Design
Guest Cottage Update: The Front French Doors! + Slider Debate!
I know it doesn’t look like much progress, but we are moving forward, and there is a lot of hope (and a very long list of things to do). Perhaps I overbooked myself at the beginning of the summer (WHOOPS), and this schedule has proven to be much too hectic thus far (with personal/kid stuff), which is all my doing. So when I got back from our first family trip, I looked at my list and was overwhelmed by the amount to do to keep moving. I’m trying to give myself space and time on this project, but I also really want (and now need) some rooms to be usable by September, so this lady needs to move. So today, we have an update on a few things that I’m excited about. A few weeks ago, I gave you the plan for the doors and windows here, and I’m happy to say that they are installed and look pretty darn great.
We ended up going with smaller, readymade French doors that we can paint. We lost about 18″ of light on both sides and 10″ at the top, and you know what? I don’t even notice inside. Driving into the property now is so much more charming than even the big barn slider. As you can tell, it broke off and fell, and we almost decided just to leave it off, but since we shot this, they reinstalled it, but put the track on wrong, and it neither fully opens nor fully closes now. They say it’s fixable (we found the missing track link), but it’s so dang heavy that it’s a thing. Brian kinda wants to just scrap it and take it off, but he also agrees that it’s a unique original feature that we might really miss.
See? Once it’s gone, you don’t miss it… Except I would of course now add a window in the “kitchen” to flank the new French doors. You have to remember that we are also going to rip out that concrete pad and landscape it all (with cute paths), so it will look so much more inviting.
Here she is with the door, painted white (which was our default plan). I hadn’t really thought about doing anything interesting on it outside of white paint until I took the 30 seconds of design/brain space. We were brainstorming as a team, and Marlee mentioned that this is a great place to do another mural, but more quilt-themed. We were all VERY into this.
Now this wouldn’t be the exact one, but you get it – paint a fun quilt motif on the slider that would draw your eye and be more interesting than just the white. Before construction began, when people would walk past this house, they wouldn’t notice it, like at all. I would talk about the guest house, and our actual friends would say, wait, where is it? I realized that the slider is actually not very inviting, whereas the French doors are. I think the slider, as it was just, looked like a bit of a shed or barn, but the French doors said, “Hi, I’m a sweet home. Come in!” So maybe the quilt motif is the key!!
What do you think??? Should we keep it or just make it look really pretty without it?
Certainly, our garages can prove that once designed and painted the right color (SW Dutch Tile Blue), the charm is there. The French doors are so cute, but the slider is original and so unique!
From the inside, it looks like this, which is admittedly a little jarring, because it’s still just stock white right now. We will be painting it a color, but I’m not sure what yet. I just bought a bunch of Samplize stickers to see where we are headed.
We’ll patch and clad the new framing around with the reclaimed wood that almost matches (we know it won’t look seamless, but there are a lot of places that it is patched and you don’t notice/it’s charming). Overall, Brian and I are so pleasantly surprised. I took the cheaper route for sure, and while of course something custom could look epic, the two (almost) $15k quotes we got versus the $1,500 French doors (plus 1 day hanging and framing labor) was absolutely the right call for us, for this project.
You have to picture it painted dark, maybe a merlot, navy, dark green… I’m not sure yet, but something that doesn’t pop like crazy bright, but something moody and dark.
And yes, the other original window is staying. It’s so cute!
Real quick. I heard from our window restoration company that these big, huge windows that I was so excited to reglaze and rehang are not in good enough shape after all. He has taken on the task of rebuilding instead, but at much less than the original $5k quote, but we’ll see! As soon as they are done and look great, I’ll link up the local company and give them some love. But that’s another pivot that happened last week.
And most of you voted to keep the location of the awkward, cute little window on the second floor. Here’s where the vote landed:
It was a pretty dang close vote. Seeing it moved does look better!!! Gah! But everything is a thing and costs money, but what if moving this window (and restoring it–it’s not in great shape) is only a 1-day job!
