The Decoration

Sitting in someone's front yard in a pile of junk, marked with a

sign, was this...

An old, beat up, run down, solid wood, 8 panel door...

Will thought I was crazy for wanting to take it home with me, but that's to be expected. He thought the same thing when I brought home the ugly, old "Free Stuff" headboard (remember my Headboard Bench?), but look how great that turned out!

It's true that while we were loading the door into the back of the car, I didn't know exactly what I would be doing with it, but come on...you can't pass up a solid wood door.

At least, I can't pass up a solid wood door!

What happened next was something that I couldn't even have hoped for.

I don't ever get this lucky.

See that door way back there?

The one right there...

That's our laundry room door, and while I love that it easily conceals the massive piles of dirty clothes behind it (I'll admit it - laundry is my least favorite chore), what I don't love is that it also blocks off all the light that pours thorough the window that we have in our laundry room...

So, my solution was to search, and patiently wait, for a door with windows on Craigslist, or head to one of my absolute favorite spots, Second Use (a salvage yard) and buy a door that would fit to replace our current laundry room door. Adding a door with windows and flooding the hallway with light throughout the day would make a huge difference in how the space feels. Even Will couldn't deny the benefits. And living in the Pacific Northwest, the more natural light that you can squeeze into the house (especially on a cloudy day), the better!

I almost didn't even bother measuring my new Free Stuff door to see if it would fit the opening, because...really, how often do things happen that perfectly?

I was shocked!

It fits our laundry room!

So we propped it up into place to get a good look at it...

and I LOVE it!

It looks so good!

I love, Love the juxtaposition of the old, worn paint and beat up wood against the crisp white, tailored wainscotting and trim.

So my new plan (since I no longer had to worry about waiting on Craigslist, or driving out to Second Use) was to turn our "new" old door into a Dutch Door.

Finally, I would be able to have a Dutch Door!

Because it is solid wood we can cut it through the middle, and using simple guidelines that I have found online, we should be able to make the change relatively easily...

But,

(are you thinking what I'm thinking?)

a Dutch Door doesn't make for a very good way of concealing all of those mountains of laundry.

So, (light bulb moment) why not just cut out the top two panels and insert plexiglass in them? Then I can frost the plexiglass so that we are unable to actually see the mess behind it. We will get all the benefits of sunlight pouring through while still keeping the door closed when we need to...

Sounds like a good, reasonable plan, right?

It does to me.

But the more that Will and I talked about it, the further he strayed from my turn-the-free-stuff-door-into-our-new-dutch-door-with-windows plan.

So I'm asking your opinion.

What do you think?

What you should know is that the length of the door, after being hung, would come up a bit short. We would hang it at the right height on top, but there would be a gap at the bottom. Not a huge one, but a bit bigger than normal.

I have other ideas rolling around my head just in case this plan doesn't end up happening, but I'm really, really hoping that with your help, we can convince Will that this is a great idea!

(Like how I brought you guys in to this?)

:)

But, I want your honest opinions.

I'm all ears...

P.S. If you haven't yet entered our Giveaway from Dimples And Dandelions, click here to head over and enter!

P.S.S I am posting this at:

Saturday Nite Special

While browsing through my current issue of Elle Decor magazine (again)...

...I noticed an advertisement for Antique Spanish Doors. The ad is beautiful and definitely peaked my interest! So I checked it out online and this is what I found.

Welcome to
Portera Antique Spanish Doors

These doors aren't reproductions - they're the real deal!

Here is a sampling from their website:
(be careful...you might drool on your keyboard)

I highly recommend drooling over, I mean, checking out their website!
Be sure to click on the "about" link and then click on the "installations" tab on the left. You will get to see gorgeous photos of some of their doors in equally gorgeous homes!
And don't forget to view the gallery!

And if you want to see even more, go to
http://www.portera.1stdibs.com/search.php


Can you imagine having one of these in your home?

A girl can dream...

I was looking through some blogs last night and seemed to stumble upon a theme: front doors. Your front door can and should be a personal expression of you and your home! Through the use of color and decor you can set the tone for friends, family or anyone that you welcome into your home!

But before you can welcome them into your home you first have to make sure they can find your home! This is where the ever important house numbers come in! Where you place them is up to you...

photo courtesy of BHG.com

When we first moved into this house the numbers were attached to a lamp post in our front yard that sits near the street. It was fine during the day, but at night you couldn't see it! I can't tell you how many of our friends drove right past our house on their first visit! It was clear the numbers had to be moved. So we put them above our garage doors. Much better! And it has served us well!

But little did I know that last fall my mother-in-law would discover a super easy and attractive idea in one of her many decorating magazine's! As soon as she saw it (and I'm almost certain that it was in a 2008 issue of Better Homes and Gardens) she was on the phone asking if I could paint numbers on her front door. She made the quick jaunt over (we live three houses apart!) to show me the picture and I was immediately on board!

I picked up my white paint pen and got to work.
This is the result:

My front door...

and her front door...

I love how they turned out! I think it is charming and a bit unexpected and never again will we have the issue of someone not knowing where our house numbers are!

The best part is that this idea can be adapted to suit any home! Your numbers could be large or small, traditional or funky, white, black or any color of the rainbow! And you certainly don't have to paint them yourself. House numbers are readily available at home improvement stores and your options are limitless online!

Just have fun with it! After all, it is your front door!

photo courtesy of Cottage Living

I am a huge fan of Dutch Doors! And I'm pretty certain that someday they will make an appearance in our home! I loved these pictures that I found and thought I would share.