Old House My House

Joe and I are almost always in sync about our vision for the house. Sure, sometimes our opinons differ on, say, which shade of blue to use, but seldom do we bicker about entire color schemes. We did, however, have to really talk—and really listen—to each other when it came to making a decision about the entry to our new pantry. 

Originally, we envisioned a heavy sliding barn door like the one pictured in an earlier blog entry. But when it came time to make a final decision, I started leaning toward a simpler, pocket-style door. I figured it would be lighter and easier to manage. I was also worried the barn door would make the kitchen almost too rustic looking—that, coupled with all the exposed wood ceiling beams, it would make the room feel more like a ski lodge and less like the airy kitchen I was aiming for.

Unfortunately, Joe wanted to stick to our original plan. So we went back and forth, poring over magazines and Web sites for ideas. Still, we couldn't find anything that appealed to both of us. That is until Andrew Terrat, one of our fabulous designers from Terrat Elms Designs, showed us a picture he had found in a magazine of double sliding doors that were much thinner and more lightweight than the ones we were picturing.

Joe and I were equally excited about this idea. Especially when we realized we had two matching old doors from the house that were no longer in use. After measuring them out, we determined they would fit perfectly!

The fact that we are re-using parts of our nearly 300 year old house makes us really happy with this solution. We will likely paint the doors white to match our cabinets, and put them on sliders over a black chalkboard wall. Sure, it's a work in progress, but I'm confident we'll end up with a finished product that will make both of us happy.