The House of Seven Doors

The Farmer likes to prank. Just ask his college buddies.

Fortunately for me, he translates "pranking the Brunette" as "surprising the Brunette". Because, well, I have a hard enough time with surprises, let alone pranks. I like things all nice and neat and planned.

On the flip side, The Farmer didn't make any hotel reservations for our Honeymoon Road Trip.



So last month when I was away for three weeks for work, I knew the Farmer was surprising me with a few projects around the house.

Reason #1: We have a lot of projects to get done.

Reason #2: Before I left I asked him if we wanted to make a list (I like those too) of things to get done while I was away. His response? "I already have my 'Farmer's Project' list."

So I left him the camera with a sticky note to take photos of the Farmer's Projects.



I came home to seven - yes, seven - new doors! (OK, a few are framed in doorways that are still missing the actual door, but they still count.)


Door #1: The Back Door

Here is the original door. Lovely, isn't it? The screen door also doesn't stay open on it's finicky spring, so if you have things in your hands you have to use your hip to keep the screen door open while you fumble with the key to the back door

Here's the new door going in. And no, we are not putting back that screen door. 

And a stoop! Because you had to step up into the house before. Also notice what is behind Door #1 - my new dryer! Woo hoo! (More on the laundry room later...)

And why did The Farmer take this photo below? Because it shows the door actually fits! You couldn't see in the first photo but we had a 1/2 inch gap in the upper right corner between the door and the frame. It wasn't the most effective door.

Door number one! (Now ready for painting...)

Doors #2 & 3: The Patio French Doors

What you can't see from this "before" photo is that the handle to the slider is broken. It was a jagged mess that meant you used two fingers to open the door, less you scraped your hand. And you had to use your hip on this door too; it needed that much force to get it open. 

If we hadn't found a set of French doors that we could open "in" we would have had to have moved the pool table at this point - when the door was removed - as this is the only opening wide enough to move out the large table. Fortunately, we found a French door that opened the correct direction and allowed us to keep the left door stable/closed most of the time (because, well, there's that kitchen window in the way...). But when (not if) that pool table is ready to be moved, we have the big hole to move it!

Much better. 

I like this surprise already. Even without the trim.

Yep. We are painting around this door too. And we had to make sure not to paint my new doors blue, because they sure look pretty white. 

Door #4: The Changing Room Door

Doesn't everyone have a Changing Room? To explain, The Farmer doesn't bring his farm clothes into the house. They stay outside. Fortunately we have this huge shop space that we are converting into a Changing Room/Pool Room.

The door below (not one of the seven, in case you were wondering) leads out to the covered breezeway to the back patio (and New Door #1!), so The Farmer doesn't have to get rained on in between the Changing Room and the house.

It rains here in the Pacific Northwest.

So they marked out the new walls...

And put up the framing...

Of course, The Farmer forgot to take a photo of New Door #4, but you can kinda see it to the left of this opening looking into The Changing Room. And no, this is not a window (thankyouforasking); it's the space for the mirrored medicine cabinet. The Farmer wants his Changing Room fancy and blinged-out.

This smaller room will be easier to heat and we can lay carpet. 

Because the wet shoes and wet jackets are going to stay out in the Changing Room Entry, which is essentially the space where the carpet is located in the photo below.

Door #5: The Changing Room Entry into Pool Room

See! Changing Room on the left and CR Entry on the right! It will not have carpet because of all those wet clothes.

It rains here in the Pacific Northwest.

And Doors #6 & 7: Pool Room French Doors

And the amazing discovery in the shop? We had insulation! (Because there doesn't seem to be much insulation in other areas of the house.)

The back of the shop opening up...

And the final result...

(Thank you to my Uncle Bob and Aunt Lois for the doors. They removed them from their house and donated to the cause.)

So we're all ready for that pool table to move. OK, almost ready. We still need to finish the walls, add in a few lights and electrical outlets, paint the floors, and fix the hole in the ceiling before we can move in that table.

Perhaps I need to go away again so The Farmer can come up with a few more surprises...