Entry Area (Shoe Storage)

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you are all having a great week so far. 

 

Here in my home, we don't wear shoes in the house.  I started doing this when my daughter started crawling.  Not to gross you out, but think of all the things you track in with your shoes and then imagine that in your child's mouth since EVERYTHING goes in their mouth when they are young.  I know it can be a nuisance to visitors and even to those who live here, but I just can't get past that thought...so, I finally came up with a friendly way of asking guests to remove their shoes!

 

Today I want to share with you my new entryway.

 

 

To begin, I went to JoAnn's (because I had coupons) and bought this crate.  I also purchased the wood that I made the sign on.  Using a 'dry-brush' method, I painted the crate white and the sign blue to match the blue accent color I have in my living room.

 

 

If you're not familiar with the 'dry-brush' method, let me explain how easy it is!!!

 

 

First step is to drip a little bit of the paint onto a plate (or something you can dip your paint brush on - the paint lid works too!)  Next, take your paint brush and dip it into the paint and then dab it onto a paper towel in order to soak up some of the paint on your brush.

 

Your paint brush should look like this picture below (notice there isn't any paint pulling the bristles together in clumps).  It looks 'dry', but there is actually wet paint on the brush!

 

Then, simply brush on the paint.  Since there isn't a lot of paint on your brush it's easy to play with to get the look you want.  Some people like there to be a lot of paint on it, but still look distressed and others, like me, just want a very thin layer. 

 

 

Here is a close up of the 2 signs I dry-brushed.  I used my Cricut to create the letters.  After I applied the letters on the signs, I sprayed it with a coat of shellac in order to seal it. 

 

I wanted to provide my guests with socks just in case their bare feet got cold, or 'heaven-forbid' they didn't get a chance to get a pedicure!!  Ha!

 

 

In my search for ideas, I found this cute stand for my daughter's shoes at The Container Store.  They have an elephant and bunny one too, but she liked this one the best.  Cute, huh?!

 

 

I think this area turned out pretty good.  The only thing that is missing is somewhere for people to sit down while they put their shoes back on.  Someday....

 

~ Kerri