I started this post a few weeks ago, but it just never got any real traction. Today I’m dusting it off and trying again.
I chose these photos for Thursday Doors because of the much needed splash of colour they were providing.
I grew up in a yellow wood house – later covered with aluminum siding – and I think that’s why I seem to have a natural attraction to yellow houses. Although these doors are rather ordinary by themselves, the total package is attractive to my eye.
The blue roof on the above house is so striking with the yellow. Carrying forward the theme of blue trim takes me to a heritage building from 1891.
I like the rounded features that complement this building … from the gentle arch on top of the door and windows, to the small overhang over the front step, and the wrap of the two hand railings down the stairs.
For a last splash of colour, this building always makes me smile. Its boring utilitarian door is more than made up for by its baby turret.
Thursday Doors is a weekly photo feature hosted by Norm Frampton at Norm 2.0.
I love this
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Thank you – me too 🙂
It’s finding the unusual stuff that makes us look twice 🙂
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I recognized the first building in the post but I couldn’t place it. Today I walked past it – for about the 50th time, give or take a few 🙂 and immediately thought of your post!
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This is a part of the city I don’t normally ventured into. I want to go back … there is so much to explore 🙂
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In my dreams as a girl, I had a butter yellow house, Joanne. There’s a warmth and sunny disposition to them. Yours are very sweet and colorful with the addition of trim in a different color. I enjoyed the blue door tucked under a porch roof and the idea of a meal behind the other door made me smile. I ate Indian food last night at a pretty restaurant called, Saffron. Love that golden name! 🙂
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Saffron is a perfect name for a restaurant … especially an Indian one!
Of course I had to look it up, and yes, Saffron is an official name of a colour – which is golden yellow 🙂
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I really enjoyed a traditional Jalfrezi over rice and their coffee and cream with spices, including cardamon was a delicious way to finish the meal.
I actually never knew saffron was anything by it an orangish spice, Joanne. Thank you for looking this up and my guess of golden yellow was reflecting their sign. 🙂
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by an = “but an” orangish colored spice.
Oops!
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I do love these pops of color! There’s something about the pink/yellow combo in the first house that makes it seem so cheerful! 🙂
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Thanks Amy – I doubt I would ever go so far in colour choices as the first house, but I do love pops of colour in an otherwise drab winter world right now 🙂
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These are the perfect antidotes to the blahs of winter. Thanks!
janet
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If you can’t head south for warmth and sunshine, an injection of colour will cure the blahs in no time 🙂
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A varied mix just perfect for eyes that are getting fed up of looking at the white stuff.
That second one is just amazing. I can only imagine all of the interesting nooks and crannies in that place.
As for the last one, the yellow and the mini turret more than compensate for what it lacks in the way of doorliciousness 😉
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Doorliciousness! omg – you really are the Grand Master of Doorness!! 🙂
I agree with you about the 2nd photo. I would LOVE to go in there and poke around!
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Glad you got the traction back, great doors and houses too. Yellow is unusual but fits these properties well…
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Crikey! That first house with the yellow and purple is pretty garish! I have seen some peculiar combinations over here, but that one is definitely up there with them. I can’t say I am a fan of yellow houses, possibly because the very few I have seen have always been so bright. A soft lemon is far more appealing.
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There is no question that the shade of a colour can be a deal breaker.
As someone else mentioned, the yellow and purple definitely has a 60s hippie feel to it.
… but you can’t dispute that it’s an eye-opener on a dull winter day 🙂
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Eye watering at least! I do like purple but I wouldn’t paint my house that colour 😀
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Wonder color to brighten up the blues of winter!
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That’s what I thought, too 🙂
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The blue and yellow go together so beautifully, Joanne. I really like the character in old buildings. The brick home is gorgeous to my eye. 🙂
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Once upon a time I would have preferred a new house, but as I age it seems I like everything else around me to have some history 🙂
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Me too, Joanne. 🙂
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Definitely more colour in Toronto than Calgary I think Joanne. Or perhaps I am just not looking in the right places. This time of year we could use some vibrant shades that’s for certain.
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I know … and ideally some of those colours should come from something other than my neon blue jacket 😉
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Soon. We are almost at the end of this right?
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I hope so. I just ordered a new bike today. Cycling weather can’t come soon enough 🙂
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Oh yay for a new bike! What did you get?
