Let there be Light

Our old home, typical of its era, had tons and tons of windows.  This was done a lot in the south prior to the advent of central heat and air to provide ventilation during the hot summers.  It also helped let in a lot of wonderful light.  I didn't realize how much this light affected me and my happiness until we moved into our 1990's era rancher.  Most of the rooms have one window.  That does not provide for a naturally well lit home.

Last fall we painted our foyer a color we had tested on the walls and loved in the space.  It was a lavender and looked great in the space with our artwork.  Then winter came and we began getting even less light in our north facing front rooms.  And the small arched window in the front door let no light in.  And then I hated the grayed out purple in the foyer.  I had almost convinced myself to repaint until we could afford to buy a new 12 light front door.

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But then as I was trolling Craig's List one day, probably looking for a new sink for the laundry room we want to make over, I came across a listing for a cross buck door.  The picture reminded me of a country farmhouse which is somewhat appropriate for our kind of rural, suburban landscape.  I showed it to the hubby who liked it too but I am bad with pulling the trigger on CL purchases.  The next day I decided that we did need the door and called about it.  It was still available so we went that afternoon to get it.

The lady who sold it to us had taken it out of a home she was rehabbing.  We got to have a look around her house which was super cool since we haven't done any demo and rehab work like that in a few years.  I think I love the smell of lead paint dust!  (Kind of a joke, but a house that is stripped down to bead board and lath really does something to me!)

Getting the door home was an adventure that involved it hanging out the rear end of my compact SUV and bungee cords holding the door down.  I feel bad for all the people who were stuck behind me since I was scared that driving too fast would pull the door up and open.  But we did get it home and now I can't wait to get it painted and hung so that this winter our foyer is a nice, bright space!

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