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Internal doors - how to choose? It can seem like a daunting task. Whether they are for a new build home or for the refurbishment of an existing property the choice can seem confusing.
Start to simplify the choice process by considering the following points.
Style and Design
What is your overall interior design theme? Do you want a period style in keeping with other features of the house or contemporary to create a sleek modern look? Some homeowners like to maintain a constant theme throughout matching internal wooden doors with other period features and others choose to create contrasts by mixing the styles.
Contemporary doors are often flush insofar as they do not have raised panels or mouldings. Sometimes they come sectioned with grooves or highlights. Glazed versions often have these offset or feature one long glazed panel.
Period or Classic styles hark back to their particular era and are largely sub-divided into three groups.
Georgian doors were rather flamboyant. They have either four or six raised panels sometimes further enhanced with a raised moulding around each one.
Victorian doors featured four flat panels, two large rectangles at the top and two smaller ones at the bottom. Usually there was an ornate beading around the panels. Nowadays there are ‘Shaker’ style Victorian doors where there is no beading but instead a sharp rectangular drop down to the recessed panel.
The 1930’s influenced by art deco saw a radical move away from symmetrical rectangular panels. The innovation was to have a square panel at the top with three descending rectangles below that.
Timber type
Having chosen your style or design theme next consider the type of timber or finish you would like for your doors. All styles come in a variety of finishes.
Oak doors typify classic elegance, they have a real qualitative feel to them. Varnished or stained and then varnished they impart a warm and opulent character.
Pine doors are often bought for their practicality, sometimes to lend a Scandinavian feel. They are affordable and easily decorated if you are going for a coloured theme.
Pitch pine is a rather unique and increasingly rare timber to find in doors. With a pinkish brown colour, Pitch pine doors come as a solid timber construction. Most other modern doors have veneers over an ‘engineered’ core of other materials.
Primed doors are factory sprayed, ready protected and ready to hang. These are great if you want to save time and effort on decorating them later.
Laminate doors come with contemporary styles. Typically available in white, grey and black or now also in the increasingly popular Walnut design.
Function and Situation
Four functional categories of door are available for different situations in the home.
FD30 Fire Doors, increasingly these are specified to act as a barrier to the spread of fire in modern homes. These are thicker (44mm) and have a core made of solid hardwood blocks. They are a must for multi-storey homes. Also a major safety consideration for any room with a source of fire such as kitchen, lounge, garage, boiler room etc.
Standard doors are 35mm thick and are for wherever fire doors are not specified. Many door styles have a standard and a FD30 counterpart, so you can maintain your ’look’ throughout the home.
Glazed door variants are available to match certain styles of door. These are a great option where rooms or hallways have limited natural light.
Bi-fold Doors are available with various designs also. These are a great space saving option where the is limited opening space to a pantry or landing cupboard for example.
Mounting internal wooden doors
How you mount your door can offer space-saving and interior design opportunities as well.
Most common is the hinged door. We always recommend a minimum of three hinges.
Pocket doors slide into an aperture in the wall. This style is particularly suitable for room dividing sets of double doors.
Bi-folds, as mentioned above, are particularly suited in tight situations.
FD30 fire doors must be mounted in specific fire door frames complete with intumescent strips to function properly. The installation is as important as the door itself.
Price
The price you pay for your new internal wooden doors will be down to a mix of the above. Intricacy of the design, the timber type, the door’s construction method and its specific functionality. You will find a variety of prices in the market these vary by materials quality, service , delivery and guarantee.
Size
The last criterion you must decide upon before you order. Doors come in a variety of standard opening sizes. Also, modern engineered doors have a solid lipping around the edges to allow for final adjustments. Occasionally you may need a specially made door. Bespoke sizes are available in many popular designs.
Inspiration
For further inspiration on interior design styles there are many websites and publications available, I particularly enjoyed reading this article
How to create a Perfect English Townhouse
in House and Garden magazine.
There is lots more advice on style choice, installation, finishing and fire doors etc on our website onlinedoorstore.co.uk.
We hope this has helped you define and narrow down your choice for your new
internal doors. If you need further assistance please don’t hesitate to get in touch by
email, or by phone on 0208 158 6700.
