New Year New Door

We as a people are fascinated with doors! Especially doors from other countries. I have hung pictures of doors from around the world on my client’s walls for twenty years. Closer to home, Charleston, South Carolina is known for its’ hospitably doors. These doors looked like a grand entrance to the home from the outside but only lead to a porch which would then lead you to the real entrance of the home. When the door was open it meant that the homeowners were ready to receive guests and be hospitable. In Key West, there are cute entrances to side yards that are marked not by a gate but an interesting door. I received an email request from a reader asking about adding doors to their Gardenia model living room and if I had done that before could I share. Then I received a phone call requesting my presence to talk about removing a wall from a Gardenia model, so I figured we should talk about it. I think we should kick off the New Year with a look back at two Gardenia models and the promise of a new one to be finished soon, that have doors in common. The homeowners both removed the wall with the windows and replaced it with large four-door sliders that opened up amazing views somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

  •  Gardenia model #1Gardenia models, living rooms, Interior Design - by Ruth Dyer.
Originally, we were going to move the furniture around so that the room would look larger and more pulled together. I usually accomplish this by moving the TV to one of the side walls in the room. The TV can be placed on the large, angled wall or the small wall, but the sofa is usually placed on the wall between the windows. However, when I discovered that there was a pool behind the living room wall, it could not be seen because of the wall that was a game changer! The pool is so pretty that seeing it from the entire living room space would be amazing. All we had to do was take down the wall and put in a big door.

  •  Large Sliding Door
The homeowners had wondered about taking out the wall once they had the pool installed but had not pursued it. Hearing someone else say, “You should put in a door!” motivated them to make it a reality. They had a four-panel sliding glass door installed. The house can be completely open, and the sound of the waterfall can be heard indoors. All the money that was put into the pool and deck area is now completely worth the investment because they can see it all the time. Also, it made the house feel so much bigger!

  •  Furniture Placement
The homeowners wanted to see the TV from the kitchen as well as the living room. To achieve this goal, we placed the TV on the smaller wall in the space. We placed the couch against the second largest wall (opposing the TV) and the recliner was placed beside the sofa and turned inward at an angle toward the TV and the spectacular view. We angled the love seat in toward the room beside the TV console to round out the seating and balance one wall against the other. The room looks so big, and the fire pots on each side of the pool can be seen all the time. The pool looks like a resort, and at night the fire is amazing.

  •  Trim Out the Door
We wanted the door to stand out, so we trimmed the door with big white casement molding. This creates a large picture frame to show off the view outside. The other set of sliding glass doors was given the same treatment so that they would look visually coordinated.

  •  Gardenia Model #2
The homeowner was raised in Hawaii and there was nothing wrong with the living room. It was a beautiful reflection of color and Hawaii but there was fabulous lanai behind the wall. The home lot is angled and allowed the homeowner to add a very large lanai off the side of the house. The idea of seeing all the lush beauty of the lanai and hearing the water feature was very appealing. It added visual value to the home because the access to the Lanai increased.

  •  Open the wall
The wall was removed and a four-panel sliding glass door was installed. If you are considering this, it is important to request a door that opens in the middle. The access to the outside will be through the middle of the room. This window was trimmed out with casement molding as well.

  •  Furniture placement
This homeowner did not need to see the TV from the kitchen, so the TV was placed on the wall opposite the original sliding glass doors. We moved the couch to the wall opposite the TV. We had room for the brown barrel chair angled into the room and a round side table worked between the couch and the chair. All the way to the right of the sofa we place a side table made of stacked turtles for a unique Hawaiian touch. The two blue barrel chairs were moved to flank the TV. This is a nicely rounded out seating area that is comfortable for conversation. We were able to place a sofa table behind the sofa which makes the room feel cozier. Also, each chair has a table for guest to use, making the space highly functional.

  •  Rugs
Both rugs were 8×11 and we needed them to cover the plug in the floor. We angled them to accomplish this goal but we also like the way the rug visually pulls you into the room on an angle.
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Before and After Pics Below