Internal doors are one of the most visual design elements in a home, contributing to the architecture as well as the overall aesthetic. They have the important task of tying each of the rooms together, so it is vital that their style and profile are considered carefully when building or renovating. Not all doors need be the same, but when walking from one room into another, consistency in design is key. When selecting internal doors for a client’s home, I ask myself eight key questions.
Charlie Luxton Design
1. What is the home’s architectural style?
In most cases you will be selecting from either a flush- or panel-style interior door, so establishing the architectural style of your home is an important first step in deciding which path to proceed down.
Flush door: The plain, sleek appearance of a flush-panel door is ideally suited to modern homes as it provides a clean, flat surface. Usually made from particleboard or laminated timber, flush-panel doors are faced with sheets of plywood or MDF to achieve a flat surface, which may be painted, veneered or laminated.
Allard + Roberts Interior Design, Inc
Panel door: This style of door is typically suited to period and heritage homes, as they have a classic look and can range from a single panel to eight or more. Panel doors consist of rails, stiles and infill panels in construction, with six-panelled doors being the most common.
Note that a panel-style door may be adapted to suit a modern interior, as is the case here, featuring strong sharp lines, while maintaining a more streamlined appearance. The design itself, the thickness and materials used, are all contributing factors.
Sadolin Danmark
Tip: When I want to achieve a classic or high-end look in a new home, I will select a panel door with one to three panels for a smart, understated appearance.
Need an expert eye to choose the right door style to suit your home? Find an interior designer near you on Houzz for professional advice
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2. Should the internal doors blend in or make a statement?
Is the aim for the internal doors to blend in with the architectural surroundings, or for them to be a bit special? The profile design, colour and finish, as well as the surrounding setting, are all important factors to consider when deciding whether the internal doors will blend in, contrast or make a statement.
Dulux Paint
Painted doors: A neutral paint colour, or one specially selected to match the walls and ceilings, will allow the doors to blend in for a uniform look. To achieve more interest, finish the doors in a gloss set against low-sheen walls (or vice versa).
When striving to make an impression, vibrant paint colours offer an abundance of exciting possibilities. Keep in mind that there is no rule that all doors have to be the same colour.
Bower Architecture
Timber doors: Natural timber doors, whether solid or veneer, can introduce rich, sophisticated appeal to an interior. Drama can be introduced by having the grain running in varying directions, differing colour stains, or choosing a feature to highlight in a particular timber species such as cherrywood or oak.
AR Design Studio Ltd
For a more rustic statement, an aged or recycled door could be adapted to highlight a particular style, or feature an important part of a home’s history.
Dillon Kyle Architects (DKA)
Barn doors also add character, making them well suited to everything from a country cottage setting through to an ultra-modern interior.
Browse more beautiful barn doors on Houzz
Porous Designs Ltd
Glazed doors: Glass panels can transform the look of a panelled door, encouraging natural light to flow from one room into another. Clear, translucent, textured and coloured glass all make for an abundance of exciting design possibilities.
14 Reasons to Consider Internal Windows and Glazing
Turner Poco*ck
Steel-framed doors: Steel or metal-framed doors are a popular choice when looking to introduce a modern or industrial edge into an interior. They offer a sharp, streamlined finish and work well with glazed inserts. Steel-framed doors are also wonderfully hardwearing.
Zaher Architects
3. What level of quality is needed?
The quality of the interior doors should be commensurate with a home’s architecture and surrounding finishes. Given this, important factors to consider include thickness, weight and construction.
The internal doors selected for a grand old mansion will likely be made of a solid or solid-core construction. The feel of a door as it opens and closes is also a determining factor when it comes to style and level of quality. Closing a door made from solid wood, as opposed to one made from a synthetic material, is an entirely different experience.
Tile Bazaar
Alternatively, in the case of a home with a limited budget, a hollow-core style that is lightweight and cost effective might be best. A plain flat-panel door may be painted up – either the entire door or select parts for a statement look – to be in keeping with a modern home’s aesthetic with a clean-lined style. MDF doors can also be routed and painted to achieve a more traditional design.
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Jane Kim Architect
4. What’s the ideal height and width?
The height of a ceiling will impact the internal door height options (bearing in mind height levels may differ from floor to floor). For a new build, a higher than normal door with a wider than normal opening size will appear generous, having a profound impact on the aesthetic value of the home. Wider doorways also allow walkers and wheelchair access, which could be important should there be elderly or disabled people to consider.
