FARM HOUSE/COTTAGE DOOR HARDWARE

I am a big fan of architectural details in any way shape or form that will give my home a timeless look. Though my home was built in 1998, I chose an elevation that that was modeled after a Pennsyvannia Farm House/Cottage. While many fabulous new homes have the high columms at the front entry, I wanted a look that would make it hard to tell what year the house was actually built.

On the inside, though spacious, the house was really a typical base model with no specific details. I have since added transom glass over my large interior openings, picture framing below chair rail, and beadboard in my craft room and laundry room.

I still want more. I love the old door knobs with back plates and keyholes that used the old skeleton keys. Some were brass with georgous glass handles, some were very ornate with very intricate designs, and some where just plain rectangles with plain knobs. I love the latter. I went on line, checked out ebay and many restoration hardware places and the cost for even the reproductions are over $100.00.

Now I have alot of doors in my house. approximately 30 including closet doors.

I want every door to have a back plate on each side, even inside the closet.

The house was built with brass door knobs and brass hinges everywhere through out the house. I have slowly replaced all the hinges and knobs with oil rubbed bronze hinges from Lowes Home Improvement at a VERY affordable price.

I have been searching everywhere on the internet, ebay, and restoration hardware stores for "escutcheons" or backplates that would fit the standard knobs I purchased from Lowes. The internet offers a reproduction set that costs $129.00!! for 1 door. No way can I afford that.

I decided to make all my own. I came up with an aluminun rectangle plate measuring 3” wide by 8 ½” long, and has a 2" diameter hole that modern door knobs such as Schlage and Kwikset will fit through. I purchased special screws that match the oil rubbed bronze color. I just removed my door knob, lined up the plate on both sides of the door making sure they were level and at the same height on each side, and making sure the plate was centered over the hole( so that when the knob was replaced it would be centered over the plate evenly).

Take a look!! I snapped a few pictures of the doors through out my house.

Here are a couple pics at Christmas time. I think the door hardware looks great on french doors.


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A couple of friends of mine have asked me to make them some of these back plates and I did make extra. If anyone is interested, I am selling them on Ebay at meadowcrestgirl. Thank you for looking.

CHRISTMAS TOUR OF WHOLE HOUSE(WELL MOST OF THE HOUSE)

First of all, please excuse the shabby pictures. I am going to have to learn how to use my husband's camera, because this one isn't very good for inside lighting. I always turn the flash off because it looks too "white" and over lit with the flash.

I have been so busy since before Halloween, I have not been posting anything. I am having a fairly large Christmas party for my fellow women pilots of the International Organization of Women Pilots Inc- The Florida Suncoast Chapter. It is coming up next weekend and I have been very busy decorating the best I can with what I have. My house is the cleanest it has ever been! What a great time to snap pictures and post them here. The only rooms not featured on this post are my husband's office, the master bedroom, my back porch, and my sewing room. I haven't really done anything to those rooms yet.

I am going to start out front. These are some pics of the outside and property. Just simple wreaths on each window with a candle. The candles and wreaths I have had for about 12 years. I did paint the base of the electric candles an oil rubbed bronze to give it an updated look to match all my other updated door hardware.
I bought some inexpensive flannel from Walmart and recovered my summer cushions for the chairs. I actually pinned the fabric on the back-NO SEWING! It took me about 20 minutes. I will be able to take them off and store them for next winter.

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Now entering the foyer: Nothing fancy. I am on a budget.







This picture was taken at different time of day.



To the left is my dining room. I am in the process of setting up dishes and plates for the desserts. Again, I used what I had and bought some inexpensive bulbs for the table. Love the napkins I bought. Sorry. 1st pic kind of blurry.










To the right of the foyer is the Living room. I am using the same simple garland through out the downstairs. The table in front of the window holds several of my inlaws' polo cup trophies from West Point Military Academy and a polo ball signed by many polo champions of the day. The cups date back to 1904! They add alot of sparkle. On the front part of the tray are my three sons' baby cups.







My husband owns several vintage Harley-Davidsons. He has collected many Harley Christmas porcelains over several years and they have been at home in a curio cabinet since 1985.



My family room is straight ahead from the foyer. The two doors that flank the fireplace lead to my back porch.

In 1984 I made about a dozen of these elves and every year I pose them around the tree. You can see a couple on the ladder "hanging" the ornaments and around the fireplace.



















To the left of the family room is my kitchen and breakfast room.










Department 56





My laundry room will be the drink station at the party.












Across from the counter in my laundry room is a built in dresser in an alcove. This is where I set up the rest of the Department 56 Harley-Davidson villages.













This is one of my upstair's guest rooms. The furniture belonged to my in-laws. They bought it when they married in 1936.















In my upstairs hall,I have an alcove that used to be a computer station for my three boys when they all lived at home. The lighting makes the yellow walls look hideous!!





This is the second guest room upstairs. I think it is the flourescent lighting that makes the yellow walls in the hall look so bad.






















My upstairs bathroom. The green color of the walls look wierd also. Doesn't look so "green" in real life Some day I am going to update it.













This room belongs to Casey, my youngest son. He is away for the next 8 months flying around the country doing contract work for an aerial survey company. He flys everyday the weather is good-even Christmas. The room looks nothing like this when he is home! Hope he doesn't see this.

















CASEY