Doors

Yesterday, as I cleaned I thought of 

"Doors Eye View"

That first peek into a room through a door

Be it the front door

or a door to another room

Rooms tell a story

But so do those first peeks

The first thing you see before you enter a room

Join me as we look through the doors of Linderhof . . .

The door from the dining room to the breakfast room

Originally is was just a window

But when we added the breakfast room, that window became a door

The breakfast room table with a bit of lace

Duncan Phyfe chairs that we bought 30 some odd years ago

(and which we have recovered over and over again)

And a peek into the garden at Linderhof

A brick floor

(because Linderhof is brick)

And Mollie

who had just come in from squirrel chasing!

The door from the dining room to the kitchen

And yes, there is a real door

Not original for it was gone before we bought Linderhof

but a salvaged one which matches the rest of the doors at Linderhof

Normally, it is open, but it can be closed when we have company

so no one has to stare at dirty dishes and food prep

It's not a fancy kitchen but we feel that with the marble countertops

and the glass upper cabinets that it has the feel of a 20s kitchen

And we very much like the green lowers and cream uppers

(Husband in's suggestion)

And there are always plants on the windowsill by the sink

These are Parma violets

The door from the kitchen to the dining room

An old clock, a dog toy under the sideboard, the armoire that holds our glasses

and "Green Man" which is over the sideboard

Husband Jim bought him when he was 19 from an art gallery in Taiwan

when he was on R and R from Vietnam

He's always hung in our dining room no matter where we've lived

The "door" from the living room to dining room

It's an arch really

You can see into the breakfast room just beyond

And the garden beyond that

Candles and flowers are always on the table

(well, mostly flowers are on the table -- sometimes in the winter it's fruit)

And "Green Man" is obviously a focal point of the room!

The door from the front porch into the living room

This is the view as you walk into the house

An antique corner chair

(and you can tell it's an antique because it is low)

is extra seating

"My" chair, a lamp from a dear friend, the red cabinet holds the television

and you can just barely see one of the pair of  antique wing chairs

On top of the bookshelves is Jim's Asian collection

The door between upstairs hall and stairs

They're wee French doors which can be shut

"matching windows" on the wall

My Grandmother's chest, two antique lamps and an old blue transfer ware bowl of potpourri

The door from the hall into the spare room

It was Daughter Sarah's room but now it is our spare room

Yellow wallpaper, lace curtains, an old iron bed with an old crochet bedspread,  hooked rug, samplers and an antique lamp

The door from the hall to the bathroom

The original tub but everything else we've put in --

the tile (replaced pressboard tile from the 20s), the shower, the pedestal sink (the original was removed just before we bought the house -- how sad), and the floor although original looking is "new" -- put in by us because a former owner had glued carpet to the original tile and to get the carpet up, the tile came with it.     We found this at a company in New York and reinstalled the original tile.

(this was before it was the thing to do and it's not new looking and never was -- no one would guess that it's only been there 30 years or so)

The door from the hall into the Front Bedroom

When I first walked in and saw that fireplace, I would have signed a contract right then and there.

It was an always wanted, a never thought I would have!

Part of my Royal Doulton ladies dance across the top of the mantle and my parents wedding present clock centers the mantle

More antique lamps on the chest

The door from the Front Bedroom into the sunroom

French doors -- they abound upstairs -- there are 3 sets!

The sunroom is the room that made a two bedroom house a possibility

Floor to ceiling bookcases house a lot of my cookbook collection, two comfy leather chairs, an antique floor lamp and walls of windows.

The door from the Front Bedroom into the dressing room

It's really too small to call a dressing room for I don't dress there, but it does have a full size window.

It's a closet really, with French doors to shut it off from the bedroom, but because of the window I decided to put 

 my "vanity" -- an old Sheraton table that I got at a sale at Cottey College in Nevada in it, plus  a Victorian chair, two antique lamps and my lotions and potions.

The pictures are of Canterbury -- the cathedral and the Christchurch gate.

Christchurch gate because next to it is a hotel that I stayed at in 1994 and both pictures of the gate show my window! 

I like how doors allow us peeks into rooms showing us small vignettes 

without being overwhelmed by the whole room.