Brown Vintage Screen Door on a Mid-Century Home

I gambled on an estate sale this weekend, and lost. The only thing worth seeing was the vintage screen door I walked in and out of.

That said, it is one of the best authentic mid-century screen doors I've seen. Simple, but with a great esthetic, well built and well designed. Those bars across the inside make sure kids (and unobservant adults) don't put their hand through the screen as they're pushing the door open.

Random Mid-Century Pictures from ATX

I've amassed another collection of photos that are interesting enough to share, but not cohesive enough to build a full post around. So here are some pretty pictures to look at.

A red vintage screen door with a mid-century door behind it.

Another wooden mid-century front door. I've said it before and I'll say it here because these two doors make good examples, authentic mid-century exterior doors have bigger windows than their modern counterparts.

And a red mid-century modern front door, although this one does have pretty big windows.

Some modern landscaping with gray stones and cement slabs. I love the clean lines this creates.

An old apartment building in my neighborhood with a collection of mid-century globe lights.

The same complex had these large modern rusted-metal planters.

They're a great look, but probably a little big for most mid-century homes.

My mom recently picked up this vintage metal tea holder.

And this red and white Belgium apothecary jar.

And finally, I came across this bench that had the wood replaced with old corrugated metal. It made for interesting look and the fresh blue paint is a nice contrast.

Authentic Mid-Century Doors

I've been taking random snaps of authentic mid-century doors when I come across them.

This vintage screen door is one of the best I've ever seen. A nice modern blue door behind it and it could really pop.

This mid-century door is a little unassuming and it's on an small, unassuming mid-century house that just went up for sale in my neighborhood. I wanted to take a pic because I'm assuming one or both will be torn down by the next owner.

Another neighborhood door captured during a nighttime run.

I've mentioned before that the glass on authentic mid-century doors tends to be a little bigger than their modern door counterparts. This door is proving the rule. And the vintage screen door is proving to be a showpiece itself.

This screen door is a little more modern, but I love the simple look to it. If I were to put a screen door on my place, it'd probably be something like this.

I'm hoping to capture more shots of mid-century doors in their natural environment (instead illustrated mid-century doors). When I do, I'll be sure to share.

I See a Red Door and I Want It Painted Blue

Perhaps it's a self-fulfilling prophecy or perhaps my neighbors know how to steal a good idea when they see one – a while back I started kicking around the idea that blue doors are the new red doors, and recently I've been a lot more blue doors showing up in my neighborhood and other mid-century Austin neighborhoods.

And it turns out it's a pretty authentically mid-century thing to do. We did it just to add a pop of color to our home, but there's no shortage of examples of mid-century homes with blue doors.

This one looks like the mid-century porthole door I recently came across.

Is it just me or are you see a few more blue doors in your neighborhood too?

Random Mid-Century Pics from Austin

I had a few more photos on my phone with no real post to attach them to, so here they are in a random collection.

I was eating at a neighborhood restaurant when I saw this sconce. I'm not sure if it's a Schoolhouse Electric and Supply Co. light or a Rejuvenation light, but I know I've drooled over it before.

This 3D wall was in a waiting room I spent a few too many minutes in and had a nice enough modern look for me to sneak a pic.

After installing our Crestview Door, my obsession with vintage screen doors has lessened but I still had to snap a pic of this one from the sidewalk.

Speaking of walks, this modern front walkway is pretty special.

Mid-Century Doors, Garages and Shutters

Here's a fairly short article, "Adding the Final Touch," from the March 1952 Popular Mechanics Craftsman section about mid-century garage doors, mid-century shutters and mid-century doors.

More than a just good read, it's got some great photos of some very interesting mid-century modern door designs with some very brave mid-century paint colors.

The key phase from the article about the mid-century design of these modern doors is, "A bright-colored door entrance off-set with a smart, abstract motif in white." I think that could be carried to any mid-century modern door design you might be looking to create these days.

But I also might be a bit biased, based on my new mid-century modern door.

Our Mid-Century Modern Door

Our mid-century modern front door is finally all finished. You got a sneak peek a while ago, but now it's painted and done. And boy does it feel good to be done.

The Crestview Door kit worked out great. Although, they've recently started selling complete doors and we probably would have gone that route if they were available when we bought the kit.

The Mad Men door knob and square mid-century door escutcheon turned out perfect.

And the inside looks great too.

 

We decided to go with white on the inside because it goes well with the gray walls, and that blue would have been too much for the interior.

 

So, after picking our mid-century modern exterior paint colors, narrowing down the mid-century modern color palette for the door, deciding on which way our Crestview Door should point and tracking down the mid-century door hardware, the door has finally shut on the journey of our front door.

Mid-Century Door Ad

I'm not sure what company this mid-century door advertisement is for, but it has some great inspiration for mid-century door designs and even a nice vintage screen door.

Mid-Century Screen Door Maker in Austin

I never realized Austin was such a door city. Not only are we home to Crestview Doors and their mid-century door kits, but we're also home to Hip Haven, makers of the above screen door.

A bit from their website:

Austin, Texas-based Hip Haven, Inc., headed up by owner and designer Kelley Sandidge, opened for business in early 2002. Hip Haven designs are carried in stores throughout the United States, and are regularly featured in the national media.

Mid 20th-century modern style is our inspiration, with its varied influences from atomic to primitive, but like most of our customers we will include accents that depart from the style and allow it to be interpreted in new and interesting ways.

And that is one fantastic mid-century screen door they make. The only problem is that it's a bit outside of the budget I set for our vintage screen door. Since the door at my mid-century ranch that the screen is going on is rarely used or seen, we don't need such a beautiful screen door. But if we were putting one on the front door, this would be it.

Mid-Century Screen Door

The weather in Austin is starting to come down from its record-high heat, which has me thinking about screen doors. We have three doors in our mid-century home: front, back and off the breakfast nook. We can't put a screen door on the front door because we don't want to cover up our Crestview Door (once we actually get it installed) and we can't put a screen door on the back door because we have a pet door for the cat there. But we can install a screen door in the breakfast nook, which, once it's fall, should give us a nice breeze throughout the house.

But me being me, and wanting this door to fit the mid-century design of the house, I can't just go to the local hardware store and pick up your standard screen door. So I've been wondering the neighborhood, spying on people's screen doors and trying some reference points online. There isn't much online, the only thing I could find was this vintage screen door ad.

The text reads:

For Any Style of Architecture
Rusco Combination Doors harmonize with all styles of homes, large and small ... add distinction to every enterence ... make hallways light and friendly-looking. They're sturdily built of tubular steel to give years of service.

Self-Storing Glass and Screen
It's a screen door and a storm door all in one! You never need to change or store anything. Self-storing upper and lower glass inserts and lower screen insert give full protection, yet permit ventilation as desired.

I love the letter detail in the iron work, but I doubt I could find the right letter in new old stock. And in Austin we really don't need a storm door, just a screen door. So the search continues.