Pocket Doors - An interlude

While I wait for my transparency film to show up, I decided to work on the pocket door frames - my plan was to get everything sized and cut so that when the film showed up, I could print out the leaded/stained glass pieces and glue everything together.   Unfortunately, during the process I wasn't quite sure I like my end result well enough yet.  My original inspiration for the doors was this picture:

But after building the model frame from cardstock, I'm not sure I actually like the arched door after all.  To me it looks really modern, or very French Renaissance.  And while there are definitely some french-themed elements to Victorian design (Second Empire) that will be a part of this build, I just keep feeling like these are "off" somehow.  I don't know.












Here's my dry fit of the door frame (from the dining room side) with some "stained glass" pieces (these are just paper printouts) for effect:

This doesn't look so bad, I guess.  It just still feels a little too modern to me, and I think it's the style of that arch.  And then, of course, I found this picture, and suddenly the idea of making these transoms square instead of arched seems to fit much better:

 

So I'm still debating. A rectangular transom would certainly be easier, as there are far more rectangular glass designs than the half-arched ones. Plus the trimwork would be easier. I might also need to scale down the size of trim on the door panel a little bit still as well, and maybe that will help add a more antiqued look.  Meanwhile, my transparency film should show up today or tomorrow, 

which means I need to resolve this debate quickly and get a move on!  

More and more I think I'm leaning toward the square transom...

Update:  I adjusted the trim size on the door framing and I like that much better!  I think I will go with the square transom too. The arch doesn't look so modern now, but finding a stained glass pattern to fit this particular arch shape has been very difficult.  I haven't given up on it completely (it looks remarkably feminine and delicate now, I think) but I think that transom is going to require some more work.