The first impression of your home is the entry, and therefore the front door plays a significant role in creating that impression. A door can give away the style and the era of a house long before rest of the architecture does. A door is so much more than just a door.
Classic homes are designed to respond to both the needs of a specific era as well as elements of weather and climate. The placement of a door, and the way a door leads into a space has been determined by how the space is used. In old homes, manors and mansions, the front door was primarily used for guests and served as a formal door, and a second door was used by the servants and deliveries. Thankfully, Amazon ships straight to the front door today, even if you just have one door as most of us do, and a good portico will ensure that your books stay dry in all kinds of weather.
Doors through the eras
It would have helped to be on the shorter side as a medieval princess. If you ever visited a medieval castle, you might have noticed how small the doors are. On the contrary to common belief that they were small because people were shorter, the doors were in fact built small to retain heat as stone palaces can get quite chilly.
In Georgian homes, front doors typically feature four or six panels and were mostly painted in black or white with tasteful and elegant doorknockers and number plates. Think 10 Downing Street and that pretty much sums it up. The Georgian, or the Regency front door is surprisingly modest in comparison with Victorian front doors that were an extension of the owners and their social status. The Victorian doors were more ornate, often with stained glass and intricate details and ironmongery. Later in that era, the doors started to have cleaner lines again, with typical geometric elements from the Art Noveau style.
Doors tell who you are
A door is the gateway to our home and tells us more about our personalities and what awaits inside than you may think. No one was surprised to see a magnificent figure like Carrie Bradshaw stepping out in her Louboutin’s through the equally magnificent door of the brownstone building in West Village. Likewise, it is easy to picture well-manicured ladies with Birkin bags entering Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door salons. Ms Arden was right by picking a red door, as Feng Shui teaches us that red doors bring us prosperity and good luck.
A rigid steel door in a modern concrete house gives an entirely different feel to a rustic French green timber door. We have a certain expectation of a home if we enter through a barn door, and another walking through an arched wrought iron gate. The details on your door, the door knockers, handles and porch lights all tell a story if we are willing to pay attention. Announce your arrival by choosing a door that reflects your home as well as your personality.
A welcoming entry
Clutter, piles of leaves and cobwebs outside the door do not leave a very good first impression. I am an avid advocate for a clean doorway. Give your porch a good sweep every now and then, and dust off the mouldings. Creating an ambience in front of your door is easily achieved by a couple of topiaries in beautiful urns. While there is no need for a red carpet, your guests are certain to feel welcome with a tasteful doormat, and an umbrella stand to match.
Dress the door for the seasons
During the festive season we can transform our entries to reflect the most wonderful time of the year. Double doors look fabulous with a wreath on each door, and how fun it is to add some fairy lights wrapped around the balustrade. There is no end to the imagination when it comes to Holiday decoration. Lanterns and autumn pumpkins on the stairs at Halloween makes you almost smell the cinnamon and apple pie.
Porches
Sometimes the first door is the door to a vestibule, followed by the main entry door. A vestibule, or foyer is a room attached to the building, a type of enclosed porch if you will, forming a mudroom. Leave your hat on the hook and kick off your Hopalong boots, before entering the inner sanctuary.
Vestibules can be used as sitting areas, practical as they are for reducing heat loss during the colder months, perfect for watching the world go by with a warm cup of tea. Vestibules with mullion windows make the most fabulous sunrooms, ideal for plants and flowers that are frost intolerant.
For some, the entry door is under a porch. A porch is the most romantic of places, and if only they could talk. I am imagining the welcomes and goodbyes that have been exchanged under the porch; the stories that have been told in the swing by the sunset, the pooch on the porch waiting for its master to come home.
A front door has a presence. It is significant in giving us a clue as what to expect. Easily identifiable, each door has its own characteristics, it could either welcome us or keep us away.
Show me your door, and I’ll tell you who you are, I say.
A bucket list of Fabulous Front Doors to visit:
221b Baker Street, London
Front door of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
66 Perry St, New York
The door of fictional Character Carrie Bradshaw from tv-series “Sex and the City”.
Chesterfield Walk, Blackheath, London
The Ranger’s House where the Bridgerton family from the movie Bridgerton was filmed
Taj Mahal Main Gateway
The Taj Mahal was built to honour the memory of the emperor’s deceased wife. The niche doorway in the shape of an ogival arch is part of the grand palace that was built as a symbol of love.
All the doors at Versailles
The palace with over 700 rooms and even more doors have too many beautiful doors to pick just one.
The Door in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”
Perhaps the most precious of all doors is not an entry door, but a wardrobe door. How often didn’t I fantasize about entering the wintery world in Narnia as a child, and still secretly wish that my wardrobe door would open into another world like in the story. I wish I had an address to share, however, some places are best left to our imagination.
For more advice on etiquette, manners, interior design and how to live your life with grace, elegance and poise, read the book “Tea with the Dutchess: How to do anything with style” by Kate Gawi.
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