layered interior doors

To achieve your ideal home design, you need to nail the details. Elements such as your interior doors deserve as much attention as other fixtures on display.

Your choice of interior doors could significantly improve the overall look of your home. On top of that, those doors can also promote better flow between your home’s different rooms.

Interior doors often get neglected within the general field of home improvement, but that will not be the case here. We will be dedicating this article to the pursuit of closely examining the different types of doors you can install inside your home. Go through them one by one until you have identified the fixtures that fit the locations you have in mind.

Your Interior Door Options

The bulk of this article will focus on highlighting the various types of interior doors that are currently available. Let’s focus on differentiating those interior doors based on their overall design.

Without further ado, let’s learn more about the doors you can install inside your home.

Panel Doors

The best place to start when discussing interior doors is the most basic option. That is none other than the panel door.

A panel door is a relatively simple fixture that is often wood. When it comes to design elements, panel doors offer some raised sections.

The number of those raised sections can vary from one panel door to the next. A four-panel design is the norm, but you can go down to two. If you want to feature a more intricate design, you can increase the number of panels to eight.

Changing the number of panels is not the only way you can customize the appearance of your panel door.

Modifying the edges of a panel door is another way to alter its appearance. You can round out the edges of the door if doing so will allow it to fit into a specific spot better.

Some homeowners also like keeping their interior panel doors bare. The raised panels stand out more when the wood is left unpainted. Use that to give your home a more rustic feel.

Modern Doors

The term “modern door” refers to a wide selection of fixtures.

You can find modern doors with a minimalistic design while others boast intricate patterns. Designers also play around with symmetry when they are working on modern doors. They could either create something that features an unbalanced appearance or create something symmetrical.

Modern design does not place a lot of restrictions on what designers can do. That can lead to the creation of some inspired designs.

Check out modern doors sold by suppliers because there may be specific pieces available that fit exceptionally well within your design scheme. You can never be sure about what type of modern interior door you could find, so take the time to look carefully.

Flush Doors

Flush doors can be modern doors because of how they look. The doors feature such a minimalist design that you could easily mistake them for an art piece.

Those flush doors do not feature much in the way of accessories. They will only come with essential pieces of hardware.

The handles used to open and close flush doors are often plainly designed. That is not a knock on the appearance of those accessories. It makes sense to build them that way because of the overall look of the door.

Flush doors are great to have inside the home because they fit any appearance. If you have a room inside your home that does not feature any distinctive design identity, finishing it with a flush door makes sense.

While you might assume that flush doors are flimsy based on their appearance, that is not the case. Flush doors can be as sturdy as any other interior door. Their sturdiness depends on how they constructed them.

Louvered Doors

Next up, let’s talk about louvered doors. You may also hear them referred to as shuttered doors.

Louvered doors are the ones that have those angled shutters. The angled shutters are supposed to promote better air circulation while maintaining privacy. They are also useful for allowing light to enter a specific room.

According to Gharpedia, the louvers can either be partly or fully shuttered. You can adjust the arrangement of the louvers based on where you intend to install the new door.

Most of the time, louvered doors are for bathrooms, cabinets, and utility rooms. In some older homes, you can use louvered doors for pantries. If that is the case in your home, consider making a change.

A louvered door can change the conditions inside a pantry. You can perpetually set the pantry at room temperature due to the louvers. You do not necessarily want that for that part of your home.

Stable Doors

Stable doors are two doors in one. They position the two doors on top of one another to move independently. You can open the top half of the door while keeping the bottom half closed.

Why would you need a door that operates that way? The answer is related to safety.

If you have small kids or pets roaming around your home, you probably do not want them hanging in a room where sharp objects and hot surfaces are everywhere. By installing a stable door, you can keep kids and pets out of your kitchen while still keeping it somewhat open. Simply pass the items that are heading for the dinner table via the top half of the door and continue keeping the lower half closed.

Colonial Doors

Colonial doors serve as showpieces. They feature remarkably ornate designs that are sure to capture anyone’s attention.

There are different types of intriguing visual elements found in colonial doors.

Included among them are carvings. Some of those colonial doors feature incredibly fine details that you may easily miss if you do not know where to look.

The glass panels on colonial doors also add to their charm. It is common to see colonial doors that feature glass panels of different colors. When the sunlight hits those glass panels, the result can be spectacular.

