Doors: Coming Out Of Their Shell

The French farces of Feydeau depended on the slamming of multiple doors to punctuate outrageous behavior and ignite thunderous laughter from their Gallic audiences. The set for the boisterous British comedy “Noises Off” featured no fewer than 13 doors which flew open or creaked shut as a murderous ax changed hands throughout the pantomimed second act.There are too many films and books to name that claim the word “door” in their titles, signifying mystery, terror, opportunity, sensuality, separation, incarceration—the list is endless—yet this often ignored stepsister-to-windows is frequently relegated to third-string attention in residential architecture. Even though the door often becomes the prime architectural element of entries and particularly second-floor hallways, doors are often painted the same as the casings and thoroughly blended into the paneling—if there is any.

And the purchase of doors for a home is significant. Clients are often astonished when the door schedule arrives on their plans and they more than likely have no fewer than 30 doors—usually more. When one adds up the entry, closets, bathrooms and basement doors, the ante is upped.

The door as an architectural element deserves particular attention when rooms do not have distinguishing features such as high ceilings, paneling, deep crowns, casings, baseboards or, for that matter, decent views or good fenestration. In the countless white apartments in New York and the dreary Sheetrocked spec houses of the East End, the door can be the designers’ prime weapon in their arsenal of architectural tricks.

The weight, thickness and function of a door rank first on my list. The door should feel substantial, and look far better open when it is at least 1½ inches thick and terrific when it is 1¾ to 2 inches thick. Hollow-core doors should be banned or hung only in meathead fraternities, where fists can easily punch through without breaking bones! Good hinges are essential and the higher the door, the more pairs you need.

Knuckle hinges are particularly handsome and highly functional, as you can easily lift the door off the spindle in order to carry through your puffy 42-inch-deep sofa (or your well-fed bride!) Again, good quality knobs or levers justify their expense for a tight close, an effortless open and worry-free longevity. Levers are best for those who carry armfuls of groceries and/or children. Also, levers are advantageous for those who suffer from arthritis or have other physical challenges. Knobs of course are attractive and oval knobs are ravishing. But oval knobs require expert installation so that they remain in a vertical position. An askew oval signals poor maintenance.

Though paint-grade poplar, fir and pine doors are common, ash, oak, maple and walnut, available in stain grade, are stock items. The Georgians were famous for their waxed and polished walnut-paneled doors with book-matched veneers. Cased with painted moldings, these portals made for an impressive entrance.

Differentiating the door from the casing and frame allows the door to shine in the principal player’s role. In a rather lackluster, builder’s-special home in the Bahamas, I lacquered each bedroom’s interior doors with a paint color that was the guiding thematic hue of the room. The brightly colored rose pink and green room had a lacquered pink entry and closet doors. The azure and yellow room had yellow entry, closet and bathroom doors. And all the doors that opened from the central hallways were painted in Bahamas’ turquoise blue. Yes it sounds awful, but in that world of exuberant ease and playful relaxation, this celebration of color was perfect. What aided in pulling this crowd of colors together was their shared intensity and value.

In a featureless Time Warner building apartment, we designed three-panel, Deco double doors that created a striking architectural statement when sprayed with a liquid charcoal gloss. Though the ceilings were only 8-feet-5-inches tall, I broke through the top of the 6-feet-8-inch door frames, raising the door height to 7 feet 9 inches. It not only instantly opened up the spaces, but also threw dazzling focus onto the doors themselves, which truly allowed them to step up to the plate.

In the traditional world, the Shaker-style panel with a simple, square, stepped-back panel feels appropriate these days. While clean slab doors, devoid of any carved or recessed articulation rule the modern genre, luxe surface veneers in radiant flitches of wood make up for any missing detail. Exotic tiger and bird’s-eye maples, heavenly veils of cross-cut sycamore, striped and bleached zebra woods attune one’s sense to a different drummer. With every kind of cerusing available, rift-sawn oak doors are seeing a center-stage standing ovation.

Of course, there are times when there exist so many entrances and exits that a hidden or “jib” door is called for. Without casing, this flat-surface slab door aligns with the surface of the wall, disappearing into the architecture, only noticeable by a cut outline. Jib doors are highly effective when wallpapered or textured the same as the walls, and if the baseboard or wainscoting runs across the bottom of the door, then the magic is complete. Of course, I executed a powder room door so successfully that no guest could ever find it and my client had to irritably escort each person in the party personally to the powder room. (Well, she shouldn’t have served such good wine!)

Though the door has gotten short shrift in the past several decades, it is emerging from its cocoon as a recovered and rather resplendent architectural feature. At least changing the color of your hallway doors, as an accent, will update and invigorate your architecture. This is just the “right kind of punch” for your doors.