Modern Farmhouse Foyer Makeover

Thank you to Dutch Boy Paint for sponsoring this post. As always, the opinions are our own.

It is amazing what a little paint and some elbow grease can do to a space. I love walking in the door now! The transformation of this Modern Farmhouse Foyer Makeover will amaze you! 

Ever since we moved into our home, almost 10 years ago, giving the foyer a makeover has been on our to do list. We knew it would be a big job, since the stairway ceiling is high and removing wallpaper from the walls is always a chore.

We have been slowly updating the house to the modern farmhouse style since falling in love with the She Shed last year. We are also tackling the living room and kitchen this year- make sure to watch for updates. I am especially looking forward to the kitchen makeover.

One of the things that I like best about the farmhouse style is its simplicity. The clean colors of the gray walls and white trim make even the simple decorations stand out. Oh and those stairs…I am in love with them! But first, let me show you where we began –

The walls were covered with wallpaper that had been put on at least 20 years ago, it was dirty and many spots were torn and peeling. The trim was also in desperate need of a good coat of paint. And the stairs were the worst.

Before any painting could be done, the wallpaper had to be stripped and the walls had to be prepped. Here are the easy steps we took to prepare the walls –

How to Strip Wallpaper

1. Score the walls with a paper tiger – it’s a small tool that has teeth on it
2. In a 1/2 gallon sprayer (like you would use on the garden or in the yard) combine water and fabric softener. Add 1-2 cap fulls of Fabric Softener per gallon of water. The cheaper the fabric softener the better.
3. Then spray an area on the wall and let it soak for about 10 minutes
4. Then begin to peel the wallpaper. You can use a putty knife if you need help getting the wallpaper removed

How to Prepare Walls for Paint

1. Fill in any holes, gouges, or cracks in the walls with putty or joint compound. Follow directions on the container for dry time.
2. Sand walls with 80 grit sandpaper
3. Sand walls with 120 grit sandpaper
4. Clean the walls by wiping down with water and clean rag or sponge
5. Rinse surface well and allow to dry

The all new fully refreshed Dutch Boy website features a Color Visualizer; which is a great resource for finding the perfect paint colors for walls or exterior of the home. You can virtually paint your home by uploading your own picture or experimenting with one of the brand’s pre-populated room images.

I am a very visual person; it’s so helpful to see how the room will look before choosing the paint colors. And seeing the difference really convinced Doug too!

The first part of the foyer that needs to be painted is the ceiling. We used Dutch Boy® Platinum® Plus Ceiling Interior Paint + Primer, which is a product that was recently launched by the brand.   The award-winning container designed with its built-in handle and spout helps to minimize spills and messes; and makes the paint project easier and clean up a breeze. Its unmatched convenience of a plastic twist-on, twist-off resealable lid that is easy-to-open and close, and doesn’t require tools for opening and closing is also really helpful. I don’t know about you, but we always seem to have several paint can openers laying around cluttering up the tool shelf. And don’t get me started about closing the paint can with a hammer- it always goes everywhere!

We used the Purdy 9 inch paint tray and added the tray liner, for even simpler clean up. When I’m tired from painting, the last thing I want to do is more clean up.

It’s very helpful to have the right tools for the job, it makes painting go a lot quicker and easier. For the ceiling, we used the POWER LOCK™  Extension Pole with a roller.

Doug is putting on a second coat on the ceiling. You can also see the trim around the front door area in the background. He used green Frog Tape to tape off all the areas first, so it was easier to paint.

Now it was time to paint the trim. The paint container is easy to hold, easy to open, easy to pour, easy to store. Win-win-win-win

We used Dutch Boy® Dura Clean™ Cabinet, Door & Trim with Smooth-Finish Technology in Super White (001W) and a 2 inch Nylon brush.

After using an angled brush to cut in all of the edges of the room, Doug used a roller to paint the walls with the new the Dutch Boy® Platinum® Plus Interior Paint + Primer . We chose a soft gray shade called Garden Stone (437-2DB).

It seems like our stairway collects lots of dirty hand prints, I suppose we all run our hands down the wall as we go up and down the stairs, but we no longer have to worry about those dirty hand prints staining the walls.  The Dutch Boy® Platinum® Plus has exceptional stain resistance that allows stains to be easily wiped away from the painted surface with a soft sponge and mild household cleaner.

After the trim and walls were completely dry, it was time to paint the stairs. This part was the most challenging because of our two dogs. We had originally thought about taking the dogs away for a couple days, but then we figured out that we could put up a wire fence to keep them off the stairs. It worked really well.

We also thought that the family would need to sleep downstairs for a couple nights, but to our surprise, the paint dried so quickly that we were able to sleep upstairs. We walked lightly and quickly going up the stairs, but it was dry enough for us to sleep in our bedrooms, so that was really nice. Just make sure to paint in the morning!

We used the yellow delicate Frog Tape on the stairs so that it wouldn’t pull off any of the new white paint. We painted two coats on the stairs to ensure that they were very durable. We used Dutch Boy Porch & Floor Interior/Exterior Paint + Primer with Maximum Surface Protection in Authentic Black (437-7DB).

I remember years ago when the house would have to be aired out after painting, we were pleasantly surprised that there was very little odor, that’s because of the GREENGUARD® Gold Certification for indoor air quality that the Platinum Plus Interior Paint + Primer and and Platinum Plus Ceiling Interior Paint + Primer products received.

The stairs are definitely my favorite! The impact that the black paint made is amazing! On the wall, we hung a chicken wire frame that Doug made a couple years ago, I think it fits perfectly!

On the stairs, I added a vintage lantern, galvanized watering can and wire balls. And in the wire basket, I added fresh ivy that I cut from our yard.

I filled the olive bucket with fresh hydrangeas that I cut from the yard, and from our neighbors. Bringing the outdoors in is one of my favorite things.

Is there an area of your home you’ve been dying to makeover? Don’t underestimate the power of paint! The Menard’s in-store color rack has 20 inspiring DIY paint project ideas with instructions and décor inspiration for six potential projects to makeover! Dutch Boy Paints offers a full line of interior and exterior products – with over 1,300 colors you are sure to find the perfect paint every time!

For more inspiration, follow Dutch Boy on social media; Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. And watch for their all new Instagram channel launching in September 2017.