Getting a Handle on Unusual Front Doors

Image: Lorne Bridgman for Dwell

So you want to put your personality into your interior design? You want to be the only house on your block (or in your neighborhood, or maybe even in your town) that has your style and creativity? How willing are you to really show off your design chops? If you say “Dave, I’m 100% willing! Tell me how!” then this post may just be for you. Today we’re looking at how to show off your personality from before the moment someone steps inside your house. These front doors establish a sense of individual design style the second someone arrives on the welcome mat.

Let it Be

A hallmark of this particular house’s style (above) is “unadorned materials” – a fancy way of saying the construction and finishing components used in building the home have not been painted or treated, in any way, from how they were found. You can clearly see that the front door has lived through at least one paint job, and that the paint job is in the process of chipping off. But that’s okay, ‘cause that’s what this place is all about.

Wooden Wonder

Image: Interior Junkie

Now THIS is a substantial front door! Three wooden panels placed side-by-side make for an extra-wide opening—one that’s very secure when the door is closed, but that I’m certain is quite welcoming when this portal is opened.

Metallic Monolith

Image: Nikolas Koenig for Olson Kundig Architects

A fortress-like structure, such as this concrete and metal building, would look silly if the front door were fancy or windowed. Instead we have an extension of the metal used in the façade creating the door—which is as it should be.

Upstairs

Image: Michael Schnabel for Dezeen

For an airy structure with translucent garage walls making up the first floor, of course there’s going to be a sliding glass door to welcome guests off the upstairs front balcony. But an all-glass front door would be as bold a statement – if not bolder – on a more traditional home. Every visitor would know they are in for something special.

What are some of the unusual front doors you’ve seen?