The hardware elements used on colonial doors are also specially designed most of the time. They are crafted to mesh as well as possible with the colonial door’s overall appearance.

Colonial doors can be expensive, but they can also be exceptional aesthetic additions to your home. If you feel that your home could benefit from some flashy fixtures, then consider a colonial door.

French Doors

We are now getting into the double doors that also work as interior doors. To kick off this portion of the list, let’s highlight French doors.

A French door features two doors set side by side, and both segments typically include glass panes. The exact number of glass panels included inside a single French door can vary. You can change the number of panels if you so desire.

The elegant appearance of a French door is undoubtedly its main selling point. Something about its design evokes the spirit of refinement.

French doors can also replace certain walls inside your home. If you want to brighten up a part of your home by exposing it to more natural light, you can do that by installing a French door. That is the same reason French doors are commonly entry doors.

Saloon Doors

Remember those swinging doors that you always saw in old Western movies? Well, you can also add them to your home.

Saloon doors make use of specially designed hinges. Those hinges allow the doors to swing back and forth no matter where the force comes from.

More often than not, saloon doors can connect the kitchen to the rest of the home. They work best there because they do not restrict movement. You can still carry food out of the kitchen even with your hands full because the saloon doors swing open easily.

Although saloon doors do not separate rooms effectively, they do grant privacy. They are great for entertaining because you can tend to your business in the kitchen while still putting food out quickly.

Barn Doors

Barn doors can be positive additions to your home both from the standpoint of aesthetics and practicality.

Let’s start by evaluating what they bring to your home in terms of aesthetics. If you are a fan of the country home aesthetic, then a barn door is practically a must-have addition. Barn doors deliver that distinctive look, whether they are open or closed.

As for practicality, barn doors are great because they can quickly close or open space. They also do not get in the way because they can hang near your walls.

Barn doors do require a fair amount of maintenance, but that will not stop them from being great additions to your home.

Pocket Doors

Pocket doors share many similarities, but there are two main differences.

First, pocket doors do not always feature the rustic aesthetic that barn doors do. They offer more variety when it comes to design. That could be a good thing, depending on what look you are aiming to create inside your home.

The other main difference is related to how pocket doors are set aside. They do not only hang on the wall. Instead, they go into provided pockets that they build into your walls. If you do not want your doors disrupting your décor when opened,  you should choose pocket doors.

Also, it is worth noting that you can add pocket doors to most types of walls. Per BobVila.com, pocket doors do not need to go into extra-thick walls for storage. They are compatible with walls that feature standard thickness.

Bi-Fold Doors

Both barn and pocket doors require you to have some kind of space available for storing the doors when they are open. Finding that space may not be an issue in bigger rooms, but it may prove to be an impossible task inside a smaller room.

If you do not have enough space to accommodate those barn or pocket doors, you can go with bi-fold doors.

Once opened, bi-fold doors become more compact. They grant access to a previously enclosed space without becoming hindrances. That is why you often see bi-fold doors paired with cabinets, pantries, and other areas where space is not abundant.

Bi-fold doors can also work in two ways. You can either get bi-fold doors that open in one direction or install the models that can work from both sides.

Accordion Doors

Accordion doors work similarly to bi-fold doors. You can close them flat and open them by stacking the panels together. Stacking the panels allows you to access space without the door actively serving as an obstacle.

Crucially, accordion doors cannot open or close from both sides. They will only open from one side, so they are less versatile.

The doors have panels that are typically smaller than what bi-fold doors feature. That is usually the case because accordion doors have more panels.

Sliding Doors

Lastly, we have the sliding doors.

Sliding doors feature large glass panels that move from one side to the next. When they are closed, they can lock into one another to create a glass wall of sorts.

Installing glass doors inside your home can promote the flow of natural light. Those glass doors also do a great job of making certain areas feel more open.

The only real downside to installing sliding doors is the amount of space they take up. Even if you want to install some sliding doors, doing so may not be possible because of your home’s layout.

Interior doors come in different shapes and sizes, and they also bring different elements into your home. Use the information provided here to pinpoint the interior doors that will work splendidly inside your household.

You can also reach out to us at North Shore Window Inc. if you are in search of replacement doors. Find the new doors you need after browsing our comprehensive collection!

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