I have a design question that has been waiting 4 years for an answer! We live in 1970’s bi-level split. You walk in the front door and practically slam the door into the stairway–seriously, you can’t stand at the door and open it at the same time! Space issues aside, we’ve got massive amounts of glass in that space. The door is standard size, and bordered by glass on the sides and top. I’d love some help making the most of it!
The upper glass used to be goldenrod with circles imprinted. We replaced it with 3/4 inch reeded glass. The side panels are just flat glass. They are hiding behind some panels on pressure rods to give us a bit of privacy and a bit of insulation in these no-degree (it was 10 below this morning) weather days. ~ Ellen
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Good move replacing the 70s golden rod glass Ellen! I love the reeded glass. The problem as I see it, aside from the lack of standing room, is lack of continuity. You’ve got the door, you’ve got the curtains and you’ve got the reeded glass — and they are all large elements in a small space.
I think there are a number of products you could use to unify the space, depending upon your budget and taste. In the picture below I covered the windows all in the same thing thing to show how using all of the same product makes the door and windows read as a whole. You could use shutters, matchstick blinds, duette shades or simple tension rod sheers. I would probably look for something with a texture and something that would allow a little light through.
The other thing that might help open up the space visually, is to remove the short wall that meets the floor and the first few steps and put in a railing and balusters to match the balcony.
I’d do a railing as AM suggested. It would help a lot, IMO.
March 8th, 2008I think stain glass hangings would be beautiful in the upper windows. You could do three rectangles at the halfway point to break them up. And what about those do it yourself glass etching kits. you could take those side panels and turn them into a work of art. Of course if you did the stain glass above you would probably want to do that with the side panels.
Just a couple of thoughts
March 8th, 2008Blessings on your day
This entry looks just like my parents house, I would love to see this done at my mom’s. Over a year ago, my brother’s did some remodeling and they didn’t think of these things. Unlike this house pictured above, my parent’s home has a half wall and half picture shelves instead of the railing upstairs in the living room. We want to fix their home up even more so this gives me some ideas! Thanks!
March 9th, 2008many thanks! I love the idea of drapery continuity, and the idea to take out that half wall and put in a banister is fantastic:)
March 10th, 2008What about the possibility of having front door open from other side?
March 11th, 2008Not sure how that would work out from the pictures, but it might make the area more accessible.