This Is Our New Front Door

Installed! Isn't it beautiful?  

You can't tell from this picture, but the glass is beveled all around the edges.  When we ordered it we ordered fir, but the fir doors were back-ordered for 3 months!  So Lowe's offered us the same door in MAHOGANY FOR THE SAME PRICE! 

And it was available immediately!

So My Handyman pulled off the siding and took out the old doors (left), covered the space with plywood and put the new door in place.  I don't know how he did it by himself because, if you know anything about mahogany, IT IS HEAVY!



Getting a mahogany door instead of a fir door presented us with a new dilemma!



To paint or not to paint?

The original plan was to paint, that's why we ordered fir.

In the end, hard as it was, we decided to paint it.  I LOVE a red door and felt like a stained door, as pretty as it would be, wouldn't be enough of a contrast for me.

Looks like we're getting ready for Christmas, doesn't it?!  Won't it be pretty with a beautiful wreath!

My Handyman painted the plywood around the door to match the siding and to protect it from the weather until the replacement siding can be installed, which won't happen until the kitchen windows to the left of the door are replaced. And, as you can see, the trim was painted the same green as the trim on the rest of the house.  Kinda reminds me of the old Lincoln Logs that my brother and I played with as kids.

Don't you just love how one project ALWAYS leads to another!?!

My New Front Deck

I tried to find an actual BEFORE picture of this area, but it must be on my jump drive instead of my computer. Just picture some awkward, curved rock steps with a huge rock planter next to them, where nothing ever grew but weeds. WE (My sweet Handyman) knocked out the steps and planter and this is what it looked like before the building began. That pink string you can barely see is to help us keep everything nice and level.  Please ignore the lounge chair you see sitting out in the sun to the left.  That was my "taking a break" chair that I used while My Handyman was working on the details!

This is actually the side of our house, but we now use it as the "front door" because we closed in the front porch and eliminated the "real" front door. Besides, the driveway and garage are closer to this door and visitors can park on the drive and get to it without having to walk across the grass. Confession: We NEVER used the "real" front door anyway because you had to walk around the house, through the grass and up the porch steps to get to it.

This  (below) is the view from the drive as you approach the garage.  See that little square window to the left of the door?  It's gone now, but that was the corner of my new pantry peeking out the window.  If you are a professional building contractor, please look away!

Oh, and those red doors aren't there anymore either.  We have a new, more beautiful door now.  But that's for another post!  (Dear Gail: Is that the type of teaser you were referring to?)

Please excuse the quality of the following picture. It was taken with my phone and it was still a little dark outside.  However, this is the deck with the steps and flooring done and the support posts for the roof in place.

And here it is with the rafters and railing in place, but the roof wasn't on yet. That blue foot stool you see is for the king of the property.  Our Jack Russell Terrorist - Buster Brown.  He likes a nice soft place to rule over his territory!  It doesn't get to stay, but it's good for now.

And here, from another angle. Can you see the little added "touch" that My Handyman added to the rafters?  There on the first one?

Can you see it?

How about now?

That's My Handyman's interpretation of a fish head!  He ended up cutting all of the rafters to look like this!

Sometimes I just HAVE to let him use his "creative talents" too!

I just realized I don't have a picture with the roof on that doesn't reveal my new front door!  Guess you'll have to come back to see that one :)