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From the first impression of the front door to the continuity of matching internal doors, your selection of profiles and hardware are essential design elements.
Plain flush panel doors have a sleek look that sits well in minimalist, contemporary homes, while classic panel doors suit heritage homes. Shaker-style panel doors work in both modern and traditional homes, from coastal to Scandi style. Vertical panel doors can add character to contemporary builds and look wonderful in a country style or coastal home. Glazed versions can be modern or traditional in style, and are ideal for ‘borrowing’ light from bright areas to enhance the light levels in adjacent dark rooms.
There are different door options for resolving awkward layouts or for adding character.
Sliding doors are great for small areas where there is inadequate room for a hinged door. Pocket doors slide seamlessly into a wall, while barn doors are an easy-to-install alternative to a cavity slider. Barn doors only require adequate wall space to slide over when opened, and can be single, double or up to four doors for larger openings.
Bi-folds are a series of ‘concertina’ panels that stack to one or both sides of the door frame. They are good for large openings or to hide functional areas like a laundry, butler’s pantry, wardrobe or study zone.
Colour is a major mood-setting element for your front door. “Some traditional-home owners prefer to keep to heritage colours. However, many select other colours that still work with their home’s beautiful features,” says Dulux colour expert Andrea Lucena-Orr. “We are seeing some deep and dark colours such as Dulux Domino or Black Caviar on contemporary or modern homes, and lovely mid-tone greens and blues on mid-century modern homes as well as Hamptons.”
If you want your front door to be a focal point, select a hue that works alongside your home’s weatherboard, render or brick. Also consider your architraves – these can be kept the same or used as a strong contrast.
Lockwood’s Malila Gabuardi says selecting handles, knobs, rails and hinges is as important as choosing the doors. “Round tubular profiles are classic, square profiles suit a contemporary feel, and a flat lever style with rounded edges suits almost any application,” she says. Look to other fittings like taps, towel rails and drawer pulls for a cohesive flow. “A brushed satin chrome finish will stand the test of time,” says Malila. “Consider bright chrome for period homes, matt black is bold and modern, while warm satin brass is on trend and enhances natural timber.”
For internal door colour, most people go with the same white as their architraves and skirting boards. However, there is life beyond white interior doors, says Andrea. “Even if you wanted to use a warm neutral such as Dulux Feather Soft or Winter Terrace, or a greige such as Dulux Milton Moon or Terrace White just to add subtle variation, you would still have to work with the undertone of any white selected on trims and architraves,” she advises.
Natural timber doors add warmth, character and luxurious interest – accentuate the grain of the timber with clear or stained finishes.
You can operate a smart lock with your smartphone, smart watch, tap cards, pin code or mechanical keys. There are practical benefits, too. You can allow a friend to enter your home when you’re not there, or create permanent or temporary entry codes for tradies, cleaners or dog walkers. You can also set access boundaries for each entry code, such as specific days and hours to ensure access to your home is limited to approved times.
“Imagine your friend waiting outside your door while you’re at work,” says Sanjay Tendulkar of Yale. “With a Yale smart lock, you can generate the temporary access code for your friend via the mobile app. Also, this app will remind you to lock your door, plus provide the locked door status and operation log, too, keeping your home secure.”
Follow our tips to install space-saving sliding doors.
Photo Credit: James Moffatt, Shania Shegedyn, Sue Stubbs and Larnie Nicolson.
