#ItsaBradenfulLife 1800's Home: Front Entrance Renovation

Here are some before and after photos from another renovated area of our 1800’s home.

Many parts of our home entrance have been completed for several years (the sidelights, paint removal on the door, new door plate, decor) but we recently decided to make some more updates to freshen the look.

Read on (below the photo) to see all the renovations we made in this area of our home. Tommy also has included some of his tips!

Photos by Carolyn J. Braden, Renovations and design by Carolyn and Tommy Braden

Photos by Carolyn J. Braden, Renovations and design by Carolyn and Tommy Braden

Front door:

  • Removed the screen door

  • Replaced the door knob with a vintage knob we found on Ebay

  • Removed the layer upon layer of paint from the door using a heat gun, a scraper and tiny tools (it was a slow process but it worked VERY well!)

  • Re-glued the wooden veneer where needed. Tommy used a playing card to get the glue into the tight spaces between the door and the veneer.

  • Replaced the back plate (area around the door knob) with a vintage piece we found at an architectural salvage place

  • Painted the door with black Behr Marquee Exterior Paint

  • Shellaced and varnished the floral wood trim around the glass window

  • Added a new lace curtain and cafe rods (interior)

Photos by Carolyn J. Braden, Renovations and design by Carolyn and Tommy Braden

Photos by Carolyn J. Braden, Renovations and design by Carolyn and Tommy Braden

Front Entrance:

  • Added sidelights. We found them at an antique mall. They needed repairs, but since they fit the holes we found (where the original sidelights used to be until someone removed them at some point), we couldn’t pass them up. We found a local stained glass repair person and he fixed them beautifully!

  • Removed some of the exterior siding (to reveal the sidelights)

  • Painted the area around the door white

  • Painted the threshold light gray

  • Added new porch lights

  • Painted the columns and railings

  • Renovated the door

  • Added a bench and decor

We would like to see this home with the original columns (instead of the black iron ones), but we are fine with them as-is for now.

NOTE:

With the help of my husband’s father, we have completed all the renovations ON OUR OWN.

AND FYI—none of us are contractors or have backgrounds in this kind of work. We’ve just researched and learn as we go! You can learn a lot from YouTube too!