Little Brick Cottage…Front Entry From Start to End!

Yay! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be able to start this new series…because it means the “Little Brick Cottage” is done! Yep, all done, every single room! So this, part 1 in the series for ‘reveals’ of the completely renovated antique brick cottage, will feature the front entry and just in case you missed some or all the other posts on the progress I’ll try to be as descriptive in this post from the beginning to the end of the renovation, and give you plenty of hyperlinks for you to click to see more details for that subject.

Here’s where it all started:

This is the outside entrance to the front door. Remember? This door is an amazing 42 inches wide! We bought this antique brick house at the very end of December, 2011. That’s just about 3 months ago, and we’ve been busy getting it completely renovated.

Now, let’s go inside. Here’s the view of that same front door looking from the living room back towards the front entry. Before and After!

In the before pic you see the light tan carpet that covered the gorgeous wood floors…well ok, so they weren’t so gorgeous at first, but with some sanding and cleaning and fresh coats of stain, oil and finish they’re gorgeous now. (I’ll talk about the changes in the living room in a later post.)

Here’s another before and after pic, only this angle is looking towards the closet door in the front entry, so then the 42” entry door would be on your left.

So how did I take this front entry from the, can I say, dumpy look, to this fresh, welcoming entrance?

Here are the pictorial steps of how we did it:

Dark and dumpy…the carpet and pad are too thick and the front door hardly opens because the bottom of it rubs on the carpet.

Ewww… those wood floors looked nasty. I had such ‘stars’ in my eyes, I don’t think I realized just how awful they looked. I was just so thrilled to find wood floors under the carpet and vinyl we ripped out. And especially finding this original wide oak plank flooring with square nails in the front entry and kitchen, now that was a real treasure to me.

The wood floors were carefully sanded to remove the black tar stuff on them, but not so much to remove the wonderful age. Here’s how they look now:

I love, love, love these old floors!

Beadboard installed 5 feet high, with simple top trim and primed. Patching the walls is still needed though. New light fixture installed. (btw: I thought I could just paint the dark brown on the trim and doors without having to prime it….uh, nope! It all needed 3 coats!)

Crack out the caulk. Caulk is my best friend, it covers so many imperfections. Now paint…paint…paint and paint some more. (I’m so glad that I like to paint, or this amount of work would have been pure torture.)

The original closet door with its lovely old ceramic knob, as well as the front entry door, and all the trim in the front entry we were able to keep all in place, just caulked and painted fresh white.

Here’s the front door now. I used a few razor blades to clean old paint and caulk and glazing from the glass panels. Then I re-caulked and primed and painted the door.

This doorbell is no longer working, maybe someday I’ll get it working again. Someone asked me why I didn’t just take it out, but I felt it was so darn cute, I couldn’t remove it, even if it no longer worked. It’s part of the history of the house.

I purposely did the same colors in this room as you’ll see in other parts of the house. Here are my thoughts on that: First, it’s a small house so carrying the same theme through the rooms help the space expand. And second, I’m not going to be living in this house, but it is going to be rented, possibly sold, so I had to keep it neutral, (just not boring!). This yellow and gray will allow the new family to accent in practically any color they want…can you imagine reds? Oranges? Blues? Even green? Or black and white? I can see it.

All the hardware that I needed to purchase for this Little Brick Cottage I ordered online from Van Dyke’s Restorer’s, like these gorgeous hooks that expand the closet space in a very stylish manner.

I love the detail of the wide hat hook and the tall top hook with it.

Well, there it is, the front entry of our little brick cottage. Did I miss any details you’d like to hear more of? I’ll be glad to share with you whatever I can about it, just ask.

So where do we go from here? Living room? You’ve see part of the living room from here so I guess it’d be fun to continue through as if you’re actually walking through the cottage…

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In my love of creating well functioning spaces that are beautiful to exist in, I've found there are always new possibilities for rooms. It doesn’t take a huge amount of money to make a fabulous place, but instead it's all about how to creatively decorate with a little bit to accomplish it.

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Posted on April 3, 2012, in Floors, Hardware, Little Brick Cottage, Porch and Entry, Re-purposing, Uncategorized, Wall Treatments and tagged beadboard, closet, farm house style, hooks, paint, renovation. Bookmark the permalink. 46 Comments.

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Comments (42)

Charlotte Holland | May 8, 2013 at 5:32 pm

Love what you’ve done with this 130 year old cutie ! I just found your blog a few days ago and I’m working my way sequentially through the pages of renovation !

