...because home doesn't happen overnight.
01.24.11 / And They’re Off!

Remember all those homeless {or shall I say roomless} doors down in our newly decluttered basement?  Ever wonder where they all came from?  Well, one is from our hall closet turned mini mudroom.  Another is from my craft closet.  And the rest we just recently removed from the master bedroom and bathroom.  We removed 2 narrow and cumbersome double doors from the entrance to our master bathroom.  {See the nearest doorway in the picture below.}  They never opened or closed very easily.  They were always getting jammed and sticking.  Plus, I didn’t like the way they opened into the bedroom.  As soon as we took ’em off, going to the bathroom got a whole lot easier…well, getting to the bathroom not going to the bathroom, I guess.

We don’t plan on leaving the entrance wide open.  In fact, Handy Hubby has been hard at work using up more of those fence boards from his family’s old farm.  {Yes, that is a hint.}  Good thing. I’ve been burying myself with pillows in the mornings to keep the bathroom light out of my eyes while Handy Hubby is getting ready for work.  While we were at it,  I went ahead and removed the door to our water closet, too.  Including a linen closet door and the glass shower door, our bathroom came with 4 doors!  Really?  Who needs that many doors in a bathroom?  Plus, you can’t even see the toilet unless you’re on it, so removing these doors has opened up the space nicely and made it easier to maneuver around in there.

And since I already had the screwdriver out, I took off the door to our bedroom closet.  The previous door opened into the closet which took away some walking and {future?} wall storage space.  I plan on hanging a fabric curtain from the inside to keep closet clutter out of view from the bedroom.

That means we’ve got a lot of this going on right now…

We’re rockin’ the wood putty.  Well, Handy Hubby is rockin’ the wood putty.  My job is to sand and paint it.  That’s on my to-do list.  Somehow it keeps getting shoved down.

What about you? Have you ever removed a door in your home to improve mobility and traffic flow? I find it very freeing.  Obviously.  That’s 6 doors I’ve put out of commission since we’ve lived here. I may be taking the open floor plan concept to the extreme.

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

19 Comments

25.January.2011

such a simple change yet it makes a big difference. I can’t wait to see what fabric you choose for the closet door.

25.January.2011

Oh yes – we’re great ones for removing doors. We had one to our basement right off the kitchen. It was nice when the kids were little, but totally in the way and unnecessary now that their bigger. We’ve also removed one from our dining room to kitchen – I mean I love having a dining room and all, but I don’ t have “staff” that I need to keep out of view when we’re entertaining. It was ridiculous – so now it has MUCH better flow. Funny you mention this – I’m in the process of removing the closet doors in my daughter’s room – awful sliders that hide half the closet – and adding curtains. We’re big friends with bondo as well, that and removing door casings to simplify the frame.

25.January.2011

The night we got the keys we took off the door to our walk in closet – which is in the bathroom – and both that door and the bathroom door opened towards each other. That made a ton of sense, right? We also plan on hanging a curtain as the closet “door”. Removing it enabled us to install some hooks for hubbs’ ties and my belts, too!

http://www.thepeachchablis.blogspot.com

25.January.2011

Loving the new bed pose! Fabulous :)

25.January.2011

In my last house, we had a bathroom door that was unnecessary and always in the way. I wanted to take it off but we never did…

Our closet in the master would be more efficient without the door but I wouldn’t be able to stand looking inside all the time… Did I mention that I like to THROW stuff in the closet… the door hides it… I know, I know…

25.January.2011

We recently removed the door in our laundry room. Sure it blocked the washer/dryer noise from the kitchen and rest of the house, but our new machines don’t make much noise to speak of, plus I can hear the beeper when they’re done instead of leaving laundry in there until time to go to bed when I remember it as I pass by to make sure the garage door is locked! This also makes entry into the house from the garage easier instead of coming in the garage door and immediately having to go through the laundry room door to get *really* into the house. I may or may not put a curtain up…haven’t decided yet. We’ll see what I think after I paint the kitchen and laundry room.

25.January.2011

Not yet, but now that my kids are older and safety’s not an issue, I am thinking of removing the doors to both the basement and the upper floor of our cape cod.

25.January.2011

two words: pocket doors.

25.January.2011

Ok, now I am intrigued. You removed the glass shower door? How will you shower?

Jen
http://www.1creativemomma.blogspot.com

25.January.2011

Removing closet doors is such a simple thing to do yet it does wonders for a space. So far we have removed the closet doors off the closet in the dining room [the original owner turned what was the dining room into a bedroom… than back to a dining room, hence the closet] and made open shelving and also removed the closet doors from the closet in the office and created more open/built in shelving :)

25.January.2011

Jen102905 – I think there is some miscommunication. We removed the double doors at the bathroom entrance and a single water closet door within the bathroom. The doors remaining that open into the space of the bathroom are the linen closet door and glass shower door. We did NOT remove the shower door. Hope that clears things up! It would be difficult to take a shower without that door and still keep things dry!

25.January.2011

One of the first things we did when we moved in to our house was to take the basement door off. It opened right in to the fridge and made a serious traffic jam. Now that we have a toddler, we put up a swing gate – I still didn’t want that door back on!

25.January.2011

We just this weekend removed the door to out laundry room. Now I can actually stand IN the room as opposed to in the hallway with a load of laundry in a basket (it also fits a very dumb but sweet dog at my feet).

25.January.2011

You know, I’ve never thought about taking off the doors, but I will certainly think on it now! I can understand how it would be freeing and allow the flow to be much smoother! I look forward to seeing all of your progress!

Tatum–Manymomentsofme.blogspot.com

26.January.2011

we had a small back hallway in our first home that had 7 doors (doors to the bathroom, livingroom, kitchen, basement, 2 closets, sunroom)…there were times you’d get trapped in there if multiple doors opened at once! removing the doors to the kitchen and livingroom made a big difference!

we just removed the sliding doors from our reach-in closet and replaced them with curtains. now we can get to the previously unreachable middle part of the closet. One tip: when we sold our house, our realtor suggested we put the doors back on the kid room closets for resale, so if you have place to store the doors, it might be worth keeping ’em.

26.January.2011

Carole – Funny you should say that…we had second thoughts about donating the doors, so they’re still in our basement in case we ever need them for resale in the future.

28.January.2011

We have a small ranch style house, so less doors and more open storage really help to open things up and make it feel bigger! I’m still working on this throughout my house. Great inspiration!

27.October.2012

How did you hang the yellow door you made?

05.November.2017

I LOVE this. I removed 3 doors in our house, but we have stained natural wood door frames. I’m wondering what your recommendation is for using the putty and making sure it still looks natural when you’re not planning to paint it white. Does that even work? Have you seen it anywhere? I’ve been scouring the internet and can’t find anything that is helpful.