anatomy of a sunroom: repurposed antique door

Architectural salvage often comes with a story and a sense of history, adding character and charm to a home's design. It can also add texture and depth to a space that cannot be achieved with new materials. Using reclaimed materials is an environmentally conscious choice that reduces waste and helps to conserve natural resources.

Our clients came to us with an interesting challenge. They wanted to utilize an antique door and doorway as the starting point for an Asian inspired sunroom.

The Before:

We were tasked with adding a fireplace, functional window treatments and suitable display for sculptural pieces.

Our plan was to use part of the doorway to create a mantle and use the highly textured door as a backdrop for a large sculpture. The window treatments drew from Asian motifs and were adapted from window to window as a valence, drapes or shade depending on the window size.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the details.

Antique Door

Look at the beautiful hardware, carvings and aged wood textures in this antique door. We bolted it to the wall between two large windows and built a pedestal for a statue in front of it.

2. Window treatment fabric

Credit: Barbara Barry’s Ceylon Key by Kravet fabric, LHS Designs

The shaped valance is trimmed with an embroidered fabric cut in strips and mitered to form the Asian inspired shape. For this window, we wanted drapes to frame the statue and door.

3. Fabric Window shade

There was no room for drapes here so we took the same shape and made a fabric shade instead.

4. Mantle

The doorway was deconstructed and then parts reassembled to make our mantle. The linear fireplace was a good way to counter balance the large tv. Copper patina ceramic tile surrounds it.

5. Nailhead-trimmed leather chairs

The door hardware inspired us to use nail head trim on the leather chairs by Wesley Hall.

6. Faux linen wall

We used Eltitis Eldorado wallpaper to create a distressed faux linen wall covering that provided the backdrop for all of the other worn textures.

Ta da!

Our client loved the result. We styled the room for this photo shoot by placing two oversized mercury glass vases on the coffee table and adding colorful throw pillows on the sofas.