Spring Festival of My Home

So I have been wanting to do this for awhile now . . . but I needed to wait for Spring to have a Spring Festival of My Home!

Each spring around my area the paper always runs many and numerous ads advertising the Spring Festival of Homes. So I thought I would do my own home tour.
I am going to give a tour of my home in photos. Each week I will highlight different rooms of my house. This week I am showing the entrance of my house and my foyer.
Enjoy!This is my house from across the street(this was taken last summer when everything was full and lush) . . . we do not have many neighbors . . . there is a small tot park on our left and one house on the right(non-existent neighbors, I never see anyone there, no children). There are no houses across the street, just one house at an angle to the right (with very strange neighbors, no children). Our street used to be a dead end and a couple of years ago it was opened up and the city built a new park right next to us, but up a hill. The children don't enjoy it much as it really is not a great park. We still tend to walk to the old park we have always played at.a view of the front , my pear tree just bloomedmy front door, waiting for flowers to be hung and planted
I love my lions (purchased and shipped from China, they weigh over 500 pounds each).
Looking at this photo now, I see that I need a new door mat! I want to paint the front door dark brown and am just waiting for all this rain to stop.This is the deck, in a sorry shape right now. We are scheduled for stripping, cleaning and restaining in the next week or so. Which I just want to know, why does it cost so damn much? The original quote was literally more than a mortgage payment. Then I saw in their advertisement that they were using our deck in their photos(we always use the same company). I told my husband he better call and find out about this because I did not recall giving permission. The next quote came in at $600 cheaper! Go figure?Here is one view of the back yard that the dog has destroyed. We are trying to revive the patches that she has ruined. Hopefully it will come back. I see no reason it should not with all this rain we have been having. And yes, all the trees you see are ours. Loads of work and maintenance. My brother is coming down when the weather improves to shimmy up those trees and trim them up a bit.
Welcome to the view from my front stair case of my entrance. The famous "S" which is a feature I really like here.
I have an 18 foot ceiling here and it was so scary to paint! I stitched the curtains myself with silk fabric from China.

I had this bench made for our other house . . . it is solid oak and weighs a ton! I was so happy that it fit in the entrance of this house as well. I totally need a a new cushion though. That will be the next sewing task!Here is some artwork that hangs in the foyer.

And this door fob is from China . . . I used to have them on all the doors but the children and the dog used to shred the tassels to pieces. The fob is supposed to protect your home and bring you good health and good fortune.

There was a bit of a peek into my living room which I will feature next week along with my dining room.