Life Hack – If you ever want to really incentivize a deep clean or reogranization of a space, invite an important guest over! All of a sudden, you notice the chipped paint, dirty floorboards, clutter on the counter and other things that seemed fine in a day to day. It wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t great. The problem is we were inviting guests everyday and didn’t really take a look at our lobby. To be fair, there are big plans for the lobby. Unfortunately, the budget doesn’t always allow for a big change right now.
Our thoughts changed when we invited some special guests to come to the property. We went through the rooms, inspecting and anticipating any knocks to our overall apprerance. There are still lots of flaws. The old bathtubs take the lead, but also carpet, general wear and tear, and other things we haven’t gotten to yet. But overall, the work we’ve done really shines and we felt good about the visit. Until, we got to the lobby. It was actually one of our first projects when we purchased the Inn. We quickly pulled out old carpet, added new trim and slowly painted over the old wood surfaces. We added some furniture and some merchandise behind the window. It gone from dated, to okay and got lost in the myriad of other projects.
After New Flooring – The First Steps
Functionally, the lobby works great. Guest check-in is streamlined and it does well for a small team. First impressions are a big deal in the hospitality industry and we try to do our best to give visitors an excellent experience. The signage was all updated, we’ve re-stained a lot of the building and our outdoor spaces are an important part of our offerings. Internally, we’ve worked very hard to make the rooms as modern and comfy as possible.
We are still a long ways from being complete, but our recent visitor pushed us to think a little smaller. We got a few refreshers done without breaking the bank. And it looks so much better!
Deciding To Do A Refresh
It started with a swatch of paint. I’ve always loved green and turquoise, but green won out with cooler, more calming tones. Check out our previous door color war. It took a long time to figure out the door color and eventually went with neither of those, but a dark brown/black. The doors are one of my favorite transformations, but the color bias returned and I went with a deep green to start.
After the first couple of rolls, I felt the paint counter might’ve gotten the color completely wrong. An army green was being slopped onto the walls and it didn’t look good. Paint dries differently, so I decided to wait. We were too close to the visit to go back now. Nothing like an 11th hour project to make someone commit. Thankfully, it dried beautifully and that one wall inspired me to keep going.
Pushing Forward
A couple of days went by and my eyes kept being drawn to that new paint. Every time I looked at it I knew the rest of the room could look just as good. We purchased wallpaper, hoping to create an easy statement wall. I grabbed the sander and a couple of different grits of sandpaper to get the surface ready. Sadly, the thought of sanding that entire area, coupled with the amount of dusting I’d have to do later, made me change my mind. We’ve been adding sound pannels to the rooms and purchased a bunch on sale a few months ago. It’s not perfect, but we modified the edging to make them look longer. Plus, as an added bonus, we could cover the one way window from our previous night manager’s suite.
Modifying the sound panels was not easy, but with some wrist strength and the hub’s final know how – we got the project done. At first the results looked nice, but didn’t quite make the impact I was hoping for with the project.
Neon & Wood
For anyone that’s stayed at the Inn, there’s a predominant black oak sink façade that welcomes guests as they enter each room. We’ve tried to compliment this feature in other ways, as it’s a unique feature and each piece is done by us in house. They are not easy and deserve their own post in the future! We looked for something to bring that element into the lobby, but it didn’t really hit the mark. Future counter inspo!
Additionally, I’ve wanted to incorporate more lighting (especially neon lighting) somewhere at the Inn. Originally it was at the top of the stairs, but power access limited our ability to make those changes right away. Enter the lobby project! I chose a simple design and appropriate messaging. It was starting to look closer. But, something was missing.
MORE Paint
When in doubt, add more paint! We removed some old artwork and added the same paint to adjacent wall. And “Wall”a! The difference in feeling was almost immediate. Even in the army goop stage of wet paint. It felt better and we could see it coming together. After discussing with a couple of people on our team, we decided the same dark green couldn’t be used on the main wall. It would most likely look too dark. I went back to the paint swatches and ended up with a grey/green. It was soft and just green enough to bring the two dark walls togethe
The Final Countdown
Still waiting on the opinions of our special guest, I added the final touches. Mind you, I prefaced the visit with, we are currently working on updating the lobby, so stay tuned. Luckily for us, we got to send a follow up email with pictures of the final touches. I added an armchair, moved the coffee wood piece and added a little plant greenery. There was the pop.
The counter still needs to be changed out and really the entire layout needs revamped, but projects for a later time. In the short term, we are quite pleased with the results. More modern, more welcoming and functionally better for our guests. Stay tuned for more updates and an even more exciting guest experience at the Hagerman Valley Inn! We hope to greet you in our updated lobby soon!
