Front Entrance Renovations

Tomorrow our contractors arrive to begin working on our front entrance.

Originally, the plan was to simply replace the existing iron railing with a wooden railing, and replace the crumbling concrete steps with wooden ones, and a railing.

Of course, as with all other projects it seems, we began discussing the idea of replacing the peak overhang with a properly proportioned portico. We really didn't want to invest in that large of a project right now, however, it just made more sense financially to do it all at once instead of in two stages.

In the end, we are happy we decided to do a full entrance all at once.

From the photo of the existing entrance you can get an idea of the size of what the platform will be. It will be roughly 9 inches wider and deeper, which will allow for 6 inch coloumns. There will only be two main columns supporting the roof, which we decided to do flat - in the end, that was an esthetic preference for both of us. The other posts will be capped off.

[via Martha Stewart Living]

This is a similar style home to ours, and we really loved the simple, flat roof entrance with two columns. However, due to the number of steps, we need to have a railing.

[via Pinterest]

So, while this isn't exactly the idea, it helps visualize the railing and steps.

If you can imagine this as a flat roof, with no corbel details, and no ball finials on the railing posts, this is a pretty good idea of what we will be doing. We like the simple, squared off look of the posts, and the square, untappered columns.

Once it is installed, we will paint it. I still haven't decided on an exterior paint colour, but it will be a shade of white, likely with a different colour for the floor boards and steps. I also need to pick out a new fixture. It will be a large pendant lantern-style fixture. I would have preferred to have a pair of lanterns mounted to the wall, but it was out of the question with having to run wiring through 2 foot stone walls. As for the door itself, we would love to open the top and add a transom window, and then find a very plain screen door.

I'm excited and anxious at the same time to see how it turns out and will share photos as it comes together.

Here is my most pathetic attempt at a rendering in Paint to help me visualize it. Seriously, it's pathetic, but it helps me...

I know... it's impressive.