We often believe in the saying that, “The first impression is the last impression” regardless it is the appearance or the personality. However, this impression is not limited just to the physical attributes of a human but it extends to every aspect of life, profession, and property as well as it is pertinent to a structure. But it is slight different when it comes to a house and its doors because you have to count on look, durability, maintenance, as well as budget. Choosing the right doors is therefore an intricate task.
The taste of the fruit is not its first impression, but the transparent skin of the fruit is. So, with some of the analogies of the first impression listed above, the relevant question is: “What creates the first impression of a house?” In most of the cases we will answer that the main door is the key factor here. Not only for the beauty but also the main door imposes the unsaid restriction to enter to your personal place; the first impression about the door of a house is highly important because it contributes in creating a good look as well as it helps in making the security of your home a foolproof one.
So, no matter if you are rich or poor, you have a 1RK flat or a luxurious bungalow, it is the doors of your house that matters including your front door. The doors create an impact in making the impression of the house and contributes to its beauty, safety, and privacy. So you should think a while before selecting the doors of your home.
Steps for Choosing the Right Doors Your House
It is essential to have a door that looks good and is useful in reality. It is the responsibility of your door to maintain the shine and security of your home. We should therefore make sure that we have the best entrance in terms of quality, appearance, and protection feature.
The selection of the door will mostly govern by its location!!! i.e., whether it is being installed at
a. External or Main Entry Door
b. Internal Door
c. Door for Bathroom, etc.
There are specific types of doors that need to be used at a particular location of your house. Having unique doors that are specifically designed to cater to where precisely it is being placed for use is very important. You cannot use a door designed for your bathroom as a front door and vice versa. A front door must be sturdy and robust, durable, and at least able to withstand a lot of pressure, while internal doors need to function as a privacy curtain. Keeping that in mind, below are a few factors that we should consider while choosing the right doors for home.
01. Look and Design of Door
Look and design of door largely depends on largeness and styles of your home. Before deciding the design of door, you must analyze into which category your home falls in terms of size. Whether it is a villa, flat in an apartment or an urban row, matters a lot. The size of the door should be in proportion to the dimensions of the house. Otherwise, it might look like a wolf with the skin of a lion.
Doors come in all shapes and sizes. You can choose either a plain, panelled or carved door. While the plain door can get the job done, a panelled or carved door does wonder to enhance the beauty and charm of your house. The panelled door might be ideal for a farmhouse or vintage-looking homes, whereas a carved door speaks of antiquity and sophistication. The style of house comes in the picture if you are planning to redesign it.
Carved doors, although they add a special look and elegance, are very costly and mostly not within the reach or every home owner. The old style panelled doors are also getting outdated these days. Mostly due to the intricacy of skill and hefty cost of labour involved in its making, these doors are not in much use now. The flush doors with artificial/engineered wood with either veneer or laminates are popular nowadays. As internal doors, these type of doors are the most preferred ones nowadays. Remember the strength of the door is one of the most important factors when you think of an external door. The wide variety of laminates and veneers provide a big range to choose from. The range is too wide that, if you spare time in selection, you will surely be spoilt with unique options.
Please remember, the doors are now an important element in the interior design of your house and hence the design should flow with overall theme and it should match the ambiance of the house in general.
02. Size of the Door
Size of the door is a basic point that you have to keep in mind. It should be proportionate to human dimension apart from of size of house, shape, and height of rooms as well as the traffic which is expected to pass through that door. To cut the long story short, you need a larger door for a school classroom than your bedroom, hence the shape, size, and the purpose are the basic points you should count for the door selection. It is better if you allow your architect to decide the size of all the doors at the time of finalizing the design of your house. It will help in creating a total effect altogether.
Front doors are not the only ones that need to be taken care of. Your house has other sections where you need doors and all of them demand a different point of view to be considered. Many factors that should be kept in mind for the entry and exit doors including but not limited to the material and its durability, resilience like heat and weather resistance power as well as insulating capacity in accordance to changing climate outside.
Another important factor to note while choosing doors is the size you would want it to occupy. While double doors add to the aesthetic, it is important to realize that you will also need to consider how much wall space it occupies. If your house is small, you would not want your door occupying much of the valuable wall space inside, which otherwise you can use for many other purposes. This space factor not only applies to the front door, but also for the internal doors, including the doors for bathroom. However, if you have ample space in your house, then spacious and lavish doors would add a lot of charm and style including the customized designer doors that are slightly bigger in size.
When you decide the size, the proportion of breadth and height w.r.t. size and height of the room plays a major role in it. Also, don’t miss to check the minimum width of doors to facilitate easy movement of stretchers, routine furniture and of course the easy movement of the wheel chairs for a physically challenged person.
