The Doors
Interior designers look at buildings through a very particular lens. Whether it's a home, a hotel, or hospital; we are always thinking about human interaction in the built environment. Meaning, how we move through space, what motivates us to move through space in a particular pattern, what parts of the building do we actually touch with our hand versus the parts that we only see with our eyes? This extends into so many different categories, but no matter how little time you spend in a space, you almost always see and touch the door. Doors are often spoken about in a metaphorical sense, but today we are getting so literal with them. We're taking a look at what doors are actually made of, the different options that you have when it comes to styles and hardware, and all the little details so you know exactly what to look for when you’re in the market for a door.
But first, let's talk about the color of the week. We are beginning to enter spring here in the northern hemisphere of planet earth, and one of the earliest signs of spring that I look for in nature is the blooming of forsythia. This exuberant yellow shrub kicks off the start of spring with its wispy branches, covered in delicate yellow blossoms. Pantone 395 captures this color perfectly. Forsythia tend to bloom beginning in mid March through the beginning of April, so be on the lookout. You may also see these branches in your local flower shop, and they can be absolutely stunning bouquets to add to a table, especially in a room with a high ceiling. Make sure to store them in a tall heavy vessel with lots of water.
Okay without further adieu let’s talk about doors. I had to restrain myself from making all kinds of old game show and Monty Hall problem references of the like “what’s behind door number three?” But, this is not a dad jokes podcast, it’s an interior design podcast so let’s dive in. I want to start off by saying that in the world of doors we have two main categories; interior doors and exterior doors. Exterior doors are unique because they play an important role in protecting your home from the outside elements and creating a true barrier from things like fire, pollution, and moisture. Most of the aesthetic considerations we’re going to cover can be applied to both interior and exterior doors, but we’re really going to focus on the construction and selection of doors for the inside of your home.
One thing that is really important to keep in mind when you're door shopping, is the door to a room is the room’s most vulnerable point, in terms of acoustics. So if you are in any way concerned with sound transmission between rooms, the door you select is going to make a world of difference. The acoustic properties of a door will vary depending on the style and its construction. There are a lot of popular doors out there that make for very poor acoustic buffers, in fact they're virtually doing nothing in terms of acoustic privacy. The doors we select in our homes are so much more than a cute aesthetic, so let's get into it.
First and foremost, we need to talk about the mechanics of a door - how it opens and closes. There is the absolute classic and a personal favorite of mine - the swing door. This is such a commonly used door, I would not be surprised if most people don't know what to call it. It's just a regular door. But really a swing door is a door that is attached on one side to a door frame with a series of hinges and can be either pushed or pulled depending on what side of the door you are on. These doors usually swing in only one direction, and are the most functional, practical, the safest, and the most affordable option. These doors are the best to have in case of emergency. If there is any level of panic, a swing door, especially one that swings out is the most intuitive to operate in an emergency, when a few seconds fumbling with a sliding door may make a difference. They are easy to install, at least in the world of doors they are the easiest, not that I would personally want to install one. In terms of acoustics, the swing door is going to always provide the most sound privacy. This is because swing doors click neatly into place within a door frame, and depending on the particular style you choose, there can be a very minimal air gap between the bottom of the door and the floor, which is where a lot of the sound leaks out. This is true for other airbourne elements like air conditioning, heating, smells, and creating efficient ventilation. You may notice that 99 times out of 100 the front door to a home is a swing door because of all of these reasons.
The swing door family includes many variations. French doors are a pair of double swing doors with glass panels. A Dutch door comes in two sections and allows the top and bottom half to swing independently of each other. Jib doors are usually found, if you look carefully, in a panelized wall, disguised to look like just an another section of wall - these were popular entries to secret French castle passages in the 1700’s, but they are still used today. There’s also the pivot hinge door, which rotates on a vertical spindle, usually a few inches away from the door frame. The pivot door is by far and away the slickest and most modern of doors.
The only downside to swing doors is the amount of space that they take up. If there is a room that is really limited in square footage, the clear space needed to accommodate a swing door can take up precious room. This is where sliding doors come into the mix. Sliding doors include pocket doors, barn doors, and bypass doors. I want so badly to be able to describe these doors to you with out including my personal bias, but I think it's better if I spill the beans and I'm upfront about how I feel about these doors. I'm not a fan. Sliding doors of all varieties have gained a popularity that endlessly frustrates me. Let's start with their pros so we can get that out-of-the-way. Sliding doors take up less room sort of. You never have to worry about furniture being bumped by a sliding door. Their design often feels modern and sleek, maybe even a little unusual. There’s a charm to them. Okay, that’s it, that’s all the good things about sliding doors.
Let's talk about sliding door issues, starting with privacy. Sliding door hardware consists of a track system, usually with tiny wheels attached to the door that run along the track. This track can be on the top, the bottom, or both. If you've ever dealt with anything else that runs on the track you may know that unless it is a high-quality, well-crafted track, it's quite easy for a wheel to get derailed or to have a shaky, unstable feeling to the whole mechanism. Tracks are also high maintenance hardware that can be dust and crumb traps, especially if they are floor mounted, so they require extra care and cleaning to make sure they run smoothly. While tracks take up less room on the sides of the door than hinges, they take up significantly more room on the top or bottom. Sliding doors require either a thicker wall if it’s a pocket door, or an overhead track that is double the width of the door to accommodate it in both open and close positions. This can be mounted either into the ceiling or on the wall above the door. If the track is along the top only, there needs to be additional considerations along the sides and bottom to secure the door in the closed position. This is achieved by adding a brush or rubber sweep along the bottom the door, and catches along the door frame sides. All this to say, the extra hardware adds to the cost, and the sound protection still doesn’t stand up to a classic swing door.
