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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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March 2, 2017

Front Door Dreaming

We stood there together gazing at our beautiful new back door from Window World.

“Isn’t it so pretty?!”, I said.

“Yeah”, he replied, “We definitely made the right choice.” 

“You know what this makes me think of though?” I asked. 

“Don’t say it!” He said with a knowing look. 

“I can’t resist! I mean, doesn’t seeing this wonderful new back door make you realize how badly our FRONT door needs a facelift?” 

He rolled his eyes at me, chuckled and walked back into the garage leaving me standing there. 

“You know I’m right!” I called after him.

Like all homeowners, we run into the age old problem of fixing up one part of your house only to realize that another part suddenly looks even more dingy than it did before. And, as soon as our new back door went in, I couldn’t help but think that our front door must feel really left out and began dreaming of giving it a new look. My poor husband.

Now, it might be awhile before this dream becomes a reality as there are other projects currently in the works, but it’s still fun to think about and with the Window World Visualizer I can even get a glimpse of what it might actually look like!

Here’s a photo of the exterior of our home taken a couple of summers ago.

Although we live in Oregon, our house has a decidedly non-Pacific Northwest feel to it with the stucco and tall arched entry. Believe it or not, the original door was…wait for it…pinkish red. Yep.

Painting it black was one of the very first things I did after we moved in. And it definitely looks TONS better!

But, I have visions of giving the house more of a French Country/Old World look and know without a doubt that a new front door would help to make that happen.

I thought it would be fun to upload this photo into the visualizer program and get a glimpse of what it would look like to add more warmth to the front entry.

This first look is using the same color that we have on our back door and only changing out the door, not the sidelights.

I LOVE this!!

And then I tried it with adding in the wood to the sidelights.

 

And, let me just tell ya, I am SO glad that I was able to use this program because all along I was so certain that I would want to have the wood on the sidelight panels and now I’m realizing that I like it tons better with just the door being wood. It makes it feel lighter, don’t you think?

Now, this is all just still a pipe dream. But, you know what? That’s ok! Some people might get discouraged when they realize that they have to wait awhile to get the look that they want, but we have found that it only makes us that much more grateful when we are finally able to make the change and not go into debt in the process. It’s kind of like how we feel about our recent kitchen makeover!

Do you have a door or window makeover you are wanting to make to your home? Have fun playing around with the possibilities now by visiting Window World and using their visualizer.

And now, I have to go find my husband to let him know that I’m thinking the paint in some of our rooms is looking a bit shabby. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to hear it! 😉

Thanks so much for front door dreaming with me here today at the fence,

13 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Good Ideas, Outdoors

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Comments

  1. Jacqueline MacGregor says

    March 2, 2017 at 6:04 AM

    The blue door looks so much better. It has charisma. The brown just looks so dreary. Jackie

    Reply
  2. Mary says

    March 2, 2017 at 6:33 AM

    I must say, like a fellow reader, I too favor the painted door…. It complements the roof. If you do change, I agree with you that glass, not wood, looks best on the sidelights. Thanks for sharing your projects!

    Reply
  3. Teresa says

    March 2, 2017 at 7:32 AM

    Can’t imagine the pinkish door!!! The light from the side lights will look great. Will you miss not having some type of light up high on the door? We had a similar door to your existing one and found one that had wrought iron (for the old world flair) with light higher up and hand rubbed wood lower. It was spendy but so worth it!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      March 2, 2017 at 8:35 AM

      Oh your door sounds gorgeous Teresa!! That would definitely be something I would like for our front door. We get tons of light from that large window above so I don’t think I would miss the little window on the door but it would definitely be a change so it’s something to consider. Thanks so much for your feedback!

      Reply
  4. dee says

    March 2, 2017 at 10:05 AM

    Yes, the domino effect…one update leads to another. On my screen the house exterior looks like a light gray and if that is correct I prefer the black door. Reds are so hard to get right the first time and if you exterior is gray I can see that a ‘good’ red would have been perfect, but no pink undertones. I love your stucco and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see more of it in Salem. Off topic…..did you see we are getting a Hobby Lobby next Fall?

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      March 2, 2017 at 10:13 AM

      Hi Dee! The exterior is actually a light taupe/tan and the door is black. I do love the gray/red combo though!! And oh my goodness I am so excited about Hobby Lobby coming! It’s going to be dangerous for my wallet though. LOL!

      Reply
  5. Bryn says

    March 2, 2017 at 10:18 AM

    Funny timing — we have Lowes coming out tomorrow to measure for our new front door (11 years in waiting!). I cannot wait. Love option #1 for you!

    Reply
  6. Michele (Finch Rest) says

    March 2, 2017 at 10:45 AM

    My front door looks a lot like your current one – without the little wonderful arched demi moon window on top of it – I have a similar entryway as well but not nearly as tall or grand! I painted ours black years ago – and I want to keep it black – but I need a new door – this one just isn’t smooth anymore and I’d love to add that window on top to let it the morning light, as it faces east……..

    BUT as nice as that gorgeous wood door is – and def looks Olde World Mediterranean – your black door I’d take in a heartbeat, haha. One gal’s trash is another gal’s treasure. : – )

    Your story about your hubs is so sweet. I have similar convos with mine, but he isn’t as sweet about it!!!!! LOL!

    I do need to order that door – and we DEF need two new full window backdoors. I need to get on this, I have been putting it off for far too long.

    Thanks for the inspiration and for the dreamin’! ♥

    Reply
  7. MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!) says

    March 2, 2017 at 4:20 PM

    Vanessa, I think the wooden door would really look nice. With the white arched window above your door, the sidelights would look really nice as they are now.

    Blessings!

    Reply
  8. Ashley Nichols says

    April 25, 2017 at 9:19 PM

    Hi! I’m dying to know what colors you used for the exterior paint on your home! Looking at painting our stucco house and these colors are perfect. Would really appreciate it!! By the way, your home is gorg.

    Reply
  9. Andrea says

    June 18, 2019 at 2:18 PM

    Love your exterior! What paint color is that?

    Reply
    • JD says

      September 7, 2022 at 12:46 PM

      Did you ever get an answer? I want ti know the exterior colors as well!

      Reply
      • At The Picket Fence says

        September 13, 2022 at 1:53 PM

        Hi there! Apologies for the delayed reply! The main part of the house color is Cobblestones (NS 13-2346) and the trim is called Alley Gravel (NS 13-2347). Both are from Sherwin Williams.

        Reply

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