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I’ve ordered a Specialized Sequoia. It’s cyclocross bike for all-terrain touring. This year I’m planning to do more trail riding than road cycling, so I needed a bike that can handle the challenges of gravel, mud, etc.
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Sounds like all kinds of adventures in your future!
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I can hardly wait!!! 😀
We’ve been having a taste of spring the past couple of days and it’s been killing me not to be outside on a bike.
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I stayed at an old Victorian that looked a lot like the first house in college. When the grad students on the top floor made love, the whole building shook! Those were the days of living on peanut butter sandwiches and Top Ramen!
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hahahaha!! Either that house was really flimsy or the couple upstairs were actually gorillas going at it 😉
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What a cheery colorful post. Love the first two. But tis the collection together that makes it memorable.
Peta
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Thanks 🙂
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My houses were blue, then coral, then tan. I have always loved yellow houses because they are bright and cheerful.
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It’s not a colour one sees very often – at least not here. It always boils down to getting the right shade so it doesn’t look garish.
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I love yellow and blue always looks good with it, even on houses. That first house looks like someone went nuts with a box of crayons. Still I kind of like it. I say, never grow UP.
Someone here painted their house a Royal Bank Blue and you should have heard the uproar. Sheesh. I don’t understand why it should matter. It was somewhere close to downtown and not a new house in a subdivision. Love these photos. You share such interesting ones.
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Thanks Tess. Glad you’re a fan of my quirky side 😉
The problem is that taste is so individual and picking a colour scheme is fraught with drama when parties don’t agree. The end result is endless blandness.
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Oh my! That purple/violet/lavender trim on the first house is too much for me. Oh my gracious. Who put that there and WHY?
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HAHAHAHA!! It would not be my first choice of colour on a house either …. but you have to admit, it really is an eyeful!! 😀
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Oh yes, I admit that. But really?!!
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😀
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It’s an eyeful, all right, and the perfect choice to lead the pack, today. I’m awake now!
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What a great collection of doors/houses Joanne! Where are these located? (Based on the first one, I would say, NOT in the Florida Keys…)
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Thank you 🙂 They’re all in Toronto in the downtown area. I recently developed an interest in the heritage buildings of the city and have been delighted to find so many old structures still tucked away among all the glass and concrete of the high rise buildings.
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These color combinations work so well, Joanne. An ordinary door can be part of a wonderful entrance. I like blue accents on houses, and I like blue doors. Thanks for the burst of color on a winter day.
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Thanks Dan – one can never get too much colour during the gray of winter 😉
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That’s so true.
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Thanks Joanne, I’ve really enjoyed your Thursday buildings and think it will be a successful off shoot to the doors series. I’m struggling to pick a favourite but if pushed would suggest the last one by a small turret. 🙂
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Isn’t that baby turret just the cutest? 🙂
I wonder what Husband would say if I suggested we ratchet a small turret onto our 1970s era house? I suspect he would think I’ve finally lost my mind 😉
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Yes, yes it is 🙂
I seem to remember a post where you were not quite in agreement on the colour scheme for a kitchen wall. If only you’d had the turret as a bargaining chip then 🙂
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bwahahahaha!!
Interestingly, I’m not getting as much push back as I used to. I’m hoping it means he’s finally decided that I can be trusted when left to my own judgement … although with spouses, it’s often hard to tell 😉
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So get it, Joanne, take advantage of Gilles lapse and show him once and for all… He was right not to trust you… I mean that you have great taste 🙂 the worse that can happen? A form of Tourette’s at the turret… 😉
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Divorce … that could happen 😉
It’s bad enough that I ordered a new bike this morning. It’s shiny and new and I’m really, really excited.
I think Gilles might be less excited though 😉
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Oh nice! (The bike) He’ll be delighted and it is a better travelling arrangement than a turret 🙂
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He’ll hate my new bike. It isn’t for racing (the horror!) … it’s for all-terrain touring 🙂
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These are some very cool buildings Joanne. The first image has that 1960’s “flower power” kind of look with the color of the trim. I love the Mansard roof of the second building and it looks like its been around for quite some time. I really love the paint scheme and the colors chosen for the trim on the third image.
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I hadn’t put my finger on it, but you got it exactly. The first house does look like a 1960s hippie influence.
