Reinvent It: Antique Glass Goes Door to Door
Patchwork squares star on a door that once lived on a home's exterior, now gracing a historic home's dining room
Using architectural salvage can make all the difference in retaining an older home's original character and style during renovations. For this 1906 colonial home in New Castle, New Hampshire, period elements like this reclaimed door enhance the home's character. The exterior door, complete with a patchwork of antique glass and a mail slot, now serves as a unique interior pocket door between a renovated traditional dining room and a new powder room.
"The kind of depth and craftsmanship that reclaimed pieces have cannot be replicated today," says the designer, Amy Dutton of Juniper River Home Design. "Adding old to new creates an ambience and feeling that can only be achieved by using architectural salvage."
Project: A pocket door made from a historic exterior door
Budget: $2,340, not including installation
Time: Four weeks
"The kind of depth and craftsmanship that reclaimed pieces have cannot be replicated today," says the designer, Amy Dutton of Juniper River Home Design. "Adding old to new creates an ambience and feeling that can only be achieved by using architectural salvage."
Project: A pocket door made from a historic exterior door
Budget: $2,340, not including installation
Time: Four weeks
During extensive renovations the designers opened the dining room to the kitchen and added a closet, built-in china cabinet and small powder room. The rooms were refreshed and updated, but were kept in line with the home's 1906 vintage. The salvaged door now serves as a pocket door between the dining room and the new powder room.
You can catch a glimpse of the salvaged door from the kitchen. New pieces like the dark stained cabinet wood and pendant light glass coordinate with the antique door.
The door now slides out of the way to open. The salvaged sink also came from Exeter Architectural Salvage.
To change this door from a hinged door to pocket door, craftsmen removed the hinges, reconfigured the handle and filled in the mail slot with wood. They installed reclaimed hardware (which cost about $40), carefully notching out the door trim to accommodate the shelf detail on the door.
All of this was a lot of effort but well worth it. “Adding salvaged materials is not only environmentally responsible, but it is responsible to our history,” Dutton says. “Investing in a project like this door gives new life to something old and adds dimension and grace to a new structure.”
To change this door from a hinged door to pocket door, craftsmen removed the hinges, reconfigured the handle and filled in the mail slot with wood. They installed reclaimed hardware (which cost about $40), carefully notching out the door trim to accommodate the shelf detail on the door.
All of this was a lot of effort but well worth it. “Adding salvaged materials is not only environmentally responsible, but it is responsible to our history,” Dutton says. “Investing in a project like this door gives new life to something old and adds dimension and grace to a new structure.”
The door is from the late 19th century, just a few years older than the home. The eclectic patchwork of colorful antique glass includes Vaseline glass. Uranium gives it its yellow tint.