Before and After: A $1,000 Redo Adds Lots of Life to a Dull, Drab Entryway
There are plenty of plant-filled houses and apartments that prove a pothos or a cactus or a ficus or [insert trendy plant here] can make the perfect home accessory.
Plants often add just the right dash of color and shape variation to interiors — but even if you want to add a bit of greenery to your space and are prepared to take on the watering and trimming duties of a responsible plant parent, sometimes your space isn’t as keen on plants as you are.
If a room in your apartment or house is lacking windows, it can be difficult to keep plants alive in there no matter how hard you try. That was the case for Kit Lin in her entryway, which let in little light through its lone window.
“I’m a plant lover, and the rest of the rooms in my home are filled with plants,” she explains. “However… our foyer doesn’t get enough sunshine for plants to grow. (Yes, I attempted to put some plants here and they didn’t make it).”
In addition to being too dim for plants to grow, the square-shaped space was “very plain and lacked personality,” Kit says. She wanted to make the space visually brighter and more unique to her and her husband.
Enter: new bistro tile floors, a new neutral bench and cushion cover, a modern chandelier, and new (faux) greenery. Every item she bought for the space except for the tile was under $130, so she was able to keep her makeover total under $1,000.
Instead of going overboard with faux potted plants, Kit chose one artificial Bird of Paradise plant and then went with something more statement-making for even more green: topiary tiles.
“The best thing about it was: it’s not even pricey,” Kit explains. She purchased a dozen 20×20-inch hedge plant tiles (used) on Amazon for $100 and installed the tile wall herself using nails and staples. (She tried a more renter-friendly DIY with Command hooks at first to no avail. “It fell within an hour,” she says.)
“I did everything myself,” Kit says of the accent wall and putting together the new lighting. “It helped me save a lot of money and was a lot of fun.”
Her other favorite parts of the project? The new-but-vintage-looking tile floors, which she applied with silver grout, are definetly an upgrade from “old dark tiles” she says, and the custom sign hanging on the topiary certainly helps Kit achieves the personalized look she was going for.
“My husband was hesitant because he was concerned that the bistro tiles would overcrowd the small space, but it turned out amazing,” she says, and the wooden sign “goes quite well with the greenery wall. It makes my place so Instagrammable.”
And with an entryway as cool and cute as Kit’s refreshed space, who wouldn’t want to post it to Instagram?
Inspired? Submit your own project here.