The Front Door Makeover

So, we've spent the last week working on replacing our front door-- a project we hadn't planned to undertake right now. At least, that is, until last week when Sean had the idea to rejuvenate our front door by removing two wooden panels and some superfluous moldings so that he could replace the panels with antique wavy glass we have had for years. When Sean explained his idea to me, I jumped on board without a second thought. Why? Well, mainly because our front door is atrocious. And also because it is just plain ugly. I figured that anything we did to it would be an improvement. Oh, was I wrong.

Not about the door-- it really is ugly. We didn't think through Sean's plan, though. About ten minutes after Sean explained his plan to me, there were giant holes in the front door. About ten minutes after that, we realized that our plan also had a few holes in it. For starters, our wavy glass is not really sturdy enough to serve as exterior glass on the house. And, I decided that even if we added glass to the door, the door would still look awful. So, what to do, what to do???? All of a sudden, we had holes in our front door the size of Alaska and no plan for replacing the door.

Our house was built in the late 70's and doesn't have much curb appeal. That may be putting it too nicely. When we bought the house, it had a brownish-orangish roof, orange brick, tan trim, a wooden front door that the prior owners had sloppily painted hunter green, and a glass door with hideous gold trim. Sounds pretty, huh? Oh yeah. Our plan when we bought the house was to replace the roof, which needed replacing anyway, replace the front door, and paint the exterior of the house, brick included, a neutral color.

Since buying the house, we have replaced the roof with three-dimensional grayish shingles. But, we haven't yet gotten to painting the house or replacing the front door. Until now. We spent most of last week searching for a new front door. We started by searching architectural salvage for antique doors with character. But we ultimately couldn't find anything that would work. We then started shopping retail. Can I tell you how overwhelming it is trying to search for a front door that does not have leaded, elaborately designed glass? I just wanted a simple four or six-light (or is it lite) door made of solid wood. With my dad's help and research, we finally found exactly what I was looking for, and it was delivered today. Hallelujah! Here's a picture.

Our door has four lights instead of six, which means that each light is larger than the ones pictured. Also, our door is unfinished, but you get the idea. Now, we just have to pick a stain color, stain the door, pick out hardware, add the hardware, and install the door. I'm thinking we might have the new door installed by Labor Day. Until then, rest assured that our house is not open to the elements. The hideously tacky glass door is doing a good job standing in as our front door for now. At least it's good for something.