I couldn't find a "BEFORE" picture of this wall in our house, so I pulled this off of an old MLS listing.
Basically this is our Family Room & those double doors used to lead outside, but then the previous owners added on a room, so now those doors just lead into our playroom/preschool room...
After PAINTING the brown paneling & trim when we moved in, we took down the double doors...because they were BROWN on one side & BLUE on the other & definitely needed to be painted. Well...here we are, almost 2 years later & we have never put the doors back up. Once we took them down, I liked that it just created an "entry" to the playroom & made the house feel more open...
BUT...there are times(like when our playroom is a DISASTER) that I wish I could close some doors to hide the mess ;)
Well, I recently came across this picture on Pinterest and now I'm toying with the idea of putting up curtains in that entrance.
What do you think? Would curtains look random in that spot? I like the look of them open, like in this picture...but if I actually closed the curtains to "hide the mess" would it look funny to have curtains hanging in the middle of my house? Should I finish painting the doors & put them back up? Just leave it an open entrance?
I want your opinions!
I want your opinions!
I WISH I had the space to do a "sliding barn door"...I would LOVE that!
But there is very little room on the sides of the entrance...with a window on one side & another wall on the other :(
But there is very little room on the sides of the entrance...with a window on one side & another wall on the other :(
I can dream though!
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16 comments :
I think I would go with the putting the doors back. I love the curtain idea/picture, but only because the curtains are open (I wonder if it might feel kinda unfinished when they are closed). I love, love the sliding barn door, too. Could you create a new center & not have the opening as big as it is now (it would only appear off-center from the inside the playroom or as though one of the barn doors is larger than the other... I dunno, though... you'd have to get creative)? ;)
Have fun! Love your blog & keeping up with all your updates! You're doing an awesome job!!!!
I would definitely go for the doors.....adds a touch of class.
I would have to agree with repainting the doors and putting them back up. The curtains look the best open, and if you want to be able to really close off that extra room, the curtains won't cut it.
I'm going to be the odd one out I guess. I would put the curtains up. I don't think it would be strange to have them closed.
I would go for the curtains. I think it is totally cute. If you are afraid of it looking weird (although I think the picture above looks just find) you could treat the opening like a window, and put hang the curtains above the doorway. That way it looks like you are just covering a window.
For me the doorways take up too much space, and get in the way. You have to leave room for them to open and close. and my kids would have too much fun slamming them open and closed all day long!
I have to say I like the doors better. I liked the curtains with a room that's in a hall or between a bedroom and playroom, not opening to the family room. Another bonus with the doors is that if your kids are playing in there and you need it a little more quiet in the family room, you can close the doors all the way or part of the way. If you like the curtains you could always add them later, in addition to the doors (that might look cute on the playroom side to hide the doors, especially from little hands and faces).
I love the open look the curtains would keep to the room, but if it's noisy in the playroom, then you can't shut the doors. Sorry I'm not much help, I'd love to see what you come up with!
Tough call. I think your house/ you could make the curtains cute. But I agree, the doors are classier, and more functional. I know you'll make the right choice. Everything you do is super cute!
I would say the doors. I took down my children's closet doors when I enlarged their closets and used curtins insead for a while until I could get the space finished and the doors put back up (when I say a while I really mean several years because my dad does that kind of work for us but he doesn't get around to it very quickly).
The children thought they were great fun to play with and would twist themselves up in them and they would tug on the curtain rod. The curtains came down SEVERAL times and even pulled the screws out that held the hardware up.
Also, they get dirty from little hands (and they attract dust) and must be taken down often to be cleaned, but with doors a damp rag and a quick swipe will usually do the trick ;-)
I like the curtains,I think they are cozy and they don't make the room look so cut off from the other room. Plus you would need some window covering anyway if you put the doors on because you would still be able to see through the glass. Both will look great though, I am sure.
Connie
IMO: I personally like it open with nothing, but I know it is nice to be able to close away a mess when necessary... I don't like the curtains that much.. it kind looks like you were too lazy to put up doors, lol. Then there's always the option of being able to close little ones IN the playroom also, especially a toddler, for instance...
I would put up the doors again. Now I would change one thing with them other then the paint. Have you thought about etching the glass? You could etch something really nice into the glass panels that would help hide the mess in the room. Just a thought.
Too bad you can't rip the wall out and put in a pocket door. Those are the kind of doors at Grandma's house. I like doors personally, but that's just me.
i think curtains would be lovely! if they were shut it would appear as if they were covering a window. I would possibly use similar window treatments on the window next to your "entry way" so it looks like a wall of windows. Do you watch the novagratz new show on hgtv? they just re-did a basement for someone and they use window treatmeants to close it off. They are some of my FAVE designers because they aren't afraid of bold and different. While you are checking it out check out the stairs and slide! A-Mazing!
http://blog.hgtv.com/design/author/cnovogratz/
P.S. - your living room is a complete transformarion from the before! It's amazing what getting rid of paneling and some light paint can do! LOVE it!
BUT the doors would look nice too! ugh! tough call! What if you modge podged paper or wallpaper or something like the fogged window spray (can't think of the terminology right now) in the window panes so you cant see thru? I agree with the above comments that doors would help with sound and trap kiddos in certain areas or keep them out of areas...
I would leave it open!
I like opennesssssssss.
No curtains. No doors. Nada. I sorta love it the way it is.
But like they said above..whatever you do will be so cute.
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