I have one question that I don’t see asked or answered here on this page: Do you have ANY idea why the doorbell is INSIDE the foyer ? That really confused me and I had to check about 3 or 4 times before posting this inquiry ! I wonder why that doorbell (I agree that you HAD to keep it) isn’t on the OUTSIDE of the house ?! Got any insight on that ?

Thanks so much !

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- DecorateWithaLittleBit.com | May 8, 2013 at 7:55 pm
  
  Hi Charlotte- Thanks for reading!! So what I think about that doorbell is that the part that’s inside the foyer is the bell part that makes the noise… and the outside part that should connect to it to make it make the sound, is sadly missing. My daughter has a really old house with a similar doorbell on her door, and that round bell part is on the inside and there’s a little handle you pull on the outside of the door that makes the inside ring… ha ha.. sort of like on the Munster’s… if you’re that old to have watched that show?
  
  Reply
Jenny@EvolutionofStyle | May 8, 2012 at 5:57 am

I have been “touring” your restored cottage, and I just adore it! Such wonderful charm and character that you just don’t see in new homes these days. I don’t blame you for keeping the little doorbell, it just ups the charm factor even more. You’ve done a wonderful job, and have true vision to see the beauty buried underneath the wear and tear on this home!

Reply
- decoratewithalittlebit | May 8, 2012 at 7:41 am
  
  Thank you so much!
  
  Reply
Wendy | May 8, 2012 at 5:45 am

SO lovely, we are about to buy an OLD house to fix up and rent out, I love your yellow and grey idea, what colour did you use? Yellow scares me usually but yours is PERFECT, so happy I found your blog!!

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- decoratewithalittlebit | May 8, 2012 at 7:41 am
  
  Thank you Wendy. I used a Hirshfield’s color (a local paint/wallpaper store chain in the Mpls/St. Paul area) called ‘Angelica Blossom’. When selecting interior paint color, it’s important to remember that it will always increase in intensity on the walls from the little swatch.
  
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Julie | April 14, 2012 at 11:24 am

Too fabulous great-really

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Jennifer @ Town and Country Living | April 14, 2012 at 10:03 am

Wow! What a beautiful transformation. I would’ve left the doorbell too!

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It's Overflowing | April 13, 2012 at 10:19 pm

Great job! I’m featuring you tomorrow! XO, Aimee

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- decoratewithalittlebit | April 13, 2012 at 10:20 pm
  
  Yay!! Thank you!1
  
  Reply
Pamela | April 11, 2012 at 8:08 pm

What a beautiful transformation! I love the old floors too!

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Kammy Wielenga | April 11, 2012 at 9:32 am

Your pictures make me want to move right in!!!! SO CHEERY!!!! Great job!

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- decoratewithalittlebit | April 11, 2012 at 9:36 am
  
  thanks Kammy, you’re so sweet!
  
  Reply
Cathy@My1929Charmer | April 10, 2012 at 7:35 pm

Gosh it looks great, love the yellow and grey foyer. We just updoed our foyer in yellow and am very pleased with it..the floors are gorgeous. Love the tall baseboard, we have similiar in our house and I love the taller trim. Love it white too and liking the hooks. Looks great and you’ve done an amazing job. can I borrow you for a week or two? Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration at Sunday’s Best.

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Cedar Hill (@CedarHillRanch) | April 10, 2012 at 5:17 pm

GORGEOUS!!! Looks like a lot of work, but what a redo!! Thanks for sharing on Cowgirl up! Love the bead board.

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KCoake | April 9, 2012 at 10:19 am

That looks fantastic. I need to paint our trim white. We painted everything else in our house when we moved in 5 years ago. I didn’t touch the trim downstairs. It is driving me nuts. I just know how much work it is going to be….oh well.
Your house looks fantastic, way to go on all the hard work!

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- decoratewithalittlebit | April 9, 2012 at 10:29 am
  
  Oh I know what you mean about it seeming like a daunting task…but be encouraged: I think that getting started is the hardest part, then once you get going it just gets easier.
  
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teresa | April 9, 2012 at 8:02 am

I love your redo of the entry room of the little brick cottage! Was wondering what is the name of the yellow paint? I’m really wanting to paint a soft yellow like that in my laundry room/kitchen/sunroom area.

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- decoratewithalittlebit | April 9, 2012 at 8:17 am
  
  The yellow paint in the front entry is from Hirshfield’s, which is a local paint supply store in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN surrounding area. The name of that yellow is Angelica Blossom.
  
