This project took me by surprise. I ran into some old friends who are sisters and also McGehee Alumnae at our annual December 26 happy hour. They approached me about a gift for their mother. They wanted to do something nice for her to remind her of a recent trip taken together to Capri, Italy. There was a door in one of the hotel rooms in which they stayed that all three loved and they wanted to recreate a similar door in their mother's condo in New Orleans.
After a few emails we came up with a plan and budget and here is the end result:
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| Door in a hotel in Capri, Italy: Initial inspiration |
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| Mother's closet door in her condo: Before |
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| Mother's condo door: After |
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| Detail of door: center portion |
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| Detail of door: upper portion |
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| Unlike the Capri door this one has panels so I highlighted them with red and gold. The elements were all hand painted and the shapes were inspired by Fortuny dress and fabric patterns. |
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| I really like the way this bottom element came out |
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| Detail of the center element and aging. I used a few coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint and glaze to put some age on the door. |
The thing that made this project wonderful is that it was a gift. It is blog-worthy because everyone has a similar door in their home. It was not custom made and it is not solid wood but after it's Renaissance it became a focus and an interesting element to the client's art filled condo.
With the holidays approaching get your creative juices thinking about giving a gift of a service. Think about making something ordinary, extraordinary. There are many ways to breathe new life into a vintage or hand-me-down piece of furniture or drab corner of your home.
