Fix Your Ugly. (please)

We all have things in our homes that bother us. I once had a house where the baseboard moulding in the kitchen didn't match the moulding in the foyer; it bugged me. Probably didn't bug anybody else. That's not what this blog is about. This is about the ugly things that you have decided to overlook in your house, usually because they cost more to fix than you'd like them to, and so, you've decided that you can live with them. Are they important? Maybe it's time to ask your realtor about them, especially if you're thinking about selling your house, or if you have a job that may transfer you to another city far far away, or if you might be (lucky you!) thinking about moving somewhere warm.....just dreaming.

In my current home, I had a seriously ugly front door. Not just one that I didn't like, but one that no one on the planet ever thought was cute. At all. Since the 1960s, when some fool replaced what I imagine was a lovely door with this update, and, to add yuk to ugly, replaced the sidelight windows with the never-cool look of glass block. I promise you, no one has ever come to my house and greeted the person opening the door with a compliment on it. Voila:

I tried to work with it. I dressed it up with a wooden screen door; the previous screen door was a louvered metal one, similar to this--eww--

but nothing ever really worked. It was just ugly. When we first bought the house, I had gotten a quote from a local glazier to replace the glass block with a normal dual pane window, but it just seemed like a lot of money, and there was so much else that needed doing.....eventually, I just upped my "wreath game" and called it a day. Until recently, when I began to think about selling. And called on an expert for advice, a high end decorator who has flawless taste and doesn't pull any punches. She said, "Oh my goodness, your front door is hideous." Uh oh. She suggested that I replace the entire front door package, something that I had considered back when I was in the midst of one of my renovation projects and stumbled across pictures of gorgeous vintage doors that would have looked amazing, but just weren't in the budget. So I went online, and then in person, to several door stores, and yikes! Who knew that a wooden door and a couple of windows could cost as much as a tiny automobile or a really nice vacation??

So, I decided to fix what I had. I had the screen door completely removed, replaced the awful glass block windows, and had the door painted a rich, satin black (on both sides.) Wow! What a difference! Yes, it was expensive, but it's all about that first impression....I love it every day that I walk by and see it, and my dogs love getting that first clear look at anyone who stops by for a visit. The only thing left to say is, why the heck did I wait this long to do it? Why did I live with the Ugliest Door in America only to change it out to sell the house??

So, here's my advice: if you have ugly, fix it now, don't wait. We should all live as long as possible surrounded by pretty. Happy Spring!