A Touch of Class

A lot of people think interior design is all about putting together obviously beautiful pieces to make an obviously beautiful whole. While this is certainly part of the process, I can tell you that, in the world of professional design, it’s as much about subtleties as it is about finding the perfect confluence of attractive pieces to put together. Optimally, people will feel that the space is homely, feel that it’s elegant, and feel that it’s classy, not just think it. And the only way to accomplish that is through the addition of subtle notes here and there – notes that suggest the qualities of beauty, grace, or elegance, without emphasizing it. Once way to go about playing this game of subtlety is to bring some differences into the mix, and one way to do this is by looking at different styles of doors.

Craftsmen Style Doors
One reasonably popular but subtly different style of door is the craftsmen style door, which has two rectangular cuts on the bottom and, usually, slits in the top of the door through which light can pass, or which you can block with any number of inserts: Decorated or frosted glass, selections of art, or what have you.

There are a few nice things about craftsmen style doors in general. They’re usually very heavy, which gives them a homely, welcoming feel; they’re often solid core, meaning they insulate heat and sound very, very well; and they look just a little bit different from other doors, giving them a slight element of class due to difference. This makes them nice additions to just about any home environment, if installed in the right place, in the right way.

Composing it Right
Now, getting it right is a broad enough concept. Installing a craftsmen style exterior door requires the right placement. Front entry doors are good candidates for craftsmen style doors, because the subtle difference is all at once classy, and the window at the top is both inviting and somewhat mysterious, since it usually block the view. Perhaps more importantly, craftsmen style doors are almost always solid-core. Whenever I take a design contract, I always like to use solid core doors over hollow core ones, as their resale value is much higher, and they’re usually of much better quality, particularly when you want to use them in exterior applications; it’s almost guaranteed that you won’t be able to do better than craftsmen style exterior doors.