Similarly to “the eyes being the windows of the soul,” doors are the portals of the house through which one experiences a change of landscape, an insight into the beyond. As far as door types are concerned, the options are numerous.

• Single panel doors - one sided hinged door with single knob
• Sliding doors - slide over each other when open and are closed when fully apart
• Barn doors - not literally for barns though that is certainly their origin
• French doors - splits the door in two vertically, very elegant and romantic
• Dutch doors - splits the door in two horizontally, a Vermeer type permitting people to feed the animals outside without having them from coming inside
• Folding doors - several panels folding upon one another when open
• Rotating doors - like the revolving hidden door in Sherlock Holmes’ movies
• Double-acting doors - like those found in the kitchen with the perennial round window
• Pocket doors - so elegant as they slide themselves within the walls and present themselves together, meeting halfway when closed, grand doors, usually separating the dining room from the hallway or the sitting room or library from another space
• Saloon doors - partial double-acting doors
• Storm doors - prevent the elements from coming through in inclement weather
• Concealed, false, or ‘blind’ doors - no frames, hardware, or structure to lead one to believe it is, in fact, a door.
• Louvered doors - shutters in door form. These usually separate the kitchen from the foyer. It creates open ventilation, perfect for a kitchen’s function, but are not terribly aesthetic.
• Flush doors - look like doors, but are the traditionalist’s bane and the minimalist’s love.  No frame, almost no hardware - it is simple as simple can be.
• Trap doors - located in floors or ceilings and most commonly used in the theatre
• Garage doors - very effective, but not terribly attractive
• Doggie Doors - a little opening at the bottom of the door through which Fido comes and goes at will

As many types of doors there are, there are the materials out of which they are composed. Doors are commonly made of wood, but they can be also made of the following: glass, metal, paper, mirror, stone, marble, granite, concrete, and fabric (hung by a pole) and any combination thereof. In the accompanying photo of a pair of Art Deco doors designed for Michael Reslan’s showroom, the notable framer Eli Wilner carved exquisite wood and silver-leaf “Lempika” doors.

The entry door pictured below by David Estreich, is composed of sandblasted stainless steel, colored cast glass, glass, and nickel. Some of the more popular metals include stainless steel, bronze (which the Italian Renaissance architects and artists adored, including Brunelleschi’s design and Pisano and Ghiberti’s famous execution of the Florentine Baptistery di San Giovanni doors in Florence (1401). These doors are an admixture of art and architecture. As Michelangelo suggests, they are “probably the gates of Paradise.”
 
                                  

Though the diversity of doors in form, style and materials are endless, one thing is for certain; they create a metaphorical experience for the user and object. Perhaps, not as psychedelic as Huxley’s mescaline experience in “Doors of Perception,” from which Morrison was duly inspired. Better suited here is William Blake’s thought in “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” from whom Huxley’s title was inspired, where “If the doors of perception were cleaned, every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.” These cleansed doors, like the final frontier, give man hope of a better vision beyond, of surprise and delight, of elements of wonder and happiness that await him.

Would you like us to help you design unique, aesthetic, and functional doors that are welcoming? Feel free to email us with any of your design challenges. We are here to help you! Also, visit our new BLOG. “Like” and “Friend” us at Gail Green Interior Design on Facebook!