  Reply
Sandy | April 8, 2012 at 5:55 pm

Hello, you did an amazing job on your foyer! Could you tell me where the light fixture cam from? Thanks!

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- decoratewithalittlebit | April 8, 2012 at 9:37 pm
  
  Hi Sandy, yes the school house style light fixture came from Home Depot! and was very reasonably priced too!
  
  Reply
Jessica @ Stay at Home-ista | April 8, 2012 at 2:49 pm

Wow, that is an amazing transformation, congrats! I love beadboard, and the hooks are so practical. I was so honored to be featured with you at TT&J!

Jessica
stayathomeista.com

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Carlene@Organized Clutter | April 8, 2012 at 8:23 am

I love the entry transformation! I always love beadboard and your yellow gray with white trim is perfect!

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- decoratewithalittlebit | April 8, 2012 at 8:26 am
  
  thank you so much, I’m really pleased with the results as well
  
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Kolein | April 7, 2012 at 6:42 pm

The transformation is simply so clean and beautiful!

Square nails are to die for!

Have a nice weekend! Found you tonight from Donna’s at FJI SNS!

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Kelly @ Eclectically Vintage | April 7, 2012 at 3:15 pm

I love old houses and renovated my 100+ year old house – a dream come true!

Glad to see you left that old doorbell! And the wood flooring with the square nails – what a find!

The entry looks amazing with the breadboard and your hardware is fabulous!
Kelly

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Trish @ Uncommon | April 6, 2012 at 12:47 pm

You have done an amazing job! Everything looks so fresh and bright! the moulding is gorgeous!

Take care,

Trish

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Megan | April 6, 2012 at 12:24 pm

What an amazing transformation. That door is fabulous! I also adore that doorbell. Megan

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Esther | April 6, 2012 at 11:36 am

Your doing a really wonderful job on remodeling the house! Alway love crisp white paint! Happy Easter, Esther

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Vickie | April 6, 2012 at 7:09 am

Thank you! It’s like seeing exactly how our house would look with all the dark trim painted. We have the same baseboard and window trims, but our crown molding is much bigger and seems to bring the ceiling down. Your house looks so bright and airy with the newly painted surfaces, that I know whoever lives there will love that house! Great transformation and I look forward to seeing the rest.

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Laura | April 5, 2012 at 10:11 pm

WOW! What a fresh and beautiful transformation! You give me hope for our old house! Thanks for the kind comments on my washstand and I’m DEFINITELY following you back on LF. I look forward to visiting a lot more of your blog! ~ Laura

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- decoratewithalittlebit | April 5, 2012 at 10:19 pm
  
  So sweet, and so glad to make the connection with you! Little Bit
  
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Taylor @ Goings on in Texas | April 5, 2012 at 5:49 pm

Wow, what a transformation! I love re-doing old houses!! I would love for you to share this with my Unveil Your Genius link party (new linky every Thursday).
http://taylornorris.blogspot.com/2012/04/unveil-your-genius-link-party-5.html

Happy Thursday

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laurie | April 4, 2012 at 8:07 pm

Absolutely positively gorgeous!!!! Love the light, bright colors you chose! GREAT job on all of it!

xoxo laurie

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Sharon ت | April 4, 2012 at 6:29 pm

Love the fresh paint colors. I’m so glad you were able to restore the original wood floors. They look great. And you’re right, the doorbell is too cute to remove. It reminds me of a teacher’s bell. Looking forward to the living room!

Sharon @ mrs. hines class

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- decoratewithalittlebit | April 4, 2012 at 6:34 pm
  
  Oh it does Sharon, you’re right! Thanks for the encouragement. Little Bit
  
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Christine | April 4, 2012 at 8:23 am

I’m in love with this house!!! The transformation is amazing!! I too would have kept the doorbell!!!

Thanks so much for sharing this at The DIY Dreamer… From Dream To Reality!

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Kim | April 3, 2012 at 10:10 pm

That is fantastic! I amount of painting is unbelievable, and the new floors.. with the square nail heads are SO BEAUTIFUL! I love it!

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Deborah | April 3, 2012 at 6:56 pm

It looks amazing! Those floors are killer! Great job.

Have a lovely week!
Deborah

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Bonnie Klopp | April 3, 2012 at 3:20 pm

You having an open house to let people tour it before you rent it?

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northern cottage | April 3, 2012 at 9:42 am

what a wonderful bright new fresh space – whew!

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Cloches & Lavender | April 3, 2012 at 8:08 am

What a transformation. It looks fantastic, I love the paint color and the beadboard.

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