Modern Luxury Doors by Richlin

The entrance’s size is the first thing you notice, and this should be decided for both practical and aesthetic reasons. For example, in a beach house it should be small to conserve heat.

A standard single-leaf door panel typically ranges in width between 35 – 43 inches (0.9 – 1.1 meters), whereas the height is usually 83 inches. Main entrances may be wider and taller, while bathroom or storeroom entrances may be narrower. The typical thickness is usually 1.5 inches (0.4 meters), but this can vary. Styles can be single leaf, one-and-half leaf or double leaf. Multiple panels are also possible, especially in the case of slide-and-fold styles.

As a guide, the most important and public rooms will have the largest, heaviest and most decorative styles.

The entrance on the upper floors tends to be much simpler as they are less often seen by guests. Comparatively, the styles for the living room are more impressive in size, style and quality than in other rooms. This is generally true, though not necessary practiced in modern home decor.

Your glass door should be in tempered glass. Tempered glass is a type of safety glass that has been subjected to a special heat treatment during the manufacturing process so that it crumbles into rounded particles instead of shattering into sharp shards when broken. This reduces the likelihood of injury.

Most contemporary doors in glass are either frameless or come with different types of frames such as timber or aluminum. Main doors are seldom full-glass because of privacy and security reasons, but it is not uncommon to find main doors in timber with a composition of inset glass panels to create interesting designs.

Internal glass doors can be swing or sliding and the most popular by far, is the use of frosted sliding glass doors, usually in the walk-in wardrobe, bathroom, study, and sometimes the kitchen.

For glass doors with a frame, the iron mongery required is similar to that for a normal timber or aluminum door. Frameless glass doors will require the use of patch fittings and floor springs, instead of the usual hinges and door closers. Handles and locks will also need to be those compatible with glass doors.

Metal frames have been a feature of external doors since the 1930s, and a few pioneering manufacturers are still in existence today producing metal door and window frames in similar patterns to the originals, for those renovating Modern houses or adopting a look from that era.

Large metal-framed exterior doors containing a single pane of glass often form part of contemporary door styles and interiors, allowing daylight to pour in and enhancing the feeling of space by visually merging the interior and exterior. Internal glass doors usually have a wood or metal frame and solid glazing bars to indicate their presence.

Most doors are still hung on hinges and open in, but this arrangement can be reversed to give more usable space inside the room, provided there is enough space outside for the door to open safely. Doors that divide rooms are traditionally hinged in pairs, but again, if space is limited, bi-fold or sliding doors may be a more practical option.

Sliding doors come into their own as room dividers; when they are closed, they offer privacy and bring the intimacy of individual rooms; opened up, they create expandable, sociable spaces for larger gatherings.

One of the most popular door materials is in wood, especially in softwood, or solid or veneered hardwood. They may have clear or translucent glass panels to allow light to spill from room to room. Others are made from plywood in a hollow box construction or from a composite-board material, which provides a perfectly smooth base for painted finish and can be cut into unconventional shapes.