Now all that being said, if a sliding door really stole you heart, say yes to love and go for it, just keep them away from super private spaces like bathrooms, please!
The vast majority of doors fall into the swing or slide categories, but you can also start to have fun with the width of a door, adding drama with double doors, customizing the material and construction of the door panel, and of course playing up the jewelry of the door world - the handles.
A standard door is always exactly 36” wide and 84” tall in the world of public spaces or anywhere complying with ADA code. This is true for the front door of homes as well. But interior residential doors come in smaller widths like 32” and 30”. It’s not uncommon to see tiny 24” wide doors on older homes too. But we can go the other direction as well - doors can be as wide as 48” and still be relatively easy to open - this can be a nice option between spaces that want to feel semi-open at times, in lieu of the more common French doors.
The material world of doors is endlessly fascinating, and how these materials are put together makes a major difference in the look of your door. Most doors appear to be, and would like you to believe they are made from wood. Traditional wood doors that have paneled sections and frames are called stile and rail. Rail refers to the horizontal frame and stile refers to the vertical sections. These elements frame the outer edges of the door, and the inner panels can be composed of all kinds of different sections and shapes. A solid wood stile and rail door is a classic, high quality door that you’ll find in many older homes.
The most common door construction in post-war residences is a hollow laminate shell that is filled with honeycomb shaped cardboard or fiberboard. This keeps it light, bright, cheap, and cheerful. Solid wood doors are absolutely stunning of course, but come with a higher price tag. Many hollow laminate doors are pressed into a mold to emulate the look of stile and rail doors.
A middle of the road option is a solid MDF or multi-density fiberboard door, that is either ready to paint the color of your choice, or cover in a thin layer of wood veneer. Another good mid range option is a metal door. More often than not, aluminum is the metal of choice for doors, due to its light weight and how easy it is to manipulate, but steel doors are common as well.
The modern alternative to stile and rail is the flush panel door, and this is exactly what is sounds like, a flat panel, often wood, that makes a beautiful canvas to show off more intricate veneer patterns. Sometimes flush panel doors have glass panels incorporated into them, but some doors are completely made out of glass. These are very common in offices, hotel lobbies, and retail spaces, but it’s not usual to see a glass door in a modern home office, or leading out to a backyard.
Once you’ve decided on the style and material of your door, it’s time to select the handle hardware. If you’ve chosen a sliding door; a vertically oriented handle is the best choice, unless it’s a pocket door. In which case, a recessed pull is an absolute must. But vertical handles can make for very handsome accessories on traditional swing doors as well. I love the modern look of an elongate vertical pull on the front door of a home - one that extends almost the full height of the door. That’s a real bold power move, like a wearing red lipstick.
A common style of door handle for a swing door is the lever. This is a horizontal bar that is easy to grab and typically pulled in a downward direction, about 15 degrees to open the door. Levers are the most universally useable door handles, they are ergonomic and easy to operate. Another common style is the classic knob, which is simply a round extrusion that is twisted clockwise to open the door. There’s the dramatic variation of this called the medallion knob, which features an oversized circle or square to turn.
The handle of the door is either connected to the door with a metal escutcheon plate, or directly to the door for a more seamless look. Escutcheon plates bring a since of tradition. This is where an old skeleton key hole would be found, and there are as many shapes of escutcheon plates as you can dream up, with elaborate moldings and details galore. If you haven’t searched the vintage escutcheon plate repurposed as jewelry world on Etsy, you are in for a real treat.
And of course all handles come in a wide vary of metals. Oil rubbed bronze and blackened steel are very popular right now for their dark elegance, but light bronze, brass, nickel, and stainless steel are all popular choices as well. Any metal that includes the terms “polished” or “chrome” in the name will reflect like a mirror, but also leave very visible hand prints. Finishes like brushed, satin, and antique will be more forgiving.
Last but not least, if you aren’t going with a natural wood finish on your door, you can have a lot of fun deciding what color to paint it.
Depending on your goals, for a front door, red is the classic Feng Shui color because it brings good luck and protection. Although, painting a front door a deep charcoal is incredibly popular right now, as is a poppy yellow. Inside the house, the classic color assignment is to paint all doors to match any trim in the house, but the modern style is to paint all walls, trim, and doors a single color from a monochromatic vibe. If you’ve chosen a style and rail door and you want to give it a vintage or glam feeling, try painting the panels within the door a contrasting color, or even bringing in gold leaf on the molding or stenciling if you really want to express your uniqueness.
What makes a door stick out for you? Is it the color, the hardware, or the style? If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend or on your social media. It helps so much to spread the word and keep our community strong and growing. Until next time, you are so amazing, and I will talk to you in the next episode.
