot. Plus, in our “welcome to the neighborhood” packet of coupons we had gotten in the mail when we first moved in, we had a $10 off any purchase over $35, bringing the cost down to $30. AND, I still had a few bucks left on a Restore gift card (don’t even ask why I have a Restore gift card…), so in the end we paid SEVENTEEN buckaroos for this baby. PLUS, it had drawers! Oh, happy, happy day.

Back at home, I had Mitch set her up and right away, we both loved how it looked. Mitch even volunteered to hang a mirror right there on the spot so we could get the full effect. We chose one that we already had in our stash… this octagonal guy that sat at the top of our stairs for awhile in the last house.

After the mirror was hung, I plopped a few things on the table to spruce it up a little, threw a basket with a blanket inside underneath and we called it done.

Isn’t this such a happier sight to see as you walk in the front door, compared to the emptiness from before?

This was probably the most fun we’ve had with a home improvement on this house so far because it just came together so easily. We didn’t make any cosmetic changes to the table, just put it down, and added pieces we already had around the house to get to the finished product. Cheap, simple, and dare-I-say fun for all?

And that, my friends, is the tale of our $17 foyer makeover. I can’t wait to style it with all the pretty fall things… just as soon as I find the box they’re (still) packed away in. 🙂