To know more about the size of door, we have already written detailed article on it, refer
03. Materials & Properties of Door
Let us place some light on the material of door as it plays a significant role in door selection. Each of the materials used for door manufacturing has its pros and cons. For exterior doors, wood still leads the race because of its attractiveness, variety in colors, and ease of making. The royal look that wooden doors provide is unmatchable. However, it has some limitations too, which includes high maintenance, low insulation value, and tendency to swell up with moisture, and none of these cons can be ignored.
To overcome these cons, you may consider the glass and steel doors. It should be remembered that glass doors do not swell or rot, unlike the wooden ones. If you are looking for the door with the highest durability, then steel should be your first choice. If you do not feel like spending much on the doors of the house, then the steel doors can come to your rescue as they are comparatively cheaper than wood and glass doors.
The downsides like rusting and denting of steel doors should also be considered while you are counting on it. PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) is very similar to plastic and is used in the making of doors. It is lightweight and does not absorb moisture, hence is also an excellent choice for the bathroom. They are pretty inexpensive as well but are not that sturdy and scratch proof. They have many similar attributes to the wooden doors and hence are given preference over steel and glass in other parts of the house.
In case of an internal door, like for your bedroom, a sturdy wooden door particularly a flush door will be the best bait. These doors are ideal for ensuring privacy. However, if you would like to follow the glass aesthetic throughout the house, then there are many frosted glass options. Your best bet would be to invest in a good old plywood door that promises you durability and comes with its own charm. Your options, however, are not restricted to these types of materials for doors. With so many options in hand, it is undoubtedly bound to be a daunting task.
Properties of Door
While selecting the material of the doors, you must check the following properties;(i) Strength
(ii) Fire resistance
(iii) The cost of routine maintenance
(iv) Sound and heat insulation
(v) Durability
(vi) Resistance to moisture / water / insects
(vii) Weight
04. Privacy
You must be completely clear about how much you wish to show your personal life to the outer world. No one would like that someone running straight into their living area, be it a hall or bedroom without their consent. This factor varies a lot depending on whether you have a house in a different urban civilization or it is located at the rural countryside. This aspect surely needs to be checked properly if you are planning to use glass doors. These see-through doors will not help if you wish to keep the crowd away. If privacy is your most significant concern, then less the glass materials, the better it will be. Despite the privacy issue if you persist with going for the glass doors, then stained, one-sided, and frosted options are still open for you.
05. Durability – Life of Door
When you select any materials for the doors, its durability and its service life are very important. The life of door has to be in live with life of the house designed. Wooden and glass doors have a long life while PVC and medium or low quality flush doors have a limited life of around 10 to 25 years.
While selecting a door, you have to keep in mind the points like the probability of normal wear and tear and obligation of regular maintenance: these points are important for the home owners and will add to the door’s ROI.
06. Doors Provide Safety
The vastness of a house can be alluring to the burglars and trespassers. Even if the house is not yours and you live on rent, a big house is vulnerable for intruders. The front or back door is the only entry point for them if you have selected all the windows well. So, the doors should be strong and tough to withstand any such attack from the external and unwanted forces. The latches and in-built locks should be of superior quality so that they do not fall quickly in the event of an attack or vandalism. The material of the door itself should not be hollow so that it does not develop pores rapidly when hit by a heavy material. Forget about the revolver or the gun you have inside because at the time of an external attack, the door will act as your ultimate protector.
07. Cost of Door
A right, sturdy door may demand more investment, but you need to remember that a good door provides ample security and endless charm to your house. It is not something that you can keep on changing. It is a good investment perhaps for the life time. Unless you deal with the threat of natural disasters daily, a good sturdy and beautiful door is the way to go.
While a cheap PVC door may do the trick, you have to look for longevity in your door, and stealth that promises security for a long time. Although doors are the most overlooked feature in a house, you need to remember that it does so much more than just stand there, as it adds a character to an otherwise drab looking home.
In the End
Whether you are worried about the first impression or not, the type and quality of doors do matter a lot. A significant amount of time needs to be invested before finalizing the doors based on all the factors mentioned above. Even if it requires a lot to be considered, it is undoubtedly one fun task while designing and deciding the interiors. Make sure you enjoy every bit of this fun!
And before you leave, don’t forget to read below articles:
Doors of Your House: All You Need to Know
Function of Door in the House
Image Courtesy: Image 12, Image 13
Author Bio
Ankur Chowdhury – Ankur Chowdhury is an avid writer and an Aerospace Engineer with immense interest in home decoration.