HK5corner: Mimi’s Yellow Door

In 2008 right before Paley was born, I decided I was done with Home Depot special front door with its fake stain glass window that came with our beautiful new home. At the time, the door was not the only stained glass in the house. We had a vanity wall to blocking/closing off the tunnel, you would normally call an entry. We would eventually remove that window from the wall, but more on that later. Moving back to the door, the half circle stained glassed window door was always burning a whole in my mind. If that sounds superficial, then I am guilty. .

In the winter of 2008 , a massive winter storm came roaring through the bay area and knocked out power to our neighborhood for more than 2 days. It was so cold during those days, having no power made it worse. While Clem went off to work, I ventured up to my parents for the day or a movie theater. to keep warm. We woke up for two nights in a row with our bedroom beyond freezing! One night, I woke up with hearing a crunching sound, and touched the top of the duvet to find a layer of ice. It was so cold those evenings, that we had layer sof blankets under the duvet. We even had the dogs and cats sleeping together in piles of swim towels I got up that night and checked all of the windows and everything was closed. We had even removed the pet door insert in one of the sliding glass doors to cut down the wind coming into the house.

This storm was beyond crazy. Even the puddles were ice rinks along the sidewalks and gutters in the streets. On the second day two people slipped and fell in front of our house. I was so certain that they would both end up filing lawsuits against us. Thankfully nothing came of both falls. I resorted to sprinkling salt all over the frozen water hazards as a immediate precuation.

Back in the house, I thought nothing was leaking through all the closed window and doors. That second evening I noticed that near the front door, it was exceptionally cold. Both the front door and the garage interior door had a constant draft. I tried placing blankets and towels along the floor but the bloody wind was coming through sides of both doors. A few weeks later, I bought a new door and our favorite contractor neighbor helped us get it installed. I chose a very heavy, solid oak door from Simpson and I opted stain it, instead of painting it. I think that door planted my obsession of adding stained wood features to HK5corner in it’s new chapter.

Mimi with #HKfamily5

The door helped, but we actually ended up having to blow insulation into the house. Honestly, I think blowing insulation really does not work. When we started the demo on the house, 14 years after blowing it into the exterior walls, the insulation went from 7 feet tall , to barely 2 feet of insulation. Back to the door, our new front door became a staple and something we didn’t let go in the new remodel. After demoing the house, the only items we kept were the kitchen appliances and the front door.

Dried Pomegranate Year 2018

That front door has a history now. I started taking photos of Paley in front of it early on, but after the twins were walking, the door became my #hkfamily5 background for almost a decade. The door was also a backdrop to many photos with my mother. The memories were ingrained now it’s wood. When we were designing HK5corner in 2022, I knew I wanted a new door style for the front door. The new style was intended to bring more light in to the even longer entry. Which was a big thing with Clem in the new house. The door was stored at our rental for two years, and the day we walked it back down the street to the corner house, was a sign of new beginning underway. The door would even take on a new chapter for HKfamily5, being captured in our most recent holiday portrait but also our COVID XMAS card. You can read about the card inspiration in post that holiday season. Below are some of the reference shots we took with the door. I am just now noticing the artist actually used paintings referenced in our Birthday Gallery for the artwork on the entry wall.

One thing you don’t realize when remodeling the entire house, is choosing paint colors is not as easy as it looks. The way I chose my paint colors was going back to photo references photos I used in designing the entire house. I will admit, I borrowed a lot from seriously awesome interior designers. I even purchased color pallets from etsy. I was that desperate. The old front door was being moved to be the side exterior door to the garage. When we first purchased that door, everyone drilled into my head, that if we chose to stain the door, and the door is facing east, south or west, the warranty on the door would be voided. Well that door was facing north after it was installed the first time, so that was not a problem.

Fast forward to the summer of 2024, a few months before we started painting the house, I remembered the warranty note, and decided to paint our big oak door this time. I loved how the door aged into a deep shade of yellow . Even my mother commented on how she loved the door was yellow. For about two months I was trying to find a yellow that would keep it looking like it was stained, and I wanted the door to be yellow in memory of my mother who passed a year and half earlier.

During a trip to Provincetown in the summer of 2024, we were staying at house on Commercial Street, and every time I went up to all of the art galleries, I would walk past Ken Fulk’s house. Yes, I am a huge fan and on the walk back to our car on night, which was parked at the school house, We walked by his house and I could see a vibrant color lit up in one of the upstairs rooms. Then I remembered Ken had a yellow room in the house, which I had saved a photo of in my insta feed for the remodel. I found a video of Ken talking about the room and there is even an entire article written by Fulk about his love for Benjamin Moore’s “A Touch of Curry”.

The door is now painted with A Touch of Curry inside and out, and I think my mother would have loved this color. It’s not too bright and it’s not yellow-yellow. It has that touch of brown and a smokey orange undertone. Honestly, I want to paint a room in this color. Maybe in the next house. What does the future hold for the HKfamily5 door. Well if we move, I think it’s moving with us, no matter what. As for the new front door. It’s serving it’s purpose providing more light in the entry during the day. Will it move with us. Nope!