Adding DIY Painted Doors and Trim to Our Small Entry Alcove
May 31, 2026
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Pretty design and DIY updates in our small foyer alcove.
One of the things I love about our home the most is that we have a few small hallways and alcoves. In our first home we didn't have one hallway. That didn't occur to me until we moved in here, and I've thoroughly enjoyed treating these spaces like the small rooms that they are.
I recently installed a gorgeous wall mural and painted the ceiling in the main part of our foyer, and wanted to continue the updates into this area right next to it. I particularly love this little alcove off of our entryway:
It has a few doorways -- a taller opening to our basement, and a couple of standard sized doors to our powder room and coat closet.
Years ago I hung a pretty pinstriped wallpaper in this area and still LOVE it. I've wanted to add a bit more drama to this small space, and finally started working on it a couple of weeks ago.
The large mural on the other side of this room has so many beautiful blue tones throughout. Plus we have dark blue wallpaper in the powder room, so it was a given that I wanted to use a blue for the doors. I've gathered a few paint color chips over the past few months and finally decided to go with a lovely color called Smokey Blue.
It was so pretty, but after two coats I knew it wasn't right. When I stepped back, I was transported right back to the late 80's/early 90's -- it was the exact country blue that so many of us had in our homes.
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Ahhhh, the good ol' days. As nostalgic as it was, I just couldn't live with it. 😂
I didn't get a great pic, but took this as I started painting over the lighter blue:
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| See my tutorial for painting interior doors here! |
Do you see what I was seeing? :)
You may recognize the darker blue, as I've used it in our family room as well. It's called Cyberspace from Sherwin-Williams -- I painted our built ins and fireplace that color:
It's a chameleon -- sometimes looks almost black (at night especially), but brighter blue in direct sunlight and this blueish gray that we love in natural light.
I painted the door trim as well as the doors, which is new for me. Usually I when do this DIY, I only paint the door. I absolutely LOVE how the painted trim looks! While I had the supplies out, I painted the ceiling in the Lakeside color to match the larger one in the main foyer.
A lot of my updates to existing makeovers this year have been finishing up little DIYs I've neglected to do at the start. I made a long list of those little to-do items, and one was to add crown to this little vestibule in the entryway.
Well...after about six coats of paint on the doors, I was worn out. 😁 Crown is one of most annoying do-it-yourself projects in my opinion. (Even with this awesome crown molding cutting jig that makes it so much easier!)
So I decided to use this wood casing from Lowe's instead:
The 90 degree angle on the back made it so I could just cut it like any mitered cut and nail it into the walls/ceiling. Since this area is so small, I thought it was a good compromise.
The last small project was to spray paint the existing recessed light converter and hang a simpler, glass globe:
I've used these pendant converters a few times over the years -- they simply screw into your recessed light bulb socket, and you can adjust the length of the cord.
It only takes a few minutes, and allows you to hang a lightweight pendant globe for a little more interest. I really like the glass in here instead of the heavier lamp shade we had hanging before. It really opens it up!
The Cyberspace doors/trim tie in beautifully with the blue and white pinstripe wallpaper, and also the dark blue in the powder room:
I love little details like this brass water closet plaque!:
Brass looks SO great with this dark blue paint color.
Now this side of the foyer ties in with blue tones in the huge watercolor mural I installed a few weeks ago:
I think smaller spaces like this are so fun to work on! You can do something a little more dramatic than in a big room (that may get overwhelming).
I have a couple of small updates to make in that coat closet, and then I'll share the final re-makeover of this makeover. 😂
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Your newfly refreshed nook looks great! What did you use to apply the paint on your doors, to give them such a smooth finish?
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