Our entry table from the old house naturally found a home next to the front door in the new place as well. It’s been there since day one without much thought—until recently.
Just for fun we moved it a short distance down the hallway and discovered we liked it better in the new spot. It wasn’t a dramatic relocation—just a gentle shift that seemed to suit the table more.
The new location feels right for a few reasons:
- It moved from an unpainted, rough-looking area to a painted, more polished section.
- We subconsciously compared it to the previous owners’ setup (they had a console in that spot too).
- The original spot made the table feel too small to balance the built-ins across from the future dining room.
Our only dilemma was how to center the table. In the photo above you can see it sits close to one door frame while leaving more space on the other side.
We tried a bunch of positions along that wall—centered, slightly offset, flush left, and more—and ultimately chose this “off-center” placement because it looks centered from the kitchen, which is the view we’ll see most often. See? From the kitchen doorway it appears perfectly balanced. Warning: ugly paneling alert.
Because the table is off-center now, we can’t repeat the symmetrical frame arrangement we used in our first house (like this)—that would look awkward here. But copying our old house isn’t the goal anyway. So we’ve come up with a new plan to finish this little vestibule area. Yes, I just said vestibule. 500 points to me.
We’re thinking of covering the walls with white frames in assorted sizes and shapes to create a collected-over-time gallery. Filling the wall nearly floor-to-ceiling will help resolve the empty space next to the console and create a lively display for personal photos, kids’ drawings, old maps, favorite fortune-cookie fortunes, and other small treasures. The arrangement will be dense enough to read almost like wallpaper.
We’ve looked at inspiration photos and plan to put our own spin on it. Most of our pieces will be DIY, Etsy finds, and images from old calendars—definitely more budget-friendly than museum art. Fortunately we already have a pile of white frames waiting to be hung—see them leaning against the wall in the guest room.
As for the table’s former spot near the front door in the future dining room, we’re watching Craigslist for a larger, more proportionate cabinet or buffet to anchor that area. We’ll share details when we find the right piece.
P.S. Facebook changed its settings recently. If you’re not seeing our posts in your feed, scroll to the bottom of your Facebook Home page, click “Edit Options,” and choose “Show Posts From All Friends And Family” instead of the default “people you interact with most.” Annoying, but doable.