I think the thing that bothered me most about our house, the thing that brought me down about it and made me question why we bought it in the first place was the entryway. The front door opened directly into the hallway that flanks the staircase, there was nowhere go but downstairs to the boys rooms or down the narrow hallway to all the living room. There was nowhere to put my purse down, let alone house a piece of furniture or even a wall hook for my coat. The interior garage door entrance was on one wall, a single paned etched glass floor length window flanked the front door. I knew that we couldn't bump the wall out very far if we wanted to stay under the existing roofline, but I knew there must be a way to make the space slightly bigger and more useful, to give it a focal point and a purpose,  and to make me smile when I walked into our home.