Mid Century Inspired Entryway – One Room Challenge Week 1

Welcome to my first post for the Spring 2022 One Room Challenge™.  This time around we are finally repairing and updating our entryway that not only has the front entrance but includes four pocket doors to other areas of our home.  There is a lot of traffic through it’s area so I want it to be functional but also fun.   So welcome to my Mid Century Inspired Entryway plan!

The project space – our dated entryway.

This area of our home gets a lot of traffic – I really mean a lot?

From the side entrance, through the kitchen, through the front entryway, and then down the hallway, our house has this long corridor effect leading to the two bedrooms at the end.  Each room juts off this long corridor with the entryway sitting right in the middle of the pathway.   

The entryway is 11′ x 6.5′, has the original stone floor, and an ornate front door flanked by two 6′ tall windows on each side. 

On one side of the entryway, a pocket door leads to the kitchen and family room area of our home including the new Mid Century Sunroom we had built last year.  A double set of pocket doors opens to the large cathedral ceiling living room connected to the dining room, and opposite the pocket door to the kitchen is another pocket door that guides you down the hallway that has the master and guest bedrooms and baths, the laundry room and the door leading to the basement stairwell.

Four pocket doors in all and one very large ornate front door.

The two large windows bring beautiful sunlight to this section of the long corridor in our home and has a fantastic view of the Smoky Mountains.

A few years ago, so long I don’t remember, I removed the original popcorn ceiling in anticipation of renovating the room, as you can see in these photos.  But it got put on the back burner yet again. 

The walls have been covered in a heavy vinyl wallcovering with a textured design since before we purchased the house. Currently it is painted in a deep gold color by Pittsburgh Paints called Lion’s Mane. 

I have always thought it was a unique space but lacking in it’s own personality and was often overlooked as we rushed from one end of the house to the other in our daily routines.

The pocket doors have been a handy thing to have to separate four active and large dogs in the house.  But not anymore.

My husband and I take in rescue dogs and as many rescue dog owners can attest to, they have their quirks to overcome.  One such dog was Hercules, a pit bull mix, who had been brought up to our area in Tennessee from a rescue service in southern Georgia during Hurricane Katrina.  He was such a gentle soul despite his background, but was terrified of storms.

And when you aren’t home and he wants to hide in the living room during a storm, you come home to find the original hollow core pocket doors chewed apart.

We lost Hercules several years ago, and have been just pushing the doors in to the wall as much as possible since then to continue to ignore confronting the unavoidable chore of replacing the doors.

At the first of this year, when my husband and I sat down to plan and discuss the projects we wanted to work on for the year, I suggested that we finish as many of the renovation and makeover projects on the top floor of our home.  It is where we spend most of our time in the house and it would be really nice to mark them off the to do list.

The entryway is the most expensive project on our list for the interior of the house this year and we decided we couldn’t avoid it forever.

This is why I love the One Room Challenge™.  It never fails to motivate me to start and complete a design project in our home.  The deadline is the biggest motivator of course.  In previous years I have featured our Living Room Makeover, our Laundry Room Makeover, and our new Mid Century Inspired Sunroom.

The biggest challenge for our makeover for the entryway is replacing the damaged pocket doors.  Hopefully we don’t have to remove the entire wall sections to replace all of the original pocket door hardware as well.

The Design Plan

Our design plan for the entryway is simple and fun.  The vinyl wallpaper will be coming down. It will have a new rustic wood accent wall. Two of the damaged pocked doors will be replaced.  All four pockets doors will be painted. New wall color. I will be installing a Mid Century iconic chair and table to enjoy my morning coffee and the mountain view through the large windows. We have had a vintage Mid Century light fixture stored away in the basement for nearly 6 years just waiting to be installed.  The light fixture will be rewired and hung on the new refinished ceiling. The final items will be some quirky Mid Century inspired artwork for the walls.  

Some of the details may change along the way depending on the expense and what we encounter when we try to remove those pocket doors.  So be sure to visit often and especially the last week in May to see the full reveal.  It is sure to be a unique space in our home, and not just a ignored passthrough. 

I am also looking forward to seeing the all of the projects shared this year for the Spring 2022 One Room Challenge™.

Hugs,