Now that you know about the ins and outs of our front door restoration, it’s probably about time, that you get to see the result. If you remember, this is what the door looked like when we moved in:
We had always wanted to replace the missing stained glass, but it is something that we knew would be really expensive to do, and considering the state of the rest of the house, it seemed like too much of a luxury. But, after what seemed like weeks of stripping, sanding and painting it seemed a shame not to be able to completely finish the job.
So, after some deliberation, I decided to get some quotes for the work. Luckily our neighbours still have the original stained glass in their door, so that we knew exactly what the missing panel would have looked like. I sent an email with some pictures to a few local companies to get an idea of the costs and you will never guess what happened next…
One of the stained glass companies called the next day and told me, that they have our original stained glass panel in storage! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. As you can imagine, I was rather confused until the guy told me, that the people who lived here before us had damaged the stained glass, and he had come to remove the panel and repair it. In the meantime, the house was sold (to us) and he had just kept hold of the panel. He had completely forgotten about it, untill he received my email.
So, just a few days later (and normally it would take weeks to have a new panel made) he came round replaced some of the broken stained glass in the windows around the door that looked like this…
…and now look like this
and replaced the stained glass panel in the door.
You wouldn’t know it wasn’t the original glass that had always been there!
We are really happy with the result. Even if it cost quite a lot of money, it’s great to be able to tick something of the long list of things we have to do.
The door looks fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog. We are in the process of buying a similar Edwardian house in similar condition to how yours was before you started, and we will be doing nearly all the work ourselves to save money. The blog has given us loads of ideas and useful tips!
Have you thought about removing the outside porch? With such a beautiful door it seems a shame not to see it from the street.
Thanks, Mike! We’re so happy that we were able to give you a few tips! It’s a lot of hard work, but so worth it in the end!
We hate the porch! We’ve actually been getting prices for a replacement (the window people that looked at it said that it was the worst they’d ever seen!), but it’s way out of budget at the moment. We’d even thought about just removing it, but the original front door (as pretty as it is) is really draughty, so we’d currently rather live with an ugly porch an be a bit warmer.
Cx
Hi
I came across your site looking for cast iron fireplace cleaner. Some very interesting tips and your house is beautiful. I also live in the north west in an Edwardian house. Our front door is currently in the same state as yours was with a plain panel having been replaced where the ornate centre one should be. Your replacement looks pretty authentic, I realise it was the original panel but wondered if you could advise me who did your stained glass, they may be close enough to me to get a quote.
Wishing you both the very best with your renovations, I can see you love your house as much as I do mine, what a lovely era the Edwardian years were in terms of decoration.
Many Thanks.
Thank you for the kind comments, Jen! We are really happy with how our stained glass panel turned out. Only part of it is original, but you wouldn’t know from looking at it. The company we used is call Starlight Stained Glass. It is pricey to have the stained glass replaced, but sooo worth it! Good luck!
Cx
Where did you get that lovely ceiling light?!
Glad you like it, Arati! We made it ourselves (assuming you mean the one in the progress pictures). You can find more information about how we made it here: https://www.littlehouseonthecorner.com/pendant-veneer-lamp-shade/.
Cx
Wow, what luck!
I know! It was such a bizarre coincidence!
Cx