Before & After: Energizing an Entryway on a Budget

We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Post Image
(Image credit: Kim of Knock it Off Kim)

Kim’s entryway was a bit of a hodge-podge and wasn’t as welcoming as she would have liked. She set out to improve the style and flow of the space, in just 6 weeks and with a budget of $250. See how she did!

(Image credit: Kim of Knock it Off Kim)

From Kim: Our foyer was dark and dingy, with worn paint and carpet. The furniture was a mishmash of styles and did not reflect our true style.

(Image credit: Kim of Knock it Off Kim)

The style did not compliment or flow into the four adjoining rooms, nor did it have a cohesive design. To make matters worse, the carpet was worn and stained, and extremely difficult to keep clean with our large family.

(Image credit: Kim of Knock it Off Kim)

We made the changes over six weeks with a budget of $250. We went over budget by $50. We were able to make all of the changes ourselves. We grossly underestimated the effort required for making over the stairs – which took up the majority of the project time. In addition, we decided halfway through to add board and batten up the staircase, which was not in our original plan and because of this it wasn’t planned out very well. We had a few hiccups when re-installing the railing as we’d not allowed for the addition of the 1″ board and batten, and had to come up with a plan on the fly!

(Image credit: Kim of Knock it Off Kim)

We love pretty much everything. It’s bright, it’s fun and colorful. It flows beautifully with the adjoining rooms. It sets the tone for our home perfectly -it’s a happy place to be!

(Image credit: Kim of Knock it Off Kim)

Kim’s words of wisdom: Do your homework and really think about what you’re doing before you start. Be realistic about your budget. Take risks with the design, but be willing to bend if your original plan isn’t working the way you thought it would.

Thank you, Kim! You can see this project and more on Kim’s blog, Knock it Off Kim.