Am I obsessed with Ottawa doorways?

Posted on July 11, 2008 
Filed Under Listing and Selling Your Home, Valerie Zinger

I talked about painting your front door and then I gave you what are my top three things to do, after painting the door.  Now, I find that I have so much more to say about the stuff that we seem to love putting in and around our doorway.

New doorknocker.  Do you need a doorknocker?  I know that you can get some fun knockers (see the Doorbell Factory) but…   If you have one already, okay.  If not, think about how much clutter do you want on and around your front door.  What happens if it is Christmas time and you have hung a wreath on the front door and it covers half of the knocker and looks like one more bit of clutter that you have added?  Repeat:   simple, simple, simple.

Door Knob -Polish the doorknob.  If it is old and the metal is wearing thin, you might want to buy a new door knob.  You will want to keep the style of the other “door jewels” and the same metal.  It would really look odd to have a mail box, kick-plate, door knocker, doorbell, welcome sign, etc all in different metals in different styles, all making your eyes bleed from too much to see. 

New Kick-plate  and Welcome Mat – If you must – then remember to polish or replace the kick-plate and ensure that the Welcome Mat is clean and no debris has accumulated under and around the mat.  In this picture, there are three kickplates attached to the door.  This door, in addition to shedding a few pounds of plate, would be greatly enhanced with a lick of paint.  BTW – have we all stopped sweeping the front doorway?

Finally, two more things that are useless or a waste of your money. 

A Welcome Sign – Yikes, I will say no more.  

Anything with your name on it - on the mailbox, on the mat, on the door or anywhere where the new owner will have to have it removed.  The house is no longer about you but about the buyer seeing him/herself living at the house. 

Don’t be a door fool.  Clean and Simple is the Rule.

Photo credit:  Gtown at Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/katmere/69168456/

Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca

 

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