There I was, painting the trim around the transom window above the front door when I looked down inside the storm window covering it and noticed a chunky piece of beautiful trim. "It's too bad that's hidden by the storm window...." I thought. And then, almost before I even finished that thought, came an idea: Why not pull the storm window off there? The transom hardware on the inside is long gone, and the window's sealed shut by about a thousand coats of paint, so it's not like the storm window really had any purpose.
So I removed it.
Then I stepped back and looked at the front door and thought, "Well, now the storm door looks really dorky without the storm window above it." I hate that storm door with a passion, always have. It's aluminum and really flimsy, the screen panels for it are gone, and one of the glass panels has been replaced with plexiglass. "Guess I better keep it though," I sighed, "since I don't have the money for one of those full-view glass doors right now." So I painted it. And that storm door bugged me for the rest of the day. Towards dark I gave myself a little talk. "Hell's Bells, you took the storm windows off every window on the entire house and despite the dire predictions of the haters, it didn't cause the utility bills to soar. The damn door doesn't fit in the frame anyhow, so it's hardly energy efficient. Besides, if you take the storm door off then you can see the front door." (Talking to myself like this might be part of the reason why the neighbors think I'm nuts. That, and painting my whole house by myself.)
So I removed the storm door, too. Because it really did look dorky on there.
And now everybody can see the front door, which is the best part of my house.
(Everybody can also see my arm and the top of my head in the reflection, which is not the best part of my house!)
Looking at it, I realized that the strip of wood above the door (it's gray in the above photo) wasn't original to the house and was put there when the storm door was. My son had stopped by when he saw the storm door out in the yard, so he removed that little piece of wood for me.
Then it occurred to me that without a storm door, the post office would be willing to use the mail slot in my door, so I took the mailbox off the front of the house too.
A doorknob and backplate this gorgeous should not be hidden behind a storm door, am I right?
Here you can also see the paint history of the trim: white (me), cream (me too), bright yellow, gray, and dark blacky-green.
A better photo of the front door.
(Note the icky storm door in the reflection.)
Twenty-four hours later, I took this photo...and realized I'd come full circle. Painted trim, removed storm window, removed storm door, removed trim piece, removed mailbox, and now back to painting trim again.
Is it any wonder it takes forever for me to get things done?