As anyone who has ever browsed the selection of doors at Home Depot or Lowe’s already knows, your design choices are pretty limited.

You can get traditional or … traditional.

David Erwin (pictured above), a Fort Worth native and Southwest High School graduate, and his wife, Christiane, found themselves in that same position a few years ago when they were remodeling their Mid-Century Modern residence in North Central Austin. They wanted a modern door that would match the rest of their house.

“I told my contractor exactly what I wanted, but he came back and said it didn’t exist,” David said. “I didn’t believe him. I mean, how hard could it be?”

But after many Google searches and visits to local home improvement stores, they realized that if they were going to get the door they wanted, they would have to build it themselves.
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Taken in the Modern. I like the sort of surreal look this one has.

Last Friday’s Modern ‘Til Midnight went off well, as always. Steph and I worked our way over a little after 7:30, which meant we got there just in time to enjoy the musical stylings of The Theater Fire. Having never heard these guys before, I must say I enjoyed their set very much. Their music is more or less unclassifiable, blending a wide variety of elements and instruments (mariachi horns, accordion, mandolin, etc.). They pretty much rock. I grabbed both their albums off iTunes the next day. (The dancing cowboy hippies that accompanied their set were entertaining, as well.)

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Don’t forget - tonight is Modern ‘Til Midnight, from 6:00 PM to, well, midnight (hence the name). Music will be many and varied - Yellow Fever, The Theater Fire, Trimble Tech High School Marching Band (directed by Earnest Colvin playing a composition by Patrick Grant), PPT, and Strange Fruit Project. Food and drinks. Admission is $15, or FREE for Modern members.

I’ll be there from about 7:30 or so onwards. Look for the guy in the hat, as usual. Say hi!