UncategorizedEntrance Progress July 2, 2014 One of my biggest goals with our exterior renovation was to update this poor little entrance that we started with. If you remember from our plans, the goal was to turn this little outdated cottage into more of a craftsman beauty. Of course with limited resources, that was going to be in small touches, but any little bit helps! The biggest goals here were to get rid of the gutters and wrought iron posts and replace the front door. You can read about our front door here. Here’s our progress so far. So much better already! As you can see, we ripped out the gutters and wrought iron posts and replaced it with wood posts. If you look at the before, you’ll see that there were already posts in the back against the house, so for those, we just wrapped the existing posts in new wood. We chose to do that so that the posts would be larger and have more presence, but also because the 100 previous coats of peeling paint were never going to look good. To install the front posts, we set up temporary supports and ripped out the gutters and wrought iron posts. Then, we anchored in 6×6″ posts and secured them with large construction screws. We added trim to the base of the posts purely for cosmetic purposes. We thought that it grounded the posts and made it look more finished. The top beams (on the front and sides) were just like the back posts. They were already there, but we wrapped them with new wood so that they have more of a presence. Our inspiration to wrap the existing posts for more of a finished impact came from our faux beams tutorial inside! Also, if you look back at the before, you’ll see a slight archway over the entry. We wanted to get rid of that and just have a beam straight across to bring on that craftsman charm, so wrapping the beam got rid of this easily. The cross pieces that run from the posts to the upper beam were Chris’ idea. He thought they would add Craftsman charm and just a little more interest. They make this entrance really feel like an entrance and have more impact that just the posts would have. I love it! Major, major progress! We’re planning on painting all of this wood white and I think that’ll make another huge difference! We considered staining it or painting it a different color, but we really wanted the wood door to pop and these architectural features add to the house, but not be the entire focus. You’ll notice the lovely stucco pediment. We have a couple of different ideas for what we’ll add there. We’re weighing them and I’ll be sharing them soon!
Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute. says July 2, 2014 at 7:32 am Wow, the new posts look awesome. The woodwork is going to look so pretty once it’s all painted white. I also LOVE that front door. I’ve been wanting a new one for our place forever so I’m a wee bit jealous. 😉 Reply
Marty@A Stroll Thru Life says July 2, 2014 at 8:16 am It is looking fabulous. Love the new craftsman feel. Reply
Elizabeth says July 2, 2014 at 10:05 am I love the posts, it looks so much better! They are sombeautiful and I worry that painting them white will make them blend with the rest of the house. Mobviously it’s your home and vision, I just imagine them either stained with dark stain or painted maybe a grey to match the roof? Reply
Kari @ The Sunset Lane says July 2, 2014 at 1:54 pm I love love love it!! It looks superb 🙂 I saw this pic and thought of you with the stucco spot: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/202450945721171944/ Can’t wait to see it all done!! Kari Reply
Carole @ Rustic Artistry says July 3, 2014 at 8:55 am Huge improvement. Already you must feel happier when you drive up to your house. Reply
Renee says July 24, 2014 at 10:37 am It looks awesome, I have two entrances on my house that need to be re-done. My question is, did you put new rain gutters up or re-route them somehow??? Cant wait to see it all finished! Reply
Lindsay says July 24, 2014 at 12:27 pm Hi Renee, we just removed them. We had the contractor who helped with the rest of our renovation look at it and he said they were totally unneeded right there! So yay! They just got to go 🙂 Reply
Christa | BrownSugarToast says September 16, 2015 at 12:41 pm love this progress post! I’m in a rental now and it has 6 big ugly metal posts in the front. this is fabulous inspiration! 😀 Reply