Our Front Door Conundrum

after

Now that the builders have finished the rendering and painting on the front of the house and following on from our new windows and plantation shutters last year, things are looking a lot smarter around here. Yet there’s still the issue of our front door, one of the first things we decided to change when we moved in 2 and a half years ago and which remains untouched. We very quickly found a door, a beautiful and contemporary take on a traditional 1930’s design but it was eye-wateringly expensive albeit the cost would have included reconfiguring the window to the side as well but still, it was just too much for us to pay at the time.

So the search continued but you know how it is, nothing can quite compare to the one you have your heart set on. So we resigned ourselves to saving up and earlier this year found ourselves in a position to go ahead with replacing it. Only to discover that the company we wanted to go with had gone bust, taking considerable sums of customer money with them. It just goes to show how very deceiving appearances can be – we visited their showroom in North London, read testimonial after testimonial and even had the owner in our home taking measurements. Pete and I are savvy too, we’re good judges of character and quite particular about things for the home so we were so shocked when we heard what had happened.

We’ve still got out heart set on that front door and fortunately I have an email with all the features, estimate and design drawn up so I’m keeping everything crossed that I can take those plans to an alternative company or a carpenter and have it made to the same specifications. It will take time though to find the right people for the job and cobble together the money again now that we’ve spent it on other house projects so in the meantime we’re going to give our front door area a little makeover.

This is what it currently looks like – around the door itself is all either unpainted wood, or wood that’s been painted brown. I have no idea why but there we go, there were many strange decisions made about this house by previous owners:

frontdoor

We changed the outdoor light and the numbers quite soon after moving in and had left the rest of it because we knew it would be replaced. Now however we’re hoping a temporary makeover will give it a new lease of life. We want to paint the frames white and the woodwork above the door/beneath the roof white. The door itself will be grey and we’re going to replace all the furniture with brushed chrome versions. Just underneath the door sill which will be white, we’ll paint the little bit of wall grey. You can see where I started just beneath the panel to the left, that was peeling wood before and is now grey to match the tiles. We’re also going to replace the glass in the side panel with a frosted panel.

frontdoorplans

As always, I’m excited to see the end result but not looking forward to the work. No time like the present though…let’s get cracking.

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24 Comments

  1. July 27, 2016 / 9:20 am

    Oh I can’t wait to see your new door. It really finish the front of your house. The rest is looking so fab too. I love your shutters 🙂 #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      July 27, 2016 / 10:38 am

      Thank you Emma, I can’t wait to get our mini door makeover done so I can do the gran unveiling on the blog. It’s amazing what a difference painting the house has made X

  2. Alice Bayfield
    July 27, 2016 / 11:03 am

    It makes such a difference to the look of the house when the door is as you want it – after all, it’s the first thing you see every day! Alice xxx

    http://www.woodenwindowsills.co.uk

    • Lins
      July 28, 2016 / 12:54 pm

      Yes doesn’t it just, it’s an important feature. We’ll get there one day! X

  3. Molly
    July 27, 2016 / 12:34 pm

    How gutting that your dream door company went bust just as you were going to commission the door. Wasn’t to be. But the changes you are going to make while you wait for the next right one to come along will make a big difference. Look forward to seeing 🙂

    • Lins
      July 28, 2016 / 12:54 pm

      Thanks Molly, if only I could click my fingers and have it done, sometimes I Feel so unmotivated to do anything 🙂

  4. July 27, 2016 / 3:06 pm

    Such a shame that you can’t get hold of the door you saved so much for…. but sounds like its a little bit of fate there, if you had started proceedings a couple of months ago you could have lost out on alot. Your plans for your current door sound great though I am sure it will look fab, look forward to seeing it. #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      July 28, 2016 / 12:53 pm

      Thanks Caroline yes after the initial disappointment I breathed a huge sigh of relief, it could all have ended so differently! X

  5. July 27, 2016 / 8:39 pm

    You never know, you might be able to get it looking just as good as you’d hoped just by tweaking and painting. What you have done already looks really good. I particularly like your plantation shutters.

