Where is the Foyer?

That's what my four year old said last week when I told him his shoes were in the foyer.  Apparently, what I should have said is "Your shoes are in the room where you swing your light sabre around practicing to being a Jedi Knight or "Your shoes are in the room where your brother and sister jump rope and have handstand contests".  The word "foyer" is just not a part of a four year old's vocabulary.

We immediately settled on two things when we bought this house:

1)  We didn't want formal spaces
2)  We wanted to use every room in the house

#1 was easy because we're just not formal people and we don't own formal things, no real silver or fancy crystal here.  #2 took some work.  Our office/den went virtually unused for the first year we lived here.  Finally we mounted a TV on the wall of the built-in desk/bookcases and then we moved a couch in there.  It's now one of the most used rooms in the house.   I already explained how the foyer is used, Jedi Knight training and jump roping, oh and greeting our guests.  It seemed pointless to us, to buy a big old house if there would be rooms that would be off-limits or useless.  So we have made our home a comfortable place that is abused used by all.

Here's a picture of the foyer before we bought the house.

Here is the foyer after the renovation.

The antique cabinet belonged to my husband's grandmother.  The mirror is from Ballard Design (except I got it at a Thrift Store for $20).  The bench actually belongs to my sister-in-law and I was just keeping it for her until they moved into their house.  She'll be coming for it any day now.  The light is from Restoration Hardware (but I got it on ebay).  

I had some credit card points I needed to redeem, so I just ordered this  6'x9' rug from a really cool store in Cincinnati, High Street Market.  I love all the colors in this rug and it really helps tie together all the paint colors and fabrics from our first floor.  

How about you, do you have rooms in your house that never get used?  If so, I can send my three kids over and they will certainly find a use for it.  

I am sharing with:

Cottage and Vine