Coming unhinged over faux-luxe double doors
Q We recently bought a house that has double doors leading into the master bedroom. The bedroom is not large and I find the doors a bit pretentious and awkward. We never have both doors open at once and they’re hollow and I really do not like them. Would it be odd to replace the existing double doors with one single door and fill in the remaining space? Any ideas are welcome.
A I’ve been in houses like you describe that make me scratch my head over the placement of double doors into the master bedroom. It seems as if the architect is trying a little too hard to make an average-size room a “master bedroom.”
Before you decide to permanently reduce the space leading into your bedroom, consider adding architectural interest by switching out the double doors for a sliding door. Use either a single sliding door (should you have enough wall space to park the panel when it’s open) or double sliding doors (where each panel parks left and right of the opening). Keep in mind this doesn’t have to mean a barn door or look as if you just moved into an urban loft (although this juxtaposition may work with your furnishings). Sliding doors reflect all styles, whether modern, mission, transitional or traditional, and hardware can be exposed or hidden.
Your sliding doors can hang from hardware directly above the opening or from the ceiling. If you don’t have high ceilings, I recommend hanging the doors from a track on the ceiling so that the door panels look to be part of the wall, visually heightening the space. Paint the doors the same colour as your wall (rather than the trim colour), so they blend in when open or closed. Alternatively, if you hang the track above your door and don’t want exposed hardware, use a metal or wooden valance to hide the hardware.
If you really want to add personality to your bedroom, take a page from designer Christy Bowen’s (twelvestonesdesigns.com) book and hang showstopper antique doors on a sliding track. The doors in the photograph below are hand-carved in Indonesia and though they don’t provide complete privacy, they do provide a lot of character. The track, covered by a small valance and painted the colour of the wall, hides the hardware and puts the focus on the antique panels.
If exposed sliding doors aren’t the answer and you still want to reduce the opening to your bedroom, consider taking this opportunity to install a pocket door that retreats into the wall. Practical for tight spaces, pocket doors add decorative intrigue to any room.