Upstairs, inside, you can see now that the old shower and toilet stalls have been removed, so we technically could move it over. But…
This corner is going to be one of the nicest shoot spaces. I can’t tell if moving it will be a good thing for that or limit our space more. This entire house needs to be a flexible shoot space for work – almost like a movable set. I’m even excited to shoot Christmas here (if done in time). So we are designing it for great natural light, lots of textures and colors, but trying not to lock in any corner for now.
Ok, back to the slider – Y’all. Brian is team “too much work and money, and is it worth it?” Mostly because driving up and seeing the French doors is actually so cute and more inviting. I’m totally on the fence. But y’all, at the final hour of writing this, while with my team, Marlee suggested doing like a mural on the barn door, and you KNOW I love a mural. More inspiration to come, but how fun would that be!!
*Photos by Kaitlin Green
I would personally skip the slider and plant a nice looking tree on thta side instead, that way you get the visual interest you want + you save the money 🙂 You could make a raised garden box around the base of the tree that you could paint the same blue as the french doors.
If the slider would be functional I would say “keep it with the mural!” But since it seems like just an added expense and pain in the butt to use I would just say find another cute feature to put out front that honors the home
I think without the slider, it reads as a cottage/inviting place to stay. With slider, it reads as barn/industrial building for animals or grain or whatever, not as a home.
choice 1 – no slider (for now)
I would keep the slider stored away as it is.
The painted mural doesn’t add any historical flair. The historic slider will change significantly and no longer fit in with the historical style; it might look more like a forced addition.
To me, it looks like a patterned band aid for children, hiding or disguising something that isn’t actually bad 😉
If you need the white version (which is historically reasonable) for insulation in winter, you can put it back.
I voted for the mural but not sure if it worked. I didn’t think I would like it at all – I thought hell no when you mentioned it, but then when I saw it I was like oh, actually, yes!
The slider mural is beautiful… but it detracts from the welcoming french door focal point.
Could you skip the slider but add a mural element that keeps the focus on the french doors? Fake french door shutters?
The slider mural is beautiful… but it detracts from the welcoming french door focal point.
Could you skip the slider but add a mural element that keeps the focus on the french doors? French door shutters?
While the slider is unique and an original element, I think having an additional window in that spot would be better in the long run. I am always a fan of more light!
ok two things: 1. the house is a carriage house! I wonder if calling it “the carriage house” would kind of change how people see it? make it make more sense, including the sliding door? 2. I don’t think the mural would work. if the idea is to be respectful of the building’s age and history, the mural would go against that, in my view. could you strip the paint? paint it a bold color? like, something more historically accurate. I think the key to making that door work is to emphasize its original function and utility. your garage doors do that really well.
ok three things: the entry needs some emphasis, so if you don’t keep the sliding door, maybe an awning? could also be a chance to connect to the walkway roof.
A vote for no slider. It links charming with the double doors. Save yourself the expense and headache.
Gah! Nothing of substance to say outside of, I love these posts!!
Is this going to be the main entrance to the house, or is there a side utility entrance somewhere? If it is, and to be super-practical: now that you know that you want to use the building for lots of shoots, that means people coming in and out, carrying things. I’d make sure the entry really works for people carrying furniture in and out, even when it’s raining — a wide-enough front step that people aren’t in danger of stepping off it awkwardly while carrying an armload of stuff. Paths/sidewalks/drives workable for loading and unloading things from the back of vehicles. Some kind of “keep the rain off them while they’re opening the doors with armloads of stuff” situation over the tops of the doors. I’d add those considerations into the design questions about the slider.
Would it save time/money to make the slider look like it’s functional but it’s actually just an AMAZING QUILT MURAL?!? You HAVE to do the quilt mural…AMAZING idea! Would call back to the quilted benches in the kids’ art barn. LOVE that! Don’t lose the slider!!!
I like the idea of the barn mural but not as the slider. What if you did the French doors and either used the wood from the slider for the barn quilt, but hung over more or just a new seperate barn quilt on the wall.
I voted for painting the quilt on the slider because the quilt pattern looks so cool. But really, if this was my project and my money and time involved, I would be with Brian on this and leave the sliding door off. It looks great without that big sliding door.