One Room Challenge Linkup Week Two: Acquisitions

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
Dolly Parton

Welcome back to my version of the One Room Challenge™ Link-up! Each Thursday for six weeks I'll show you the progress I've made in my Entryway Revamp. This is week two. To read about my plan in week one, click here.

Dolly Parton's quote can be taken quite literally for this week. Torrential downpours through the weekend, including thunder, lightning, and hail on Monday evening, but then a (double!!) rainbow cut across the sky--all the more vivid because of how blue it was from the storm. 

Coat rack with umbrella stand from HomeGoods

I think that's a good metaphor for my progress this past week: some setbacks but also some unexpected goodness. At the very least it's my explanation for why I didn't get the Shrub That Took Over My Doorway trimmed, and part of the reason nothing got painted. I still feel like I used my time judiciously, though. Because what can you do when it's too wet to go outside? Shop, of course! 

New addition to my blue & white collection from the clearance shelf at HomeGoods

The weekend before the Link-up started I performed a scouting mission (with my eight-year-old) and found a few items at World Market and HomeGoods. Luckily for me, these stores as well as JoAnn's, Michael's, and Tuesday Morning are all in the same nearby shopping center. I went back and bought my finds on my way home from work Friday evening. It was design destiny: if it's still there, then it is meant to be mine...

Huge Ralph Lauren fabric sample for color

Farrow & Ball wallpaper sample as potential tray liner (and hiding the receipts!)

Postcards make good small-scale art

I "shopped the house" for things I already have, too. Things like a beautiful mirror we received as a wedding gift, leftover paint, fabric & wallpaper samples, "art," and an unused curtain rod. I'm trying to keep the budget low because we're in the midst of remodeling our kitchen, put braces on one kid's teeth, and someday I hope to retire.

Large vase for extra rolls of toilet tissue

And, although I would describe myself as neither crafty nor a DIY queen, I cut out a stencil. It's for the powder room project and was a free download from here. 

Except now I'm not sure whether I'm going to paint it on the wall or the ceiling. My initial vision was wall, but then there was this inspiration image.

via Houseography

Since the ceiling covers a much smaller area and I am not much of a painter, I'm considering changing my vision. The only drawback is that I will have to work like Michelangelo...  

I also am re-thinking what exactly I'm doing with the front door. I want the storm door to blend in with the main door, hard to do when one is orange. Another option, possibly, is to take the storm door off. But as I mentioned we've had a lot of storms so we might need that door. I also think there's a lot of work involved in taking it off and making it look right. But the orange is fun so I'll keep rolling it around in my brain and hopefully you all will have some ideas to share.

Then there is this mystery wrapped inside a conundrum to be hopefully answered next week. If it works, I think it's going to be great!

Until then, please check out the 20 here and the link-ups here. :)