Our Entryway in Sherwin Williams Colonnade Gray

Our New House: Starting (& ending) with the entryway

Here it is, the FIRST blog post about our new house, and I figured there was no better place to start than the entryway!

UPDATED – THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT ALMOST BROKE ME. WE LIVED IN IT FOR 3 MONTHS AND MOVED, HENCE ONLY ONE POST ABOUT IT.

Oh, this house. I love the view; we BOUGHT it for the view, however, I don’t love the house (note that I say house not home). And while I’m having fun adding my own personal touch to it, I already know that this will be a short-term adventure (well, shorter than the usual 4-year stint anyway). We all know that Tim is really the only thing I’ve kept for a long period of time anyway – lucky bugger.

But, OOOOOH that view…

Every day is completely different from the last! We can see everything from the eastern sunrise to the western sunset, it’s pretty stunning. However, the one thing we don’t see much of is the sun, and my pasty lil’ Ginger self has a BIG problem with that.

When we viewed this house, I was worried about its northern exposure and the COOL nature of the products that were in the house – products that wouldn’t accommodate my love of warmer colours. And I had a right to worry, these cool colours go against my nature! But I like a challenge and have never bought a new home. I’m trying to embrace it for the experience and for the sake of the view (which really is TO DIE FOR) and it ALL starts with a case of wine the entryway.

Before, it had great bones with beautiful light fixtures and flooring, but the cool paint colour just wasn’t ma jam.

After, I’m loving the softness of the new paint colour, Sherwin Williams Colonnade Gray.

I would’ve naturally chosen a warmer paint colour for this north-facing home, but seeing as it’s open concept, I have other things to accommodate (TONS of gray carpet and quartz countertops). Colonnade Gray is as warm as I can go without alienating the needs of the house (because it’s not all about me ALL of the time…just joking, it is).

I wanted a dramatic front door colour, so I chose Urbane Bronze, which is a DEADLY dark greige with a green undertone. And rather than keeping the trim white, I painted the trim around the door, adding to the impact but simplifying it simultaneously.

I loved the large clock in the entryway of our last home so much that I decided to buy a new one for this house (what can I say…I like big clocks and I cannot lie).

The original colour, Sherwin Williams Crushed Ice, was throughout much of the house and was too cool for my tastes when compounded by the (ahem) extreme northern exposure in the open layout area.

Colonnade Gray offers a softer approach and takes advantage of the little southern light that we get (only the entryway and my office, the rest is north).

Functional and pretty, what else could a girl ask for? SUNSHINE, SOME FRIGGIN’ SUNSHINE PEOPLE!

Anyway, I’m sure you can feel my excitement over this house (insert sarcasm HERE).

The stairwell was a stairwell. Thrilling, I know.

Again, Colonnade Gray to save the day! However, Colonnade CAN pick up a very vague green undertone, which makes me twitch a bit with the gray carpet (which leans to the violet side of gray). HOWEVER, being an open concept, this paint colour also has to suit the kitchen countertop, fireplace tile and OTHER features – I have to make it work. By lightening Colonnade Gray by 25%, I was able to cut back almost ALL of the green for the sake of the carpet, while still having a soft, subtle, warm gray and a seamless transition from the main living area.

And the funny thing is that I used to despise feature walls. However, this is because I saw so many abused ones – wrong spot, wrong colour. I am, however, a HUGE fan of a well-placed, well-planned colour added to what would otherwise be a pretty booooring transition space. To make an impact without going TOO far, I went with Benjamin Moore Gibraltar Cliffs…MAD LOVE!

The small powder room is right off the entryway. It’s important that the flow between the staircase, hallway and powder room is BANG-on as they’re all in the same eyeball. The photo above shows how the layered colours create a GORGEOUS West Coast-inspired palette.

Before, the powder room was ‘just fine’, but you KNOW how I love my deeper colours…

Sherwin Williams Anonymous adds depth and interest to the room and goes fab with my oversize artwork, which you can JUST see in the next photo.

So, whereas I’m not TOTALLY loving the gray nature of this home, by adding cooler colours with some DEPTH, I’m able to make things feel a bit cosier.

My office is ALSO off the entryway, but we’ll save that black beauty for another blog post (or not – hopefully, we’ll just sell this bad boy and move on). That’s right, a black office, just like last time!

Looking from the front door toward the living room is a tricky shot with the light coming in. Out that window is the ocean view, but I definitely don’t have the skills to get that AND the interior at the same time! The best I have is this before shot (with my phone).

In photos like these, it’s hard to see the shift in paint colour as the first photo wasn’t the best quality. And of course, Sir Douglas has to show up to the party…

I had used this MASSIVE, seven-foot canvas piece in our last entryway and LOVED it. I’m so glad we have the perfect wall to accommodate it in this house too…

So there you have it – the beginning of our adventures with this house; stay tuned to see whether we keep it or if there’s already a for sale sign on the lawn.

READ MORE

Our Kitchen & Dining Room Remodel

The 12 Best WHOLE HOME Gray & Greige Paint Colours

The Best Warm Paint Colours That AREN’T BEIGE! 

4 Tile & Shiplap Ideas for a Small Bathroom

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Chat soon,

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN  2018, UPDATED IN 2022 FOR GENERAL ERRORS