Originally, they looked like this.
So they were removed. Last summer I polished the aluminum track railings. Below is what they looked like pre-polish.
And after...
We were looking to replace the old sliding doors with new pieces of laminate but we kept running up against color incongruencies, terrible laminate designs, and poor color saturation. Most of the color swatches looked very non-descript (think flooring), perhaps faux-marbled (think apartment countertops), or had a funky design that just didn't jive (think rejects from The Fabric Post).
So we waited for inspiration to arrive. And we waited.
And waited.
And finally we decided to simplify. We like how Ikea backlights frosted glass on kitchen cabinets and thought it would be a bright and cheery addition to Bessie without imposing too much color or pattern and changing her look/feel. So we went to the local glass store.
Mick's Glass hooked us up! We found a very attractive option in frosted acrylic. It's frosted, durable, semi-translucent when backlit, and reflective. Most importantly, it's 1/8" thick so it will fit in the rail slots. We took a sample home to see how it would blend with the colors and living space and were pleasantly surprised.
So we returned the next day with the old sliding doors and asked the professionals to cut us the required pieces. We asked if they would simply cut finger holes towards the ends to allow us to open the compartments. It was more than I wanted to pay, but they were ready the very next day, and it was sort of like buying insurance against an errant cut, plus I didn't have to lift a finger. But if you can't tell, that's not too much of a selling point to me.
Brie and I unveil our virgins.
It took a little time to get the protective paper off the acrylic. Brie had to start them for me since I suck at things like that. Look! In the photo below, it's like they're heaven-sent! Or maybe that's just my halo?
It took us a solid five minutes to install them. We had to break out a phillips screwdriver to complete the task. We're very happy with the results. Pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to do once we figured out what we wanted. It was nice to have the pros cut the pieces on their big table saws, and super cool to install them with two screwdrivers and enjoy the improvements.
Since they are reflective, they don't enclose the headroom. Although we prefer colors and designs, we were concerned a bold color would make the living space seem smaller. This seems to be the perfect solution: lightweight, durable, shiny, and attractive with a low-profile color to help accentuate the other aspects of the Bouncing Bullet.
(way) Before...
Before...
After...
Maybe we'll add magnets to keep them closed when traveling down the road and up the hills. We'll see. For now, that's one more project crossed off the list!
