Woot, Woot! Victory! (or) The Entry Before And After.... With Pictures

I kicked. I screamed. I threw tantrums, cussed, made ultimatums. I even got so crazy as to check the manual and call customer service.

Turns out my phone has lived longer than anyone thought it would, and would cost way  more to fix than to replace. So eventually I will replace it. In the meantime, I was able to convince it to take just a couple more pictures. So here we go... the Entry:

Above is my before picture. It was originally intended to be an after picture. Really. The entry had really been a mess, and I had tried about a million different things to keep it organized and pretty. This is, after all, the main entrance to our home (and the first thing guests see as they enter). This picture was taken after a major decluttering, and the addition of shoe shelves and some cubbies that we had left over from our apartment days. Unfortunately, not long after I put them in, the weight of the boots and cubby shelves made the shoe shelves bow. It wasn't working as it was, but the general idea seemed to function better than anything I had tried before.

After a bunch of looking around the internets, I came up with this:

Now keep in mind this is a down and dirty kind of makeover. Budget was a major concern. There is still a bit of stuff I would like to do in here, but for now it's enough for our needs. It's mostly finish work, but I still need a light fixture and a new ceiling. I would like to repaint the door and trim, too, but time is not my friend.... Maybe after a while I will re-do this properly.

So there you have it, folks. The entry. Now I will do my best to wrangle my way through the family/guest room post! lol!