Spring All Year Long

Isn't this just the happiest door? Wouldn't you love to come home to this every day...especially on those dark, cold, nasty days of Winter? What better door to see than one with such cheerful flowers! (I almost expect to hear a bee drifting around among the flowers!!) I love this door! It is so refreshing and warm and friendly. I would love for it to be my front door!!

I'm not sure of the era of this door... I don't believe that it is over 100 years old as its design suggests...but I could be wrong! It was certainly inspired by both the Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods, but those periods are often used for inspiration even today. I wish I could give you some precise information about this door, but at this time, I have nothing to tell you, however, I promise to update this post if I learn something. OK?

A Jewel

If you have been following my blog for any amount of time, you have surely already come to the conclusion that there are a lot of interesting doors in Prague and that the supply seems to be endless. I could put only the creme-de-la creme doors on here each day, but then that would leave you without all the other doors that, while maybe less glamorous, are nevertheless interesting and beautiful doors that deserve being noticed, appreciated and even loved.

All week you have seen honorable and worthy doors, so I thought that today you deserve to see a little jewel (in my opinion!)...it is definitely very nice - not THE top of the top, but certainly lovely and inviting. So much so that it makes my heart go pitter-patter (yes, call me strange, but a pretty door makes my heart leap a bit!). I like all the elements of this door: its columns that are completely different from each other; the oval window under the delicate garlands; the terrace that protects the frame and the door; the various faces that watch over the door; the colour of the wood; the movement of the carved wood; the romantic simplicity of the overall design; and finally, the door's accessories.

As a little cherry on top, if you look at the photo of the close-up of the window you will see a pretty reflection of part of another beautiful door located just across the street (I will post that door some other time)...just please don't mind the reflection of the car!!

A Few of My Favourite Things...

OK, I know this is not the most exciting of doors, but it does look good, have a certain charm and deserves to be shared with you. I have a whole list of things that make me turn my head when it comes to doors...the top of the list is any Art Nouveau door, followed by natural wood doors, but then the list goes on without any specific order and can even get confusing when favourite features criss-cross each other (e.g. an Art Nouveau door with a fabulous arch).

Well, another favourite feature somewhere on that list is a door with a rounded or unusual shape. But even as I write that, I must admit that I have a certain love of the clean lines of a squared door...hmm..maybe I'm just too spoiled and want to have them all!! For you this is a cause for rejoicing because it means that if I have them all, then you have them all...or will, eventually!!

As you can see, today's door has a rounded shape...voila a criteria that it fulfilled to be shared with you...oh! and it is of a clear wood! I like the stone work around it as well (notice the way it was carved/etched). The wrought-iron work isn't terribly romantic or creative or old (nope, it is new), but since it doesn't take away from the door or it's frame, I won't complain.

Friends to Come Home To

When I first saw the little angels (babies?) above this door, I had to chuckle: someone's modesty has made sure that they are appropriately covered. But no matter, this nice door is like a good friend...it is there to greet you, to be with you and, in case of need, to protect you. It's lovely wood details and accessories are friendly and strong. We should all be so lucky to a friend like this!!

Colourful Door Monday

And today's lucky colour is GREEN! I like this little door (we could call it an 'Emily door'!)...notice how high the handle seems to be...so high that it looks like the picture is upside down, but it's not...this is confirmed by the cobblestones at the bottom of the picture! The handle isn't bad either!

Church Door Sunday

Welcome to the Church of St. Nicholas. Once again, you are looking at a side entrance to a church rather than the main entrance (if you want to see that entrance and photos of the inside of this fabulous church, I suggest looking here: http://www.psalterium.cz/en/o_kostele_en.php). I don't really know what this entrance is used for though it does seem to be used sometimes. The rest of the time the stairs in front of it make a great resting spot for weary tourists!!

Sad Door Saturday

So maybe this doesn't look terribly sad at first sight, but look closer (click on the picture)...pretty sad, isn't it? Not just has the door been scratched and banged up badly, but dozens of things have been stuck and glued to it then scratched off...or not. And the final insult is the horrible handle. Poor door...can you hear it whimpering?

Cherubs Watching Over

This door is pretty boring...well, in my opinion, REALLY boring...but I do very much like the arch overhead and the sweet little cherubs amongst all the flowers.

Round and Around

I like all the roundedness of this door...the circle above the door, the rounded arch that frames the door, the rounded 'hoods' on the doors themselves, the columns and even the rounded scrolling above the circle that hangs over the door. There is even all this roundedness repeated in the wrought-ironwork on the windows of the door. This is a nice package. (Just too bad the door's handle ruins the doors chances of being a perfect package!)

At the House of the White Boot

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but there was a time when houses didn't have numbers, but had a different form of identification: a name. For example, a house might have a sculpture of 3 blackbirds on it so it was given the address 'At the House of the 3 Blackbirds'. If you look back to the door post of 8 April, that door was in the house 'At the Stone Ram'. It used to be that people would know a house by it's descriptive name and would look for such identifying factors when in search of it. Today's door is in the house 'At the White Boot'. Yep, that is just what it says over the door and it even has a relief sculpture of a white boot! That is all good and fine and even can be romantic, but what on earth did they do if they were in a hurry? I guess back in those days people had a lot of time to go looking around for the right house...I'm just grateful that today we have street names and house numbers!!

As regards the door itself and especially it's accessories, I like the little brass plate that shows a design of a letter then has an arrow to show the postperson where the letter needs to go. Too bad if the letter is fatter than that slit in the door...only thin post will be accepted in 'The House of the White Boot'!! (I have a question: Must the people that live in or that visit this house wear only white boots? Naw, I don't think so!)

