Before and After: the front door, and conclusion

Here we are, the last and final post of my Before and After series on our Brooklyn home! The front door of our house was, of course, one of the first things that we noticed about the house seven years ago when we bought it. Here is the house the day we closed the deal,

After taking down those brown awnings that covered both of the entrances, the front door was one of the first things that we knew we wanted to replace, but, as we worked on larger and bigger projects, eventually renovating the whole house, we got tired of having work done and since the front door worked we simply painted it blue and left it. For seven years. It had gotten to the point where we still talked about replacing it, but really I hardly even noticed it anymore.

Then, in January, as we did the final renovations on the house in preparation for putting it on the market, we knew that the time had finally come to replace the front door. We just knew that a new door would make the house "sparkle".
It felt darkly comedic when we found out that the day the crew could come to put our new front door in was going to be one of the coldest days of the year. Note to self, do not ever replace a front door in the middle of winter! During the installation it felt like our house was having surgery,

Those guys really were so good to work outside in that cold! Once they had installed it, then Frank got to work finishing it off, sealing it and painting it. So, after a few days, much work and many coats of paint. Here is our new front door,

Again, before,

and after,

Frank and I both feel like the new front door is the cherry on top of the house, the finishing touch, the icing on the cake. We love the way it looks, and it feels like it ties everything else together, and gives major curb appeal.

Wow, I love seeing these before and after pictures all together here, I have enjoyed writing about our "before and after tale" so much! It gives a good idea of the scope of the project that we took on with this house. When I look back at the before pictures I tend to feel just how we really didn't know how much work we were getting ourselves into. I remember thinking, "Oh, a little demolition and then we'll just bring in what we want.", if only life were that simple! I think it's a good thing that we didn't have an idea of just how much work was involved, because we might never have started the project. This renovation has been one of the biggest, and most fun, projects that Frank and I have collaborated on. As I mentioned way back in the first part of the tale, renovating a Brooklyn brownstone was one of Frank's dreams. I'm so glad that I joined him in fulfilling that dream.

There are quite a few "old timers" who live in our area. People who have spent their whole lives living right in this part of Brooklyn, who have seen the neighborhood evolve and people come and go. One of them was recently talking to Frank about our house and he said, "You brought that place back to life man.". Which is a quote that I will always treasure. I think we did, I think we brought it back to life after years of neglect. We saw its shining core underneath years of dirt, dust and bad aesthetic choices, and we had the courage to do the work.

It has been the perfect place to live, and start a family. I will always be especially connected to the house as Carys was literally born in it. Even as we will go on, to live and grow in different houses, I will always think of it with deep and abiding love.