I love a challenge and this week it’s a small space in my house that was an after thought for months. When I moved to my small house a year and a half ago I had boxes stuffed here and there and there and I only had the master bedroom sorted out right away. I figured as long as I could sleep I’d be rested enough to keep working on getting the rest of the space sorted out. I’m sure you can relate…

My small second bedroom/ office was command central. It’s where the big boxes that I had not unpacked went to live for a bit too long. I’m saying it was probably a good month or more before I really got into getting all that put away so I could have a functional space.

That process left me with a few bits and bobs and homeless clutter that went to live in my entryway for another couple of months. You see, winter was coming and by this time it was Thanksgiving and I was switching my focus to holiday mode. To top it off, my front porch was in need of some minor repairs and I wasn’t using it as an entrance to the house. Friends and family knew to come to the back deck when visiting. I even posted the obligatory “come to the back door” sign on the front door.

Since I wasn’t using that door, it made it super easy for me to totally discount that space and fill it up with stuff and clutter. There’s a small knee wall to partition the space from the living room so I justified it as acceptable because I didn’t see ALL the clutter. Well, shamefully, that was the state of the space until late Spring last year when I finally had the repairs done on the front porch. After that I felt a serious push to get the space sorted out so I could invite people to come in through the front door.

The new dilemma was that I wanted to makeover the space so it had a welcoming feel but I had already spent a fair amount on the porch renovation and I didn’t have the extra cash to sink into another project. Plus, this is a super small space right inside my entryway and I wanted it to flow with the living room. It is essentially an extension of the living room.

I put on my designer thinking cap and started to think up what I wanted and needed for the space. Here’s how I styled my entryway for under $100.

1. I Created a Must Have List:

I wanted to have a functional space that wasn’t cluttered and that flowed seamlessly into the living room. The space was dark, so I knew I wanted to add a lamp for extra light. The closet had these plastic door pulls, and I knew that I wanted to change those out. I had the idea to bring in a gold metal tone so that went on the list. I also wanted to paint the trim around my front doorway because the door was white, and the trim was dark walnut. Since my walls were white, I decided that painting the trim white would help to make the door disappear, or at least blend in a bit more. Since I already had the white paint, I didn’t have to buy that. Next, I wanted to soften the space with some curtains. These would be white linen like in my living room. The last must have was some sort of seating where guests could sit to take shoes on and off and to serve as extra seating in the living room if needed.

So, the minimum must have list was:

• A lamp

• New door pulls

• Fresh paint on the trim

• Curtains

• Seating

2. Then I Put together a Mood Board

I like to give myself some parameters for the items I wanted to bring in and mocking up a mood board helps to see how things will work together.

The first thing I knew I was keeping in the space was the rug I bought when I moved in (this is not in the total.) The colors work with everything in the entry and the living room. In fact, I have the same rug in a larger size in the living room.

I always like to start with an anchor piece as inspiration for color in any space and my usual starting point is a rug. Since area rugs are usually one of the biggest footprints in a room, they’re great for pulling out accent and paint colors.

The nest step is to go hunting for images on Google of things I want to see. This part is helpful because you can fuss around with different pictures to see what looks right to you and to get the feel of the space nailed down before buying anything. This isn’t about finding the exact pieces at this point, it’s just about figuring out what you want and what inspires you.

3. Clear Out, Prep and Measure the Space:

Once everything is out of the space and the prep is done, ie: cleaning, painting, etc. then it’s time to take measurements of the space. It’s important to know how much space you’re working with for any room you want to makeover because this will keep you on track and buying only what you need in terms of furniture.

For this example, I wasn’t putting in any large pieces and I already had a ladder shelf that I painted to blend into the wall. The one piece I wanted to bring in was some sort of seating and the only place that could go was next to the coat closet. In this case, it was important for me to know exactly how much space I had between the closet door wall and the radiator. These two elements are fixed in the space so that dictated what I could put there, I had a small bench or side chair in mind.