Simply Golden

Would you guess that this door, which in itself is quite simple, is just a side entrance? Yep, it is. It belongs to the very famous and beautiful Municipal House (Obecny Dum) which is known for it's art nouveau paintings, murals, stained glass work, restaurant, architecture, furniture, etc. If you know this building, you know that the main entrance is 1000 times more exotic, however, if you want to see that door, you'll have to look it up on the web (lots of pictures of it exist on various sites) because I prefer to show you the lesser-known side entrance, or rather, the service entrance. I realise that it's hard to imagine a service entrance having such a beautiful, ornate green and gold art nouveau arch to protect it from the rain, but believe me, I walked by this door nearly every work day for seven years (when I worked in a building just across the way from it) so I can tell you from those years of seeing this door that I only ever saw it being used as a service entrance. Oh what a very lovely service entrance it is!!

See the gold work? The 'P' in gold and the other touches of gold both in the front of the arch and in the sides of it. And the door handle is wonderful...simple, yet beautiful.

Colourful Door Monday

Is this not a nice colour? A nice teal blue!! I saw this door and it just made me smile. Period. So I'm sharing it with you in hopes that it brings a smile to your face this Monday day. Have a nice week!

Sunday Church Door

Once again, we are looking at a side entrances to a church (the main entrance to this church is much grander). I don't know how often this entrance is used, but apparently enough that they could not leave it as it was so they updated it with a new (old-looking) door in a bright red (!!). Personally, I am not impressed. It is all flash, but has no heart (unlike my very first door on 14 February which was also red like this, but had lots of heart)...this just looks out of place to me, but who am I to criticise it? Just a simple passer-by. Though when I see a bright red door on a church I have the impression that somewhere in the heavens there are angels sighing...or giggling. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?? Oh well, it certainly makes for good conversation!

Sad Door Saturday

Joyless and Sad. Yep...that's what the J and S in the windows must stand for. Oh what a poor, sad, sad door. What on earth did it do to deserve such awful treatment? I think I hear it whimpering...can someone please call the SPCD*?

*SPCD - the (non-existent) Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Doors

An 'Emily' Door

And here we are, back to Friday so I thought I would show you another 'Emily' door (if you don't know who Emily is, please see my post of Friday 9 April). When you first see this door all by itself, you might think that it is quite big...but now look at it with Emily in front of it - remember, Emily is about 5 feet 3 inches tall.

Isn't it cute? This would definitely not be the door for a tall person! Well, at least one that has a tendency to forget to duck his head when passing through it!

The door isn't very ornate, but it does have a nice inlaid flower/star design and the wood is light and inviting. Finally, the door accessories pass my 'test'...they have character and to me that counts for a lot!

Simple, but Fresh

As you might imagine, I've become somewhat addicted to looking at and for doors. I see a door and my eyes wander over the whole thing then I ask myself how my heart feels about the door. If my heart likes it, I photograph it. All of the doors I have posted have gone through this routine. Sometimes the doors are fabulous; others are sad; others are unusual; while others are simple, but charming or lovely or any of a myriad of adjectives that could describe them. This is another of what I call 'Simple, but...' doors. I suppose I could also call them 'Simple and ....' doors.

I find the wood to be fresh and warm and inviting. The woodwork is well done without being overly complicated and the frame is also simple, but it, too has some character to it.

Finally, the door handle completes the picture with its delicate design that isn't too rich and in a material that a door handle should be made of - bronze (not aluminium!!).

At the Blue Lion

'U Modreho Lva' - which is what is written above this door - literally translates as 'At the Blue Lion' though, unless there is a blue lion statue somewhere higher up on the wall of this building, I'm a little confused because I don't see any blue lion anywhere in the door frame or it's ornamentation!

Granted, the door is very charming and the sculptural work above it is fabulous...but WHERE IS THE BLUE LION?! I'll just have to go back and see if I can find that blue lion, but until then, take a look at the richness of this door, it's frame, it's wrought-iron work and, of course, the arch above it. I would be happy to walk through this door each day!

Fantasy and Beauty

When I look at this door, it makes me think of a children's story; a fairy tale about a modest king. I seriously doubt that a modest king lives behind this door, but there is a modest king that lives above it. And there above him is his coat of arms to show what his lineage is...if you are familiar with coats of arms! This door and frame is all rather fun and fantasy filled...even the king's hair (or is that a sort of hat?) is all curly-cues!!

But let's get to the important part here...the door...well, in this case we have the wrought-iron gate which is lovely and effective. The flowing lines of the gate are gentle and easy-going, but they don't let you forget the gate's function. We see the gate a second time in the door's reflection and it repeats elements that render it so endearing. The door itself, is unfortunately lost in the dark depths of the foyer, but I am so mesmerized by the 'show' in front of it that I can't believe that the door itself is anything but lovely as well. It need not be too complicated since the show is (and our eyes are) centered on the wrought-iron gate that protects the door!!

Colourful Door Monday

This door is a looker!! There she is (yes, it is a she...it must be...look at the face over the door), lovely in her pretty red dress; partially in the shade, partially in the sun...smiling. You can't help but smile, too when you see her.

(Just too bad that the camera planted in the middle of the door frame has to ruin the privacy of it all!)

Church Door Sunday- what once was

I found this on a dead-end little back street...the backside of a church (that I can't seem to find the name of!)...it was there, looking so sad, unloved and forlorn...it isn't really a door, but out of respect, we will pretend it is, since it once was.

Sad Door Saturday

A broken window AND crap all over the babies.

Is this not sad???

But it could be so nice!!!

Why-oh-why?