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Today is a good example of why I love this blog so much – You have really good ideas, from experiences and places that I just don’t have. Today’s example is about how to deal with a vintage sliding door in Coutiment Cottage – a feature that we like in concept, but it will not be a good way to enter and day every day (it is very difficult and not closed at all). When I mentioned not knowing how to deal with it, back in the post in August, some of you had a clear response that I had never thought of:
From T: “When I was in Britain, there were a lot of Barn conversions where you couldn’t change the outside of the building, so build a nice door at the back of the open house
Then DJ replied, “Yeah, yeah! I love this! The Barn door would basically work as a shutter, kinda!”
Then another reader, Hilary, sent in pictures of my mother’s place in New England, about what they did there – thank you!
Makes a lot of sense to me now (didn’t log in a second time to find out). I have to draw the shape of the window / inner door / behind the large sliding door so that the sliding door is a large closure. It can stay closed when we don’t log in and fail every time, then we can be left open and have to log in again and again. I got it!
But trying to find inspiration was difficult. I couldn’t really Google it or search it on Pinterest.
So the questions start rolling in…
- Woodworking or black metal? Do I want traditional leanings and put it down for something more stylish and design forward? Is this hyper modern look a big deal? I mean, I’m sure, but that means other things would need to feel that way. I think I’m looking for a modern lighting solution that can combine this historical vibe with some unexpected elements (think paris apartments with high metal moldings in the 1960s – The juxtaposition is very interesting). This can be very expensive, but any custom / windows situation will cost …
- If I rely on a traditional wooden window / door / door, do I customize the panels / lites to combine the diamond pattern and the square grid like I did in the solar house? Or just keep it simple with scenes?
- Is it two side panels and one door? French doors?
- If we are customizing the door, should we plan for a slightly smaller opening so that the kitchen can be a few feet bigger?
Here’s a photo of the interior showing just how big the opening is:
By making this opening smaller, we will need to find more internal insulation or come up with a different solution for that. But that kitchen is small, pulled into the corner, so having another 18″ would be great.
Anyway, I know there is a company in town, flexible (owned by the owners of arciform), that makes legal doors / windows and can do any design. It’s going to be a pretty penny, so I need to make sure the layout is right and proper. I would also look at something readable (french doors with sidelights) and just put it away, but that sounds like it would be more fun for me (but it would save the dough). There will definitely be some design elements that I choose, and I know that a good door / window shape would be one of them. But I want to do more research to make sure it’s the right way for this project. Also, Sierra Pacific, made all of our original windows, including our beautiful Rounroom molded sun windows. I’m looking at vintage, of course, but I don’t feel confident that it will be easy to find around (and work well).
At that point, here’s an idea where my head is at. All these are vintage doors / windows (or custom, I think). I put the pink ones there to show a configuration that would work – two side panels and a large door with spots on top of it. Just resting shows a version of the diamond pattern with our main house. Designing the windows in Lenga was a lot of fun (and a huge process on my end), so part of me knows that the pattern works well – we made two panels with a large Dutch door in between. Now that I think about it, once you’re inside, would you have to be able to open the door to the Barn’s big slide to get out, or just leave the big slide while you’re inside closed when no one is in the house? Lots of troubleshooting fun, but if you guys have any insight or suggestions, I’d love to hear them. And thanks again for your input – much appreciated. One of my favorite sayings is “we don’t know what we don’t know,” which keeps me curious about the case. So while a lot of designers would admit they don’t know things, I actually love knowing that I don’t know something – it’s really fuel, which is honestly such a gift and it keeps me very happy in the industry.
Get a Guest Cottage!!
* Beautiful pictures with kailtin green