4. Time to Shop for the Project:

Once all the planning and prepping was done, it was time to head out to the stores to get what I needed to complete the space. Since my budget for the project was $100.00, I knew that I had to be pretty shrewd when it came to finding all the items on my list. It’s not a huge space and I also didn’t have a lot of time to spend on getting this project done so, I allotted for 4 hours of shopping and about another 4 hours to get the space pulled together. I figured a solid day was an adequate amount of time.

Stop number one was Walmart, where I knew I could get my curtain panels and drapery hardware because that’s where I found the curtains for the living room. A pack of 2, 84” panels were $5.88, the rod was $7.99, and the curtain rings were also $7.99.

While I was there, I took a trip down the fabric isle and found a deal on 2 yards of gray blue fabric in a ready pack for $2.99, marked down from $5.99. The fabric didn’t have a pattern, but the color was almost spot on to a color in my rug, so I bought it. I figured I could use it as a pillow fabric or to cover the seating.

Next, I went off to my local Habitat for Humanity Restore. I love stopping in there from time to time because I can usually find awesome treasures for super cheap. As soon as I got there, I found a vase and a brass compote in their housewares section. The vase was $1.99, and the compote was $1.99. I headed into their building materials section and found these new door pulls for $0.65 each. They’re solid polished brass and they were the perfect gold tone. So, with the door pulls and the compote, I was almost set with the metal tone aspect of my design.

My next stop was Amvets Thrift Store for a few more pieces. I spent about an hour looking through the housewares section, but I didn’t find anything except these two sculptures that had a few dings and scratches. I knew they would be easy to touch up with some furniture markers, so I added them to my cart. They were $2.99 for the pair.

As I was leaving, I walked past the furniture section and found this single dining chair with a traditional lyre back design. I did a quick measurement and low and behold, it was a really great size for the space. It needed a little TLC because it had some scratches and the upholstery was shot, but it was solid and comfortable. The best part, it was marked at $2.49 which was a steal for the quality of the piece. Plus, I just bought the fabric at Walmart earlier and I knew I had plenty to cover the small seat cushion.

My next stop after that was Saver’s Thrift store and that’s where I found a lot of stuff for my project. I found this old gray/blue jewelry box for $2.99 right away and then down the next isle, I found this small vase in the same color for $1.99.

After that I browsed through the book section and found 5 books to add to my shelf. I love to use books as interesting pops of color and texture on shelves. My requirement is that they can’t just be a color match, they have to have some significance for the person they are going to. For me, I enjoy reading about natural crystals, home remedies, herbs, craft stuff and diy projects. So, I flipped through their huge selection for about an hour and I found these great books to add to my shelf. The deal was, buy 5 get one free. The books were each $1.99, so 5 were $ with the 5th one free.

I tooled around a bit more in the home accessories section and I found this gold velour pillow for $1.99. I knew it would look great on my chair, so I added that to the cart.

Then I found the perfect lamp. It was copper colored with a smart pattern and linen shade that matched the other shades in my living room. The thing I liked most was the size and shape. It was quite tall and that was very appealing plus it was almost flat, which was ideal because it was going to go on top of my covered radiator. Since the radiator was not very deep, I was specially looking for something that would fit on top of it and not stick out too far. The lamp and shade were both in perfect condition for $4.99.

My last stop of the day was to Lowe’s where I needed to find some additional brackets for my drapery rods. My shades on the window stick out from the window frame about 2”. It’s because the shades are inch and a half width instead of mini-blinds. Since I have the same hardware in the living room, I remembered that I had to get rod extenders to have the curtains cover the blinds. Those ran me $7.99. While I was there, I stopped into the garden center and picked up two plants for my small planter containers I bought earlier. I bought a jade plant and this Nepthytis. The jade was $2.99 and the Nepthytis was $3.99.

