When we bought this house, I knew we were going to do a full renovation. This 7,000 square
foot house needed a lot of love, and we spent three and a half years making over every
square inch of it.
One of my favorite parts of the renovation was the exterior glow-up! We took a huge leap and
painted the red brick a warm white, did contrast trim, updated the landscaping, and changed
out all the exterior lights.
It looked so much better — but the outdated doors weren’t allowing the exterior to feel fully
finished. They were dated, and even after painting them, the style and proportions just didn’t
match the new updated look.

The Exterior Transformation

I started pulling inspiration images and reached out to Simpson Door Company. I had some
reservations about making such a big commitment — custom doors felt like a big decision to
get wrong. But working with Simpson took a lot of that pressure off. I shared my vision, they
drew it out, and we went back and forth on the design until it was exactly right. That process
gave me the confidence to move forward. All of the wood doors were done in my custom stain (Gizzi Stain from Sherwin-Williams), which tied everything together throughout the interior and exterior.

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Front Entrance

Before: The original front doors had ornate glass panels that dated the whole exterior.

After: I went with two custom White Oak doors with clean glass inserts and a vertical wood
grain. The natural oak against the painted brick, the larger glass panes, gold hardware — it
finally made the front of the house feel intentional.

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Side Entrance

Before: The original side entry was just a standard rectangular frame. It was fine, it just didn’t
do anything for the space.

After: I replaced it with an arch-top door in White Oak. We added several arches throughout
the interior and exterior during this renovation, and this one matched those architectural
details perfectly.
I love that this door is the first detail you see when you pull up to the house. It was truly a
showstopper and became a conversation piece. Even the detail of the door being extra wide
to fill the original door space made it feel elevated and unique.

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Interior Office Doors

Before: My office entrance always felt slightly off. The framing height didn’t match the rest of
the doors in the foyer. The doors were also built really close to the wall, which didn’t give the
casing any space. It felt very cramped. This is the first thing you see when you walk into our
home, so I knew I wanted to give this entrance an update.

After: When we rebuilt it, I was able to move the doors over a little bit and create more
symmetry. Just like with the side door, I wanted to repeat the arched architectural detail in
other areas of my home. I’ve rarely seen arched French doors, so I was excited to see this
vision come to life.
I designed the divided-light glass panels to be a little bigger than a traditional 10-light panel —
we went with 8 panels instead, which gives it a more modern look. We lined up the casing
height with the rest of the doors in the foyer, and the glass panels opened up the room while
still giving us separation. The arch added something really unique to this space that it was
missing before

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Why Custom Was Worth It

We did so much to this house, but the doors were what really elevated it. If you’re
mid-renovation and wondering if custom is worth it — it was for us. Sometimes, paint and
updates only take you so far.

This post is in partnership with Simpson Door Company.

Shop Simpson Door Company here.