… and thanks for giving me a name for that style of roof. That blue roof is what originally caught my eye. I know this building was built in the 1800s, but I haven’t been able to find any information on its history. Now it bears all the scars of its transformations over the years. In an odd kind of way, it manages to make the building look more interesting.
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I have never been lucky enough to live in a yellow house! They are so cheerful and welcoming. Your collection is wonderful – I’m glad you dusted off your post and shared it with us.
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I just realized as I was reading your comment that this house we currently live in used to have yellow siding on the upper half. Why they put yellow siding on a building with pinkish brick on the bottom half, I’ll never understand.
I tried to find a colour photo of the house I grew up in for this post, but came up blank. The only photos I could find were either poor b&ws or after the white siding had been put over it.
Now the house is gone completely.
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Good collection, Joanne. Love the blue doors.
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There is just something very elegant about a blue door 🙂
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A friend of mine used to live in house number one, across from the AGO 🙂
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A friend of your’s lived in the yellow and purple house?
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Yes, she just recently moved to New York
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It’s a small world isn’t it? 🙂
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You’ve got a great eye for interesting architectural features on houses – not just limiting yourself to doors😉
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Thanks 🙂
I’ve always been visually attracted to interesting structures and Thursday Doors give me a chance to indulge in it 🙂
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Bold buildings…gotta love ’em!
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I agree 😀 So much better than all the cookie cutter sameness in so much of new development.
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Bold and old then…
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I have definitely lived my life in way too boring of houses. No yellow, blue or even green houses in my history…they have all been mostly grey…or dull brownish! Each of your buildings immediately made me want to venture inside…especially the Shawarma place!
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If nothing else, they make me stop and give them a second look … and the Shawarma place gets a 2nd look every time I pass it 🙂
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Those are amazing examples of architecture and color. Wow!
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A little bit of an eye-opener aren’t they? 😀
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Great buildings!! I love old buildings with character!
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Especially when they are discovered in a sea of brown brick buildings 😀
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Yes!!
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I love the second house! So they bricked in the middle window and then put in ……another smaller window? Oh, I would love to know the history on this one. The very first house I bought on my own was in a very old section of town and was a yellow gold. I cried when I had sell that house. Great houses…..I mean doors, Joanne!
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Isn’t that 2nd house a beauty? … in spite of all her renovation scars. That centre oblong window is interesting … partly because it was open on a cold, snowy day … but largely because I thought it added to the unique character of this house.
Yes, there is something joyous about a yellow house 🙂
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We live in a blue house. I like to call it our “Character House” I don’t like cookie cutter homes, so I enjoyed this post tremendously.
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I love homes with character … and blue would be a great colour to stand out from all the ubiquitous brown 🙂
I live in a 1970s era cookie cutter area, but after 40+ years, many of the homes have a distinct character because of the embellishments that have been added over the years. Landscaping thankfully corrects a lot of that sameness!!
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Really colorful and lovely buildings you shared today! I love the turret, and sharwarma! Let’s eat there! 🙂
That shade of blue trim is really pretty, and the reflections in the door’s windows are great!
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I sometimes find it a bit of a challenge to take photos of a door when I’m trying to avoid my own reflection. Getting a pleasing reflection is a bonus 😉
Done! You come to Toronto and we’ll go for sharwarma 🙂
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Yes! Let’s eat sharwarma! I hope I make it to Toronto one day.
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I LOOOOVE, LURVE if you will, that second house. That’s a wow-er. I live in a yellow house, and I have always loved yellow houses. They’re warm and welcoming. ❤
Corner doors are always a hit, and that's a striking set!
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Yellow houses – big points.
Corner doors – big points.
Turrets – HUGE points.
Aren’t yellow houses great?!! You’re lucky to live in one that you adore. Our current house originally had yellow siding on the top half but honestly, if was awful. The colour had faded badly over the years and just didn’t complement the pink brick on the bottom half. Happily, that nasty anemic yellow siding is now gone 🙂
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I do love my yellow house, but I long for it to be a warmer tone, which means cleaning the green off the siding to eliminate the tinge. Bleh.
What color did you choose to go with the pink brick? Most people around here stick with white.
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I don’t know what colour you’d describe the siding …I’ve been told I’m terrible with colours. To me it’s a beige with a pinkish hue. It complements the brick very nicely, and interestingly, several other home owners in our area changed their siding to the same colour shortly after we did.
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Not surprising at all. Lots of people need to see it to believe it 🙂
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