As I was checking out at Lowe’s, I was ticking off the list in my head. I realized that I didn’t think about changing the art on the walls. I had these two framed prints that I had for years up. Honestly, they were put there to fill the space. They were perfectly fine, but the colors were not exactly what I wanted. Then I remembered I had these black and white chair renderings I bought on clearance a while back. They were originally around $80.00 each and I got the set for $30.00, a great deal! Because they were black and white, the contrast was perfect, and I knew they would add a nice contrast to the space.

5. Time to Put it All Together:

When I arrived back home, I immediately got to work on taking the chair I bought apart. I removed the seat and mixed up a batch of chalk paint with some of the white paint I used on the door trim. In between 3 coats of paint on the chair, I recovered the chair cushion and installed the drapery hardware above the window which took me about an hour and a half.

After lunch, the chair frame was dry, so I re-installed the cushion and put that aside. Next, I ran the iron over the curtains, hung them up and the room started to shape up.

I then moved on to styling the shelves with the accessories. I started with the two sculptures on the top shelf for height. I added in this small clock globe I’ve had for years in front of the sculptures for depth. I like to place items in groups of 3 or 5 because odd numbers are pleasing to the eye. Plus, when you vary the height and shape of items displayed together it adds interest to the composition.

Next came the jewelry box and planter with the jade plant. I decided to stack the plant on the jewelry box to add a vertical line to this shelf. I like the idea of containers like the jewelry box because they are both beautiful and functional. They don’t have to be used for watches or rings. You can also place items that you need in the space but don’t necessarily want to display. and that you want to keep stashed away.

Shelf 3, the middle: I placed a stack of books, my brass compote and a vase I had for years with a couple of crystals layered in for interest. I like to mix up items on a shelf. I don’t think everything on display has to “go together”. An eclectic mix of things is interesting. We collect accessories over time and not in a chronological order. I think that is important to remember when styling your home.

The next shelf had a green bowl that I found last summer at an estate sale. It just happened to have a similar green tone that picked up another color in my rug. I paid $1.00 for the bowl and at the same sale, I also found this floral fill that was originally marked $9.99 from Michael’s and I snagged it for $0.50, awesome! I placed a gold Christmas ornament on top to tie in the gold color and that completed the fourth shelf. It’s super simple with a lot of unused space. Leaving open space helps to make a small space feel open and uncluttered. This is especially true if you’re shelf has an open back. Being able to see the wall helps to make the space feel open instead of closed up and confined.

On the bottom shelf, I placed a small stack of the books I bought with a round basket on top for some texture. I had the basket in a few different places for years, so that was a freebie. It’s always a good idea to see if things from other parts of the house will work in a newly designed space to save a bit of money. Often, you’ll find that the perfect finishing touch is right at hand. Since I wasn’t painting the closet doors, the dark wood tone of the basket helped to tie in the color of the closet doors. Plus, I again love an accessory with a bit of storage so I can keep things stashed away when not being used.

6. The Grand Total:

$102.65, $2.65 over budget. I’ll take it! For the price of a cup of coffee more, I was able to get the space pulled together and finally have a welcoming first impression for my entryway.

That’s it, a front entry makeover for $100.00. I’d love to hear what you think of the space? Do you have a story about making over a space on a shoestring budget? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Or, have you found amazing things on your thrift shopping trips, estate sales or flea markets? I’m all ears if you’d like to share in the comments below. Let me know where you’re from and what your favorite places are to find your treasures. I hope you enjoyed this post or found some inspiration to take on a project in your home. Until next week, take care keep your dreams big for your small space.

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Michael is Principal designer and blogger at Michael Helwig Interiors in beautiful Buffalo, New York. Since 2011, he’s a space planning expert, offering online interior e-design services for folks living in small homes, or for those with awkward and tricky layouts. He’s a frequent expert contributor to many National media publications and news outlets on topics related to decorating, interior design, diy projects, and more. Michael happily shares his experience to help folks avoid expensive mistakes and decorating disappointments. You can follow him on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook @interiorsmh.