A Smashing Time!

I never liked the frosted window that was between the lounge and the kitchen. I suppose the point was to bring more light into the kitchen but as soon as I saw it, I knew it had to come out!

The frosted window and hardboard door in the lounge

I visualised French windows so I could open both doors in the summer and close them during the colder months. I knew I wanted wooden doors that I could wax or varnish, with obscured glass. 

I spent ages looking at different doors, waiting for offers and finally I ordered 2 lovely wooden ones, just like I pictured. Before my husband could hang them, he needed to take out the frosted window and wooden panel underneath it so we could work on the frame. The frame was painted with white gloss and I wanted to strip it back to the natural pine to match the doors. 

Dog and I were confined to outside whilst my husband put masking tape on the window before literally smashing it to pieces. I was watching through the kitchen window in great satisfaction. Once the glass had been cleared up, we could start stripping the frame back to natural wood. We used a heat gun to peel the many layers of gloss before sanding it. It looked really nice but we had a problem.

After the door and window was taken out

Trouble was, the frame was not built for French windows and we were left with a gaping big hole in the frame work. My husband threw some ideas around before realising that we needed to replace the door lining.

The door lining and frame was too bad to repair

After many visits to DIY stores, we realised we couldn't find a lining wide enough. A neighbour mentioned a local wood yard so we paid them a visit. The man in charge was so helpful and made us a custom lining to fit in the gap. Two days later it was ready for collection. 

My husband had never hung doors before and found videos on the Internet to be very helpful. After much measuring, sawing, plaining he finally hung the doors and fitted the hardware! I lightly sanded any rough edges and coated them with a clear varnish. 

The doors!

Of course, it didn't stop there! I wanted all the doors replaced. I chose another glass panelled door to go inbetween the hall and the lounge and then wooden panelled ones for the rest of the rooms. We're so happy with the result and proud of my husband for hanging them all and replacing all the linings and architrave.

It is so nice to have these doors