SUBURBAN * POP

I’ve wanted a screen door for our bedroom to backyard door since we moved in that didn’t scream farmhouse/country. A way to let the light and fresh air in and the bugs out, while blending with our house in an unobtrusive, modern, and minimal way. We always thought we’d have to build one from scratch, the main reason we haven’t gotten to this project sooner, because there aren’t a lot of simple looking wood screen doors out there in our price range. Rejuvenation carries this one, which is decent looking but expensive. Last month, in a semi-desperate search for a cheap, temporary stand in, I saw this Screen Tight wood screen door in-stock at Lowes and decided to give it a try. It is simple, unobtrusive and just might even work as a long term solution. And for $70, way cheaper than anything we could throw together. (FYI Home Depot carries it too for even cheaper, though not in stock for us, and so does Amazon but for quite a lot more – which I almost paid before finding it locally because it’s still cheaper/easier than DIYing. Ours is a 32″ door for reference.) The downsides are what you’d imagine from a cheap, off the shelf screen door: it is sturdy enough, but slightly warped. We had to trim ours because something wasn’t square – totally possibly our house! The actual screen construction is flimsy, barely making it through taking it off/screwing it back on process in order to paint the frame. But now that it’s in we are SO happy with the quality for the price. It feels like it will last us for years and we like that the screen can be easily replaced when the time comes. Do you notice the literal cutting corners that happened? We had to trim off the top corner of the screen frame to clear a roof beam. We thought it would look WAY worse than it does and be so noticeable that we almost abandoned the project, so we are so happy that it’s only obvious from certain vantage points. The screen door comes unfinished and painting it the same color as our door seemed like the best way to blend it seamlessly, so I went with Fireglow by Behr again, in their Marquee paint in exterior glossy. Instead of priming I did one coat over the raw wood for a wood stain look with the grain slightly showing through. We hinged it opposite our door because that configuration was the least awkward for passage. I think what often dumb downs screen doors is ramshackle, country looking screen door pulls. Instead I planned on going with this dummy knob that matches our interior door knobs. Way better right? But I hesitated in order to sit with it for a few days and I’m so glad I did because I actually ended up preferring no hardward for an ultra-clean look. We put a roller latch on the inside so the door easily opens with a light push or pull on the cross bar and, especially since this door doesn’t get a ton of traffic, the no hardware situation is totally doable!Before the screen door and after:While not life changing, this really has improved our day to day. We keep it open all day and love having a view to our backyard. Our bedroom used to take on so much heat in the summer and the screen has dramatically changed airflow to where it’s often freezing cold in here by the time we go to bed – the best! And NO MORE FLIES, though oddly the cutest baby lizard did sneak in under the other day.