Crushing On: Arched Doorways

Having an architectural interesting home is lucky. Most of us want one. I surely want one. But architectural detail means something different depending on what style of home you’re after. If you’ve been here since the very beginning, you may remember my dream house. It’s a Spanish revival and I swoon hard for the way the builders renovated it.

To recap some, the things that stood out most to me were the unique tile work, unique window shapes, pops of color and archways.

My home is a very basic 1950’s brick ranch.  It does not have any kind of architectural detail. But all hope is not lost on a blank canvas. If you’re like me, we can crush on things we want for our home and then find a creative way to change our home to fit our vision. The first step is finding spaces that have what we want so that we can start to see those things in our home. We may not have the same lay out or features, but I’d bet there’s a creative place you could put an arch in your home.

Are you feeling inspired yet? Naturally I am!

The thing is, archways aren’t especially difficult to add. And they can in fact be a great way to disguise unwanted beams. Here’s a few examples of how I could bring in an archway and maybe you can see how they’d fit in your home, too.

Option #1

In between the kitchen and living room is a wall with a doorway. Not ideal, yeah? But it’s a major load bearing wall in the house. The only load bearing wall on that whole side of the house. With modern building innovations, it’s not out of the realm of possible to have it open and seamless without a beam. But the fact remains, this neighborhood isn’t shooting up in value any time soon. It makes much more sense to go the cheaper route than the more expensive route to open up the space. Instead of doing a basic beam and rectangular cut out, adding in an arch conceals the necessary beam and adds character. Budget and Style win!

Option #2

We’ve got a long hallway that extends off the living room that leads to 3 closets, 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. It’s just a basic opening leading into the long space. The perfect spot to add an archway. There are kits for do-it-yourselfers and they make it seem quite easy! They simply arch the squared off corners of any opening.

Option #3

Using the same kit, and the advice of a professional, you could apply this same principal in the bathroom. Over the bathtub similar to the one in my dream home, you can add simple arches to cozy up bath time and add a bit of character on a budget.

There’s something special about little details like this that make a home feel cozier, layered and, as the name goes, interesting. Do you prefer the more seamless look of modern lines or do you gravitate towards curves and details? What’s your favorite architectural detail in a home?