House Tour: Front Door & Foyer

I know I've been promising pics of our new home for a couple of weeks now, so here they are!   I'll be posting pictures room by room so you will be able to get a sense of all the little details that made us fall in love with this apartment.  We still have a lot to do, but it's starting to come together.   I'm one of those people that wants to have everything perfect right away, so this move has been a little bit of a difficult for me.  Plus I'm in serious nesting mode and I feel like I'm on a tight deadline to get everything done before the baby arrives.  But I have to remind myself that decorating is a slow process done over time and since this isn't our forever home so I should pace myself and make deliberate, thoughtful decisions.  Anyway, enough of my babbling... let's get started!

Some background about our new home:
The house was built in 1905 according to the deed but my in-laws think it is older than that.  It used to be a two family home but is now split up into 4 condos.  We live in the upper right side of the house, occupying the second and third floors.  We are renting from an awesome couple who had to move to Dubai for work.  Since they moved overseas, most of their furniture went into storage but they were gracious enough to leave some pieces for us to use.  This worked out especially well because: 1) we didn't have that much furniture coming from our tiny NYC apartment and 2) the owners have great style and taste and the pieces that they left for us incorporate really well into our existing furniture.

The front door.  I love having a "real" front door (vs. living in a high-rise) that faces the street.  

And this is just the beginning of all the little details that we love.  Look at that mailbox!  So pretty. (Please disregard my huge belly in the reflection.  It may look distorted but I really am that big.  I have a bowling ball in my stomach!)  

On Saturday we hit up our favorite farm store, Tendercrop, to buy our Christmas tree and holiday decorations.  I bought the wreath and added some red berries and ribbon to make it extra festive.  And I used a command hanger to hang it on the front door.  I'm really happy how it looks against the black door!

Welcome, come on in!  When we first looked at the apartment, we fell in love with the foyer and staircase.  It's so stately and inviting.

I had grand visions of adding fresh garland to the banister for the holidays but we'll see if that actually happens.  Definitely next year though!

Love the curl of the banister... it's so worn and has lots of aged patina.  

The chandelier also caught my eye when we first toured.  There are fabulous light fixtures throughout the home that were another huge selling point for us.  

The owners left this old wooden screen that we use to divide off the foyer.  

Behind it is our laundry and storage area that currently contains a carseat and stroller.

All of the switch and electrical plates throughout the house are gorgeous.  I'm not sure where the owners bought them but they're certainly not your average Home Depot plastic ones.  Again, it's one of those little details that adds so much character and charm.

And here is the return view of the front door.  I still have a lot to add to the foyer, like an entry rug to start with...

and I'd like to add an umbrella stand.  (Everything LEB curated some great ones here.)

Finally I need to hang our Bonjour print (from Sycamore Street Press) and maybe add a little side table and chair.  But I love the slate grey that the owners painted on one side of the foyer.  It adds a lot of warmth to the space.

So there you have it.  I still have a lot to do but there is tons of decorating potential in the foyer.  I hope you enjoyed the first tour of our new home!