Every house has it quirks – something you scratch your head about and wonder “what were they thinking!?” The Duckling has many, many quirks, but one of the most obvious is the doors. First of all, there are way more doors in this house than are needed. Like in the kitchen, where, before we started tinkering, there were five doors. FIVE! There were two doors that led to other rooms, a door that led to the basement, a door that led outside and a door to the pantry closet. That’s about two doors too many. So we promptly got to work taking down the two doors that led to other rooms.
The first was the swinging door that kept the dining room separate from the kitchen. While I get how in the 1950’s there was an interest in closing the kitchen off from the house, in this century we’ve come to recognize that an open flow is much better. We’ve also come to realize that a saloon-style aesthetic isn’t really where’s it’s at. So, without hesitation, off with her hinge! But how do you take a swinging door off its pin and hinge? That is a very good question, to which I found the answer here. In a few easy steps she was gone – much better, don’t you think?
There’s that saloon door!
No more saloon – much better!
Next it was the door that closed the kitchen off from the entry hallway. Again, I think the designers of the 1950’s were thinking that no one should enter a home and have the kitchen be the first thing they see. But again, in this century, we take a lot of pride in our kitchens, particularly if they’ve been upgraded and are show quality. We love The Duckling’s kitchen, so we have no shame in having it seen when you walk in the front door. And for that matter, the door was always standing open anyway, so there was really no need for it to be there. So off she goes!
What we saw every time we walked from the bedrooms to the living areas of the house.
Always open for business.
Closing the door made the hallway feel like a tomb.
Door gone = a wall now available for art!
No more tomb. Let there be light!
Aaah, much better! Now that our kitchen was freed from the chains of too many doors, we focused on the door at the top of the stairs. Again, probably there for functionality – either for heating and cooling purposes or for shutting off the noise from the first floor if someone was trying to sleep on the second floor. But since we weren’t worried about either of these issues, and the door was always standing open, it seemed logical to eliminate the door that literally created a Bermuda Triangle of doors! In this small hallway at the top of the landing were again 5 doors – two to bedrooms, one to the stairs, one to the bathroom and one to the hall closet – so taking off the stair door was quickly a priority. And what a difference!
Not exactly welcoming.
Hello Bermuda Triangle!
That’s one happy, handy hubby!
Bermuda Triangle no more!
Come on up!
Although these doors may seem pretty small in terms of a project, they have dramatically improved the spaces. I feel like I could dance Swan Lake around the upstairs hallway now!
The last quirk about the doors in this house is that they don’t all match. Some are the 1950’s two panel original doors, others were new six panel unpainted solid wood, and still others are flat panel hollow core doors. Eventually we will be looking to find the mates to the original two panel doors so we can keep the original character of the home in tact.
Until then, we will live with what we’ve got and be thankful that at least the doors we wanted to keep in place are fully functioning!
Cape Love Affair 