The Unique Feature Erin Napier Added To Her Stairs For Charm And Character

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We have to give Erin Napier her flowers at this point because the soft-spoken interior designer has proven time and again that she's got a keen eye for detail and a sixth sense for what works and what doesn't in a home. She tackled a historic renovation with a stunning paint color when she and her husband, Ben, took on the renovation of a multigenerational home in Laurel, Mississippi. She also proved us all wrong when she bet on a rare thrift store find that she turned into an adorable bird bath. So when Napier suggests adding glass doors to a stairwell, there's no other way to react than to agree.

If you've been following Napier's career as a celebrity designer, then you'll already know that she's an open book with her creative ideas. When she's not teasing fans about the latest HGTV "Home Town" project on her Instagram, she's proudly showing off some of the things she has done in her home. One such personal endeavor shared on @erinapier is the swinging double glass doors that adorn the stairway of the couple's city house: the Craftsman Cottage. As the post's caption stated: "The glass doors on our stairs are original to the house from 1925. @scotsman.co pulled up the carpet that was covering them, made panel moulding for the stairwell, and then gave it all a fresh coat of Sherwin Williams Dover White semi gloss."

Having doors at the bottom of interior stairs isn't as rare as you may think, especially in homes with growing families. After all, installing a stair gate or pocket door is a nifty door solution for houses with pets or small children. It keeps the little ones safe from falls or wandering into restricted areas. Erin Napier, however, forgoes more diminutive options in favor of reinstalling an apparently original fixture: full-sized glass doors. It's an intentional choice that goes beyond function; the refurbished doors fit perfectly within the modern colonial aesthetic of the home. The traditional panel molding at the bottom of the doors reinforces the always-been-there look, as do the stylish glass doorknobs.

It's about more than simple aesthetics. More than just adding charm and character to an often overlooked part of a home, the double glass stairwell doors have more than one practical purpose. While they don't offer much visual privacy with the panels of transparent glass, the doors do provide privacy in other ways. They reduce noise transfer between floors and, of course, function as a physical barrier that doesn't block natural light. The doors may also help regulate the temperature inside the house, preventing hot air from rising to the upper floor. Add discreet weatherstripping to the doors to boost these advantages. A roll of Esufeir White Door Frame Foam Gap Filler costs about $9.