I love when you walk into a home and you can immediately feel the warmth and coziness it exudes. I truly hope that's the way people feel when they walk into our home.

One of the wonderful things about historic homes is that they almost always have a foyer. A place you can take off your hat and coat. A place where the homeowner can invite you in and chat comfortably, even if only for a couple of minutes. It sets the stage for the rest of the house, and acts as almost a little preview of what's to come.

When you step into the foyer at The Brainerd Street House, you can see into most of the downstairs rooms - it's very open. I just love that about this room. It's almost as if the room is saying, "Come on in, make yourself at home."

Our sweet dog, Maggie, just loves to sit by the door all day. The sun comes in through the large window and she just takes it all in. When we aren't home, this is definitely her room.

I wanted to keep the decor to a minimum in this space. The canvas on the wall was a gift from my dad. I just love it, but I think my new plan is to make the artwork here seasonal. Since this is a fall/winter image, I am about to update it to a summer piece. I can't wait for you to see what's going up there soon - it's really amazing and beautiful. Keep checking back for that!!

I'll give you a hint: I purchased a canvas giclee from a new up and coming, and very popular painter. She has been featured on HGTV and in Country Living Magazine......it's so, so good!

One of my very first furniture purchases when we moved in was this beautiful antique table. I'm sure it was supposed to be a buffet server or side board, but it fit perfectly in this space. I bought it when I wasn't sure what style I wanted to go with in the house. Even though it's an antique victorian piece, I do think it's very versatile. I love all the original hardware and that old mirror is so beautiful!

I recently added this bench under the window, threw on some throw pillows, and now it's a great spot to take off your shoes. Or a great spot for my son to sit and watch for daddy to come home.

The white jar is an antique olive jar I found at a local antique mall. I'm still deciding if I should leave it as is or add some dried olive branches. It's beautiful either way!

I knew I didn't want a hall tree in the foyer, so I just went out and bought a bunch of iron hooks. It only took my personal handyman {AKA The Hubby} about 30 minutes to hang them, and now we have a great place to put all of our bags, coats, hats, and even my son's construction vest. It's great for when we entertain, as guests can hang their purses here instead of toting them up to the bedroom.

My favorite piece by far is when you walk into our home a little bit further. This is actually a vintage tobacco drying board. I found it on a crazy good sale at a local interior store for $25!!!! I'm still kicking myself for not buying more. It is the perfect place to display all of my son's artwork, and when Christmas rolls around, this is where we hang all of our friend's Christmas cards. It's so much nicer than slapping everything on the fridge, as it becomes it's own piece of art.

I hope you've felt welcome into my home over these last couple months!! Have a great week and happy summer vacation!!