Oh, doors. Who cares? I care! You care!

I had a Dutch door installed at the back of my house, off the kitchen, and it has gotten me thinking about doors I have known and loved.

I am so happy about my new door. I have wanted a Dutch door at just about every house I have had. They are great for keeping the dog and kids in and fresh air in as well. Particularly when I had young children and open decks or tall back stairways, I wished I had a way to get fresh air through the house. Enter the Dutch door.

French doors are great, too. They are great for little people and dogs to be able to see out and see what is going on. My daughter loved the French doors in our living room at our last house in San Francisco when she was a baby. She could watch the street, the dogs, the people, the birds. At our house in Great Falls, the dog loved watching the skinks on the patio through the windows, and I could keep him in and let the lizards get their sun.

Sometimes, though, you want some fresh air, and a French door, or any one-piece door, requires that you open the whole thing. When you’re having a party on a perfect night, that’s a great option. But on a rainy day, if you want some of that rain-fresh air, you have to think about your floors.

I like a good snug “normal” door as much as the next person, but what is a normal door anyway? There are so many options for doors.

We’ve had glass front doors with a single large pane (1907 Edwardian), and with multiple panes (1925 Mediterranean). And solid ones with no window panes (1920 Craftsman), or a little row at the top (1986 Colonial). And doors that are solid at the bottom and have four or six lights at the top. These panes are archaically termed “lights”, in windows and door speak.

It’s funny, because my house has had three different porches turned into interior winterized rooms, there are several places where the walls are thick and there used to be a door, like my office (I took this photo from my desk). I go back and forth about whether I would want a door here again, but if I did, it would definitely have the maximum number of lights. Seen and not heard, as it were.

Exterior doors have to do a lot of work. They need to keep the rain and cold and heat out, and intruders! Thus, many exterior doors are made out of steel.

I like a good wooden door. Wood is not all that permeable, if you keep your house in good nick. There should be paint on your wood doors and windows, and when it starts to crack, get it scraped and re-painted. Sometimes, low maintenance (think vinyl windows) looks cheap. And you don’t want your house to look cheap. Your door is the first thing your guests see up close. Make it pretty.

I saw a funny post on Twitter recently that said that all you need to do to flip a house is to paint the door lemon yellow, and boom, increase in value. And it was a joke, firmly aimed at the heart of gentrification, but the truth is, a good door is an asset to any house.