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Deuce Cities Henhouse

Minneapolis Stoop | Deuce Cities Henhouse
I’m pretty stoked about this new (old) front door situation, guys! Where do I begin? Our old front door was one of those gross aluminum storm windows that people of the 80’s liked to replace old beautiful wood storm and screen doors with. Our aluminum storm door was not only super ugly but it was also installed in a v. uncool crooked sort of a way, and there was nothing that could be done to fix it, except replace it. Replacing the front door has always been high on my to-do list, but never made much sense to pursue not knowing exactly how the front steps would play out.

Of course, now that the steps are in, the old storm door is gone and has been replaced with this old wood and glass beauty I picked up a few weeks back at the salvage shop. I had to sift through hundreds of doors looking for the right one. I had envisioned a 2 x 4 paned window, and couldn’t find it, no matter how hard I looked. I happily settled on this simple wood door with clean lines and good bones. There weren’t too many dings and scratches, and the size was nearly perfect for my crooked entry way.

Minneapolis Stoop | Deuce Cities Henhouse
I’m sure that our front porch was originally open air and wasn’t intended to be screened in. There are three ornate romanesque columns that are now on the inner side of the screens – a hybrid of victorian and four square, which always kinda cracks me up. Anywho, I’m sure it the intention was to show those ornate babies off! I believe the porch has been screened in twice, I can see imprints of where framing would have been for screens and windows. Now the latest version called “storm windows everywhere”, has probably been around for 30 years or so. I’m happy the porch is screened in, and I’m not sure if we would use it the same way if it wasn’t – I can totally see doing it in a much prettier way when we run out of things to do and have tons of money.

Minneapolis Stoop | Deuce Cities Henhouse
The framing of the porch door has always been off, and to fix it would mean tearing quite a bit of the front porch off. Just think, kinda square peg in a wonky hole. I wasn’t really up for all that, I just wanted a door that looked good, my motto — “fake it ’till ya make it”. I watched this recent vid from Ask This Old House on repeat for awhile, until I got the hang of what I was going to do. I chopped down some boards with the circular saw to fill in a 4 inch gap at the top of the door frame. Then, I used the compass to scribe in the top of the door frame where there was a very large and noticeable gap – this has been one of my favorite tools, it was a life saver when I replace the basement steps. The hand planer was essentsch, I used it to even out and discrepancies in the door, and before I knew it that door was looking like it belonged with this house.

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Minneapolis Stoop | Deuce Cities Henhouse
I’d still love to top it off with some new house numbers, but for now I just stripped down the old black mail box to find a bunch of brassiness and replaced the doorbell. Can we all just agree it has come a long, long way. I’m seriously super insanely happy that it doesn’t look like the house that we moved into. I had no idea how we were going to fix that ugliness when we moved in, but it’s happened! I’m so happy about it.

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25 comments
in Around the House, DIY
25 comments… add one
  • Marie June 29, 2016

    Hiya! New door, steps, landscape look amazing- such a transformation! Can you please share where you got the cute “no soliciting” sign? My husband stuck one of those ugly storefront “no soliciting” signs on our front door and I’m looking for something a little less…ugly/rude : )

    • Kelli June 30, 2016

      I came here to ask the same thing about the sign. Its super cute and looks perfect on your porch. I cannot believe the transformation of your house!

    • Scoops July 6, 2016

      I know, I don’t mean to be rude, but I also don’t want you to ring my door bell just as I’m sitting down to eat and then feel offended when I tell you I don’t want any of your stuff. Anyway, the sign can be found over at this etsy shop, sorry for the delay in responding!

  • ANa June 29, 2016

    It looks like it’s always been there! Great work!

    • Scoops July 6, 2016

      Thanks! That is what I was hoping for :)

  • Anna June 29, 2016

    Lookin good! I wonder if your diamond in the rough was always a glass paneled door, or if they might have removed the center panel at some point to add the glass?

    Also, you mentioned you would do your screened in porch differently if you had the time/money. Pray tell, what would that look like? 0.0

    • Scoops July 6, 2016

      Anna! I took a stealth photo of our twin house. This house is located two blocks away from us, but from the outside it is nearly identical. They don’t have the sunroom porch off of the second story of the back of the house, but it’s nearly the same. I’d be so curious to take a tour of it! Anyway, I really like how their front porch is. If I were to ever really re-do the front porch, I’d probably do something more similar to this.

      • Anna July 6, 2016

        Thanks for sharing, Scoops!

        That front porch IS gorge – I love how the 4-over-1s make it look more like a legit room instead of an added-on area. However, I will say that your whole house is still my #homegoals ;)

      • Lauren Date May 31, 2021

        Hi Alison! I was randomly reading this old post to see where you found your front door, because I am the new owner of your (no longer yellow) twin house on Aldrich! I’ve been reading your blog a lot for inspiration and I love seeing how similar it is to ours. I’d love to connect sometime!

  • Alyssa June 29, 2016

    You are a carpentry rockstar! This project turned out great. I never noticed the before as a before until I saw the after. Nice!

    • Scoops July 6, 2016

      I know, it looks pretty different now that there has been such a lapse in time! I’m really happy with how far it’s come.

  • Vanessa June 29, 2016

    It has come a long long way Scoops!

  • Keri June 30, 2016

    Dang, girl! You amaze me. Nice work.

  • will you please transfer your gardening skills to me? i love the potted plants and the window planter…even though i know this post is about the door.
    b

  • k sunday June 30, 2016

    Hi, I am new here but just want to tell you your style is on mark! I love and old house with tall imperfections made into awesomeness great job!

    • Scoops July 6, 2016

      Thanks so much! It’s been a pleasure to take care of this old home.

  • Wendy July 2, 2016

    Wow! The transformation is amazing. I love what you have done with it. :)

    • Scoops July 6, 2016

      Thanks so much, Wendy! I’m really pleased with how far it’s come.

  • Elise July 6, 2016

    It’s gorgeous, and great job on planing it to make it fit! Did you find it at Bauer Brothers?

    • Scoops July 15, 2016

      I totally did! I love that place, I could spend an entire day poking around in there.

  • Heather~FurnishMyWay July 7, 2016

    Eeek! I LOVE your house! Your new front door is gorgeous, but I really got excited once I saw it in the context of your whole house. The transformation is just amazing – fantastic job! I cannot get over your paint color and all your plants! Looks like exactly the kind of home I’d love to live in.

    • Scoops July 15, 2016

      Thanks so much, Heather! I’m super proud of how far it’s come, and it makes me feel so great to know that I took this place from ugly duckling to swan-ish. Have a great day!

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