Door – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

Flipping the Door

Published on March 29, 2017 by JennaLeave a comment

We recently made a very simple change in our master bedroom that had way more impact than we ever imagined. We’ve wanted to flip the direction our bedroom door swings since we saw the model of our floor plan. In fact, it was one of the two changes we requested of the builder, but by the time we noticed it hadn’t been done how we asked it was too late to change it before the final inspection because it would cover the light switches if we did. So we lived with it for the past 3+ years.

It drove us nuts to have to come in and move the door to get to the closet every time we came home or pulled the hampers to do laundry. It’s such a minor, trivial thing but it was an every day thing which made it seem even more annoying. The Hubs decided he’d had enough and did some research online to figure out what he needed to do to swap the direction of the door.

He used a template he picked up at Lowes to chisel away the spots where the hinges would attach, starting with an outline of the spot and then creating slices he could work out little by little.

Soon he had three indented spots ready for hinges. He also had to change up the hinge locations on the door itself so he took the door off and chiseled those areas too. I was working on another project while he was doing this and occasionally held the door steady while he chiseled, so I don’t have any pictures of that step. Once he had the new hinge locations prepped and swapped over the hardware we went from this….

…to this! Look how much more open it makes the space feel! Now the door swings back flush against the wall, leaving nothing blocking the entrance to the closet – just how we always wanted it. We left the light switches right were they were because we rarely used them thanks to the remote for our overhead fan/light combo. We also have switches for the overhead fixture by the bathroom door so we can always use that instead. The Hubs relocated the holder for our light/fan remote to the open side of the door so we have easy access to that if we want to turn the light off as we leave or on as we enter.

Luna wasn’t too impressed with the change because behind the door was one of her favorite hiding spots, but she’ll just have to be upset because we love it.

We still need to paint over the old hinge locations to make them blend in, but it’s not a huge priority since you barely notice it. We plan to leave the old indents on the off chance that SHOULD we ever sell this house the next buyer has the option to change it back – if they were crazy and wanted their life to be more difficult that is!

So there you have it. One very simple change made the room feel twice as big – and pissed off the cat until she realized she can just hide in the closet instead. 🙂

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Another Little Update

Published on August 18, 2013August 18, 2013 by JennaLeave a comment

I realized it’s been two weeks since I’ve done an update on the progress of the house, so here’s the latest. Almost all of the exterior doors and windows are in and the natural gas lines are done.

Notice how the windows in the nook are shorter than the family room and the extra framing they had to add to correct the hole size they originally framed? Well this is what it looks like on the outside. I’m not super keen on this little change and will certainly be watching to make sure it looks better than this when we do our walk through! I’ve also questioned why one window opens and the other doesn’t. Seems they should both be one or the other.

Laundry room and Studio

Hall Bathroom and Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

The little window in the garage. I’m not sure of it’s purpose, since it doesn’t let in much light…escape hatch perhaps? LOL

The highlight of the recent progress is our front door being installed! In the design we liked and asked for! Here it is from inside with the framed entry way and outside where the covered front porch will be. Below is a wide shot of the front entry from outside. Can’t wait to see this bad boy painted purple!

Apparently, there was a delay with the roofing contractor and electrician because we were told those items would happen this week, but there was no sign of either being started yet. Instead there was limited progress on the vented soffets and trim around the windows and corners on the front of the house.

There was also a pile of materials to begin the lap board siding on the front of the house and our back deck! We’ve got big plans for the back yard so watch for a post about that later this week!

Shut the Front Door! It’s Purple!

Published on August 11, 2013February 6, 2014 by Jenna2 Comments

I don’t remember where I first heard about the trend of painting your home’s front door purple, but the instant I did I was sold. And soon after I started noticing several purple-hued doors around Kodiak. Now that I’m in Anchorage, I’m usually too busy watching the other drivers around me to notice door colors, but I’m sure there are a few out there. Apparently, the trend is spreading because I found several examples on Pinterest!

Our builder’s foreman called the other day saying it was time to pick out our front door, which brought the idea of a purple door back to the forefront. We picked out this door with a craftsman style leaded glass insert, but apparently that one is special order and takes 3 weeks to arrive. Unfortunately, our builder needs to install the door next week, so we told him to get something they had in stock similar to what he’d had in the models we’d seen. This is the style he chose as seen on another of his builds. I tweaked it to be purple in Photoshop, granted not the exact shade I’d choose but close enough for a visual (sorry for the rainy picture, but I didn’t feel like traipsing through the mud to get a closer shot).

I’m not crazy about it, but it is nicer than just a plain door. Unfortunately I then saw this one (also tinged purple via Photoshop) on another of his models and like it better, even though it’s just a different glass insert. I think it fits our ‘craftsman’ style more. I’ve asked him if that style is the same price and if so, can we get that one instead. We’ll see what he says.

Regardless of which style we end up with, I think a purple door will add a nice pop of color to our entry way since the house will be tan with a medium/dark brown roof. I’ve considered adding faux shutters to the windows later on, which I might do in the same color to contrast with the pretty window box planters I’d want to add if I did add shutters. Because one project always leads to another right?!

Now I have to pick just the right shade of purple for said door. I’m feeling a bit like the lady in this ACE commercial who wants a purple, but not a PUR-ple. You know, the perfect color. I’m thinking something deep and rich like an eggplant. Something in this shade would be nice. We picked up a swatch of Behr’s Mata Hari at Home Depot today and really like it.

I’m considering having them paint both the exterior and interior door purple. It might seem a little odd, but it is my favorite color and honestly, having one side purple and the other side white seems just as strange to me, so in a way it makes sense. Maybe only in my head though. What do you think? Should we paint both sides or just the exterior?