For a home with standard-height doors undergoing a renovation, it’s worth considering lifting the height of the internal doors to achieve a greater level of quality in the home, even if it is restricted to the downstairs living areas. Alternatively, should there be doors in the same area of varying heights, making them all the same height will provide a look of uniformity.
Tip: Don’t forget to consider the cornice and door architrave size, as a taller doorway may not allow for generously sized mouldings above, depending on the ceiling height. If you find that all fits together well on the ground floor, don’t forget to consider lower ceilings upstairs, as you could be caught out.
Alexander James Interiors
5. Are the doors for a formal or informal space?
Not all door profiles need to be the same throughout a home. The front, formal areas may contain greater detail to complement any grand cornices, decorative mouldings and tall ceilings, whereas the informal living spaces and bedrooms may have their level of detail minimised to relate to a more informal setting.
Tip: Should you have a limited budget but would still like to introduce quality and detail, consider including solid, decorative interior doors in the main living and formal areas, sticking with a lesser grade upstairs and in the rooms that experience minimal traffic.
Vanessa Walker
French or double doors leading into a room enhance the grandeur of the space and work especially well in a formal sitting room, library, or master bedroom.
Tip: Pay attention to the door hardware, as decorative handles and feature back plates add even more gravitas, or pare back the formality with simple knobs or flush pulls for a less formal, modern finish.
Stiff and Trevillion
6. Are the doors required to provide a function?
Particular doors within the home may need to vary from the main internal door style selected, if they are required for a specific purpose.
French doors: Versatile and attractive, glazed French doors are an effective way to divide a space while achieving an open-plan feel that would not be possible with a single conventional door.
Glass doors: Glass doors invite natural light from one room into another and make a small room or dark passageway feel less closed in. Glass doors in a cellar area can allow a view into a temperature-controlled space if proper glazing methods are employed, though keep in mind that heat and cold commonly transfer from room to room through glass doors.
Black and Milk | Interior Design | London
Sliding doors: Sliding doors are particularly useful where there is limited room available for a hinged door. Double sliding doors work well between two rooms to create the illusion of an open-plan effect.
Cathy Schwabe Architecture
Pocket doors: Pocket sliding doors perform a disappearing act as they are designed to slide seamlessly into a wall for a flush finish. This style of door is great if you want to feel as though there is no door between two spaces, but want one to magically appear when privacy or insulation is required.
Elizabeth Kohn Design
Hidden doors: Hidden doors also perform a disappearing act when closed and their style, profile, colour and finish are determined solely by their background. These usually sit flush against the wall and eschew architraves and opt for subtle knobs or hardware.
Cravotta Interiors
Bi-fold doors: Bi-fold doors are made from a series of door panels that slide open like a concertina and stack neatly onto one or both sides, generally to the outside. This door style is useful when a generously sized opening requires doors to close the room off on occasion.
Bi-fold doors are an excellent choice should you like to hide away a kitchenette, laundry, wardrobe or storage space where space is limited.
12 Interior Doors With a Difference
7. What style of outer casing?
How the doors are framed is as important to consider as the door profile itself. Relating the outer architrave encasing the door with the internal door style, its profile, surrounding mouldings and any architraves in a room is a must.
Any formal rooms in a home will likely require a wider, more detailed frame. Slimmer, simpler profiles usually work for informal areas, with the style of moulding depending on the style of the home. The width of the door architrave must also balance with the door proportions and ceiling height.
United Porte Inc
A modern home that features simple, sleek lines may not need a framework at all, with flush-plastered door recesses and flush-finished skirting boards instead, which achieves a seamless, understated look.
Inbetween Architecture
8. How will the handles and hardware match?
Door hardware, including the handles, knobs, locks, rails and hinges, adds considerable aesthetic appeal to a door. While important for functional purposes, the style, finish and level of quality of the hardware – particularly the handles – will complete the look. Plain or elaborate, classic to modern, fun and playful, a designer statement, recessed or flush, or simply no handles at all – the options are endless.
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Need some inspiration for your doors’ hardware and handles? Read up on 10 Decorative Ideas to Get a Handle on Your Doors
