If you are fortunate to have a period home, then your interior styling is hugely important. There is vast scope to go to town with features such as skirting boards, architrave and wall rails, as well as the type of flooring you choose, but doors are a feature which take up a large amount of space and demand more attention than people often give them. If you think about how much wall space doors take up in a hallway with three or four rooms leading off it, it is important that you get your door design right, and that is about paying attention to the details.
Period doors require essential fittings, such as handles and hinges, and exterior doors can also be fitted with knockers, latches and letterboxes. It is important that you give due consideration to these features, so that the enduring appeal of period design is carried off. Here we will offer some tips on how to consider door furniture to go with your period doors, in the hope that the vintage charm of Victorian, Georgian and Edwardian design can look fantastic in your home.
No rules
The first rule is that there are no rules, although there are themes that you should stick to. It is okay to have brass door handles in one room and satin nickel in another, as long as the overall scheme works. We will look at this in more detail shortly, but fundamentally, everyone has their own tastes and most people like more than one thing. So don’t let that stop you incorporating those tastes into the home. Having an entire house with identical brass door handles, for example, can send you a little nauseous. Fortunately, it is possible to vary your interior fittings and still create a harmonious overall scheme.
Consistency
Having said that about there being no rules, you should look to be consistent with fittings in a particular room. The finish of handles and doorknobs inside a room should match the colour scheme elsewhere in the room, in terms of the walls, flooring, skirting boards and architrave, and furnishings such as curtains, cushions and rugs. And outside that room, in a hallway, all those door handles should match too, but it can be a totally different scheme, as long as overall you are following a theme of a particular period. The Victorian, Georgian and Edwardian periods differed greatly in terms of symmetry, elaboration and how ornate and expressive designs were, and it will become clear and confusing if you mix these up throughout the home. Don’t worry about having a different finish for a door handle on the inside and the outside of a door, just make sure the overall theme is consistent.
Don’t forget the front door
The front door of a period home is traditionally a statement feature and has always been a showpiece and a grand entrance to the home. Here you can feel free to go mad with door knockers, letterboxes and locks and latches which send an intriguing message about what is inside the home. But don’t forget that the inside of a letterbox design will be visible in the hallway, so make sure it isn’t jarring when considered alongside your internal doorknobs and handles.
Matching with other door furniture
In terms of the visual appeal of a door, don’t just think about door handles and have in mind that there are other visible elements too. These include hinges, locks and latches. It is important that you match these features and have a consistent theme with each particular door.
Contact Period Mouldings for the best quality period doors
At Period Mouldings we work with UK craftspeople who use traditional techniques to faithfully reproduce period features for the home. We can supply period doors to match your home and to form the basis of a consistent theme which captures the essence of the period you are trying to reproduce, so check out our range of period doors and order online with us today.
