HOUSE TOUR — ENTRYWAY AND DEN
I really appreciate all the suggestions about what you would like to see more of here at Retro Ranch Revamp.
Ask and you shall receive — here is the first of several installments of the complete tour of our house!
We’ll start out just inside the front door, in our groovy entryway complete with a retro built in planter/divider:
For a long time after we moved in, the planter was a catch all for junk, that is until I filled it up with plants!
I love the retro recessed pinhole lights that act as a spotlight on my plants.
Here’s the awesome original grey-green slate floor, which I love.
And now into the Den!
The den is one of my favorite rooms in the house. It gets great morning light, has a cozy feeling and is home to one of my favorite pieces of furniture — the little yellow couch.
The fireplace is a lovely pink/grey/purple sparkly quartz stone that just glitters in the light.
The tiny shutters on the wall cover a pass-through window into the kitchen (easy snack access!)
Along the back wall is our media library (shelves are from IKEA) which houses our books, CDs and DVDs. (The dresser chilling out in the corner is possibly my new master bath vanity.)
This room is also one of Leo’s favorites — he likes to lay on the rug and look out at the back patio. He also prefers to exit and enter through this door because he can see the small animals waiting to be chased on his way out and can see us from outside when we come to let him in.
Furniture arrangement in this room was tricky! Not only is there a corner fireplace, a door to the outside, a pass through window, built-in bookshelf and three doorways, but this room is a direct path from the kitchen to the bedrooms/bathroom! Just call it central station.
Tune in next time to tour another room in the Retro Ranch!
Managing Editor and Graphic Designer for the popular blog RetroRenovation.com by day and part time home improver, interior designer, retro enthusiast, vintage bargain hunter, gardener, cook, artist, picture taker and the brains behind this blog on evenings and weekends.
I’d love to have a built-in room divider with a place for plants. One of my mother’s friends had one when I was a kid in the 50s, and I remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever! I also love your colors and your slate. It looks so nice with just a bit of a sheen. I need to seal mine too.
Thanks Dana! The planter was tricky to figure out because it doesn’t get much natural light. I really wanted to use succulents, but alas, they are full sun.
How often do you seal your slate? I haven’t done anything to ours yet…I need to read up on this!
Wow, I love it so far! Can’t wait to see the rest.
Thanks Katie! Glad you are enjoying the tour!
Love this look at your entry and den! Such wonderful details. I particularly love the raised hearth–because the 1959 ranch I grew up in had one, too. That curtain pull-back is sweet, too.
Thanks Rita! The raised hearth is cool – we sat on it for our holiday picture the first year we owned the house!
The curtain pull back is from IKEA.
*swoon* it’s fabulous!! I have a large snake plant {aka mother-in-law’s tongue} in my living room. I have it in a small bullet planter I found on Etsy; got it for a song and a dance! love that you used those in your planter….they were one of the “it” plants in the 50s!
Thanks Sandi! I also have a bullet style planter (bought on the cheap) with a larger mother in law’s tongue in the living room…you’ll see it later in the tour. I tried to get plants that were appropriate for the style of the house.
was the entry floor tile an inspiration for the entry colors? i like!!!
What a good eye you have Vanessa! Yes, the colors of the slate played a big part in my wall color selection.
Wow, looks like whoever made the cuts in the paneling around the fireplace sure had lots of work to do! Those long bricks, mantel, and hearth stone are exactly like those in my grandparents’ house, only they were very light white-gray with charcoal black mortar. In contrast, the stone work in their entryway was the kind you have, only in dark charcoal with white-gray mortar.
Thanks for the tour!
I’m sure they did Mike S! Very cool that your grandparents’ house had a similar slate and fireplace going on! I really like both features — I’m sure they do too!
I didn’t think I needed a house tour becasue I feel like I’ve seen it, but I realize I haven’t! This is awesome, can’t wait for more. That planter is my favorite so far
I’m glad you are liking the tour! Stay tuned there is more to see!
This area of your house makes me so happy! I love how you used the planter, because I swear every surface we have we cover with crap, so that’s the perfect solution to prevent crap-catching. I also love how you mixed IKEA in with mid-mod style. We finally moved back a huge stumbling block in decorating our living room, so we’re starting in on that project this weekend (starting with paint), and it’ll be doing that same general kind of combo. Your entry is perfect and so inviting! You have such a fabulous house, it’s really inspiring to me.
Aww thanks Tasha! You are so sweet!
We have the same crap-catching problem that you have, it just piles up unless we are diligent about it! Putting plants in the planter has made that a no crap zone, which is great in my eyes! One less place to shovel out when it is cleaning up time!
So that kind of slate was common in the era? I have a sunroom that I need to replace the flooring and had considered slate, but I didn’t know if it was era appropriate. It sure is gorgeous!
Hi Joy,
Yes! Slate entryways were very common in the 1960s. Many of my neighbors’ houses have them and both sets of grandparents (who had ranch houses on opposite sides of the country that were built in the 1960s) had slate entryways. What a great choice you’ve made! It is gorgeous!