When you’re looking for antiques, especially structural pieces  it’s always an adventure,  one that  can be a bit hair raising at times. It’s really pot luck whether the thing you find will fit the space you’ve designed, and whether you’ll even find it in time.

And so it was for this. The door and frame were such an unbelievable find that we just had to use them – both the client and I fell in love with them immediately for this space.

The floor tiled had been laid and the opening already made and finished, but we hadn’t found the door.  I’d left it simply plastered  without linings or architraves thinking that whatever we found – or commissioned if something hadn’t turned up in time, would be hung on gate hinges. This being the entrance hall to the inner hall there was no requirement for sound deadening or draft proofing. And the ethos suited the space.

Luckily the frame fitted well enough at the front of the opening – we decided not to try to repair the broken sections, enjoying the authenticity of the piece. The doors though were too far gone and these  we replaced with others of exactly the same style but not the same colour. It was our intention to  lightly wash paint over them, to bring them back closer to the frame, but they looked good, so we left them.

I think they were a bit tricky to fit, but mostly because the idea and the concept was a completely new one to the guys doing it.  I do remember that the builders thought we had really lost it this time and would gladly have put the whole lot onto the skip as soon as they arrived.  I still think if I’d turned by back for even a second they might well have done so. And neither did they change their minds once they were installed.

Ah well, you can’t win them all !

Hat’s off to them though, for making such a good job of it, despite…..