Choosing Wallpaper for the Front Entry

I just returned home from a trip to Japan with my oldest boys. Two words: Jet lag. Wow! My body clock is all messed up. Hopefully, it will sort itself out in a day or two. We made some wonderful memories, and I took loads of photos. I’ll write up a travelogue post soon. In the meantime, there was a big box of wallpaper samples sitting on my desk when I got home, and choosing wallpaper for the front entry is on my mind.

Project Inspiration

I have plenty of summer work to finish before cold weather arrives, but dreaming about sprucing up the entry hall is a nice distraction. It all started with this photo on Instagram:

You all know that I tend to play it safe with neutrals when it comes to decor. In fact, Andy always teases me about painting things beige. Once, in our house in California, I had grand plans to repaint a beige wall in our living room–vowing to choose something different. I spent nearly an hour in the paint store fretting over undertones and sheens, shuffling paint chips like Uno cards.

Finally, I was satisfied with my choice, but when I brought it home and opened the can to show Andy, I discovered that there was no discernible difference in color between the beige paint in the can and the color already on the wall.

Based on history, imagine my surprise when that bright orange entryway photo not only caught my eye, but I immediately imagined something similar for BHH. I was officially inspired.

The Wallpaper Hunt Begins

Right away, I asked all of the smart people on Instagram if they knew where to find that wallpaper. It reminded me of Laundry Studio designs, but I could not locate an orange colorway. Hollie, from Stuck on Hue, recognized the paper immediately, and she sent out a sample the next day. How generous!

While I loved the way it looked from this angle next to the street side front porch…

…Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough pattern contrast looking into the foyer, and the colors did not coordinate with the existing toile. Choosing wallpaper for the front entry wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. (Please ignore the green trim. I will be repainting it.)

While I loved the room designed by Brian Patrick Flynn, I realized that I needed to stick more to the spirit of the design rather than the exact look. I tried to parse out precisely what I loved about it–the orange color, the mix of art, the warm feeling it evoked. That exercise led me back to my computer, where I ordered a load of new samples from Etsy and Spoonflower. As a former Californian, I was drawn to patterns with citrus.

Choosing Wallpaper for the Front Entry | More Samples

The first citrus sample to arrive was this transitional print.

At first, I loved it, but the longer it hung there, the more I realized that even though the colors worked, the stylized citrus pattern didn’t play well with the traditional toile in the foyer. It was a traditional vs. transitional fail.

When I opened the box that arrived while I was in Japan, I eliminated some prints immediately. Seeing the wallpaper for real was very different than viewing it on the computer. My advice? Always order samples.

1. Too stylized
2. Too mid-mod
3. Mid-mod in green
4. Cartoonish
5. Cartoonish in turquoise
6. No. Just no.
7. Cute, but not feeling it.
8. Not feeling it in white either

Not all of the samples were a complete miss. Just for fun, I gave these two a shot.

Because I loved the print so much, I wanted one of them to work, but it was clear that it wasn’t meant to be. The adjacent toile begged for a more traditional design.

Luckily, I ordered a William Morris print in four different colorways. The two orange samples were the clear front runners.

Here is how they looked on the well-lit side of the hall.

And this was the view into the foyer.

Winner! Winner! The William Morris print is larger + traditional, and it coordinates well with the classic toile in the foyer. Out of curiosity, which one of these two is your favorite?

Choosing Wallpaper for the Front Entry | Next Steps

I suppose the next step is convincing Andy that orange wallpaper is a thing and it belongs in BHH. After that, all that’s left is opening our wallets and doing the work. I’m toying with the idea of turning this into our fall One Room Challenge project. However, I’m still really excited about working on the Cabin Vibes bedroom too. Feel free to weigh in. Which room renovation would you like to follow first?