    • Lins
      July 28, 2016 / 12:52 pm

      Thanks so much Nicola, yes I think it will definitely look so much better. Just have to find the energy to get on with the job now 🙂 X

  6. mummyofboygirltwins
    July 27, 2016 / 9:13 pm

    Do you ever stop????!!! LOL 😉 Sounds fab and can’t wait to hear more. Good luck and keep us posted 🙂 Thanks for linking up #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      July 28, 2016 / 12:52 pm

      Haha no!! ANd I don’t think we do things fast enough either 😉 Hopefully all will be revealed quite soon X

  7. July 27, 2016 / 9:45 pm

    Oooh is the door wooden? I think it will look fab painted grey. We have a horrible uPVC door which I hate but we were quotes £6k to replace it, I think they thought we were born yesterday. Needless to say we showed them the door (literally) and have been frightened off getting any more quotes as the whole process was so awful. Looking forward to seeing how you get on, it’s making me wonder if I can paint ours but not sure it would work on a plastic door… Becky x #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      July 28, 2016 / 12:51 pm

      GOOD LORD!! Was that quote for a pvc door?!?! Wowsers that’s so much! Yes ours is a wooden one and I’m with you on the uPVC ones, I’m not a fan either. The one we want to replace it with is also wooden but I think definitely repainting etc what we have will make a huge difference X

  8. Stephanie Robinson
    July 29, 2016 / 3:25 pm

    How frustrating about the door – I hate it when you see something you love and circumstances mean it can’t happen. We used Chislehurst Doors for ours and were really happy with them, they included a fitting service as part of the price too. They wanted to do brass fittings and the traditional style of knockers but I managed to get them to get me chrome and modern with a bit of persuasion! #homeetc

    • Lins
      August 2, 2016 / 3:39 pm

      Oh that’s a great recommendation Stephanie, I’ve driven past Chislehurst doors so many times – and good tip on the modernisation! X

  9. August 1, 2016 / 7:35 am

    That’s such a shame that you’re currently unable to get your dream door, however I think your temporary makeover will look fantastic! I wish we had a wooden door that we could just paint, unfortunately ours is a horrible uPVC one and I’m not a fan. It’s not the worst uPVC door however, but I can’t decide whether it’s worth changing. We’re redoing our driveway (the longest process ever… well the drop curb is!) and I guess we’ll decide about it once the drive is finished and see how it looks. We’re only going to be living here for another 3 years maximum though as it’s only a 2 bedroomed house with not much room for expansion so it’s just weighing up whether it’s worth it.

    Gemma x
    The British Feather – A UK Home Decor & Lifestyle Blog

    • Lins
      August 2, 2016 / 3:30 pm

      Oh wow I don’t envy you the driveway process, A few people on my street are having theirs done and the curb bit does seem to take ages. I agree on the uPVC front, not many people are fans so thank goodness we have a wooden one! X

  10. August 2, 2016 / 11:17 am

    What a shame that company went bust, always disappointed when you have your heart set up on something and then it doesn’t happen.

    I love seeing the transformation of your house, it’s looking fabulous.
    #HomEtc

    • Lins
      August 2, 2016 / 3:26 pm

      That’s so very kind of you to say, I think sometimes when you’re in the midst of it all it’s hard to appreciate the changes because they seem so slow! X

  11. August 2, 2016 / 1:50 pm

    SO looking forward to seeing the end result!!! Little things, like just painting all the mismatched woodwork white will make the world of difference. SO lucky that the door is wooden and not UPVC!!! It may not be the door you want but thank heavens for small mercies!!! 😉 Thanks for linking up with us lovely Caro xx #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      August 2, 2016 / 3:25 pm

      Ah thanks lovely, yes it’s amazing what a lick of paint and a few little changes can do. We’ve started sanding and stripping all the old paint off, just need to keep going! X

  12. August 2, 2016 / 11:50 pm

    I like the sound of your plans Lins. You are making such a fab job of your house. It must have been very disappointing to hear that the company you had planned on going with went bust, but your makeover dies sound good. Best of luck with it.
    #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      August 3, 2016 / 11:27 am

      Thanks so much, there’s always a way to find an alternative and it tests my DIY skills in the meantime 😉 X

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