Finally: The Door

I'm sorry that I didn't think to take a good picture of the house without the screen door before it was installed - but with the weather and my excitement over getting it up and finished, I lost track of my blogging responsibilities. I hope you can get the idea from this picture, taken at the 2008 Garden Walk. The front porch was nice, simple. The door stayed closed all of the time because there was no guard against bugs, dust, or roaming animals.

Notice the yard to the bottom left, not so pretty huh? It's spring here and my hostas are just now breaking through. But, back to the door. Here's what it looked like all wrapped in the plastic as delivered. It's not on hinges in this photo - just propped up against the opening of the doorway. The minute I put it there - I knew I had made a good choice. It was just missing hardware.

So I picked up this decorative knob and key plate at Hobby Lobby for a little more than $4, and went to town, faux finishing it with a copper-like patina that would help it pop off of the newly stained door. 4 hours, and a few choice words later ...

The new handle. Pretty, huh? I like this much more against the newly stained door than the old finish. Then of course, I had to have a secondary pull on the inside of the door. (The knob here is purely decorative - but serves as a great pull for this door!) By the way ... many of you have already commented about wishing you had a Hobby Lobby nearer to thee, you might wanna check out: http://www.craftsetc.com/ , the online supplier for Hobby Lobby stores. You won't be able to enjoy that elusive 40% Hobby Lobby coupon, or the weekly 1/2 of specials - but the prices are still great.

So I opted for this little porcelain tear drop pull which turns completely around, making it very easy to operate. It fits in with the pulls of the secretary too, which was a complete accident!

And in case you were trying to make out what the plaque on the brick says, it's Garden King. Scott thinks very highly of himself. And because I know you're all dying to see what it looks like all finished, and lovely, and done, and stained, and knobbed, and perfect ...

There you have it! Voila, presto-chango! I hope that it was as beautiful in this picture as it was in your thoughts. I know there were many of you living vicariously through this door. I have to admit that it's far better than I expected in looks, but completely exceeded my expectation in the feeling that it provides. It pulls me right back into my childhood - my face pressed to the screen door, the cool breeze filling the room. The slamming, the knocking, the latch and hook. Yes, this door was just what I needed, indeed.