There are certain elements that are essential to the building of a good door, these come in all shapes and sizes, there are also some added extras which can lift and enhance the doorway into your home or rooms within it and can really emphasise the character you wish to present when choosing a door and its associated door furniture and styling can vary drastically.
Of course the main components to traditional door furniture which we would all be aware of would be:
The hinges, the latch and keep and some form of lock or bolt.
But how far can you actually go with this and what other forms of decoration or enhancement could you or would you put on a door? A lot of door decoration was born from necessity, protecting those from within, or to stop those from within from getting out.
But over time these additional bits of material which added strength to a wooden door, became more and more decorative as time marched on. One only needs to look at the doors to Notre Dame Cathedral to see the beauty in decorative structural door furniture. In fact, the hinges on this door were so complex that the craftsman who made them was dubbed "The Devil's Blacksmith" as he worked only at night to ensure that his techniques were kept secret!
Of course the main components to traditional door furniture which we would all be aware of would be:
The hinges, the latch and keep and some form of lock or bolt.
But how far can you actually go with this and what other forms of decoration or enhancement could you or would you put on a door? A lot of door decoration was born from necessity, protecting those from within, or to stop those from within from getting out.
But over time these additional bits of material which added strength to a wooden door, became more and more decorative as time marched on. One only needs to look at the doors to Notre Dame Cathedral to see the beauty in decorative structural door furniture. In fact, the hinges on this door were so complex that the craftsman who made them was dubbed "The Devil's Blacksmith" as he worked only at night to ensure that his techniques were kept secret!
Locking Mechanisms
|
The front of a solid oak door with a drop bolt key and locking bar system.
|
The back of the same door, showing how the key and the simple and ancient mechanism that bars the door.
|
|
|
|
Locking mechanisms come in all shapes and sizes, varying in complexity and design, ranging from a drop bolt or Suffolk latch to working locks.
Decorative Elements
There are many ways decoration can be added to door furniture, nails, strapping, bolts, backing plates or even pictural feature can be added to enhance the doors character and give a more detailed narrative to the story you are trying to convey.
Hinges And Straps
Of course the door needs to open and close, so hinges are essential.
Hinges come in all shapes and sizes.
