Giving New Life to Old Doors

I’ve always loved old things and I get a kick out of seeing how people give old things a new lease on life. Imagine my joy when I walked into Shuswap Chef, a very small restaurant in British Columbia, to see that they had hung vintage doors from the ceiling to create privacy screens between tables. Brilliant! I had seen doors reincarnated into coat racks, bookshelves, coffee tables, and headboards, but never as suspended screens. The restaurant had various door styles, some with etched glass, some without glass, French style, and one that looked like a ladder.   Although they were all different, the doors created a cohesive look while also allowing for privacy while letting day light through to keep the space nice and bright during day time. They also became a real conversation piece for diners in the restaurant.

I asked our server what inspired the use of doors in the restaurant and she said that the Chef had been collecting them for years with no specific purpose in mind, until he opened his own restaurant. Well done! I give this quaint restaurant 5 stars for the superb food and for their trendy up-cycling décor.

Liette Tousignant

Interior decorator turned inventor turned entrepreneur.