Living room space can have many doors coming into the area.
Placement of doors coming into the living room should work well with traffic flow. Designing the doors correctly will also help you have ample space for living room furnishings. Doors entering a dining room or hallway space may need to fit the living room floor plan. In addition, you may choose to install the home's entrance door in the living room area. Take time to create several options on how doors will function to see what works best.
Instructions
1. Plan doors that enter the living room from far corners, if possible. Leave floor space in the middle of the room that is free from opening doors for furnishings and traffic flow. Sketch various ways to place a door, but avoid having any interior door swing outward into the living room. Design, instead, all doors to push inward to the adjacent rooms. Leave large sections of the living room perimeter walls solid without door openings, so that shelving and wall units can be built, if desired.
2. Design each door opening from the living area in the same style. Do include a set of French doors for a dining room as an exception to this rule. Plan to purchase doors that have a solid face, a face with recessed panels, or special designwork that are all exactly alike to fit around the living area perimeter walls. Don't hang an odd door, since this will stand out in a negative way. Create doors in the living area to blend harmoniously with the baseboards and molding versus standing out.
3. Consult with design books and magazines to see what types of doors are used in home's with your home's architectural features. Stay with styles that will look appropriate over time. Use graph paper to measure each door opening and sketch it into the floor plan. Make each door the same width and height, except for the entrance door or French doors, if possible.
4. Review hardware and hinges that will fit all doors in the living room area. Don't use different metal finishes on different doors. Stay with brass or bronze finishes, for example, to give a coordinated look. Design door hardware for the that matches all of the others as well. Plan to invest in upscale fittings for the doors and door trim and crown molding, if appropriate. Don't cut costs by purchasing inexpensive door knobs or wooden trim for door areas, since this will devalue the overall look of the room.
5. Consider installing a double entry door coming into the living room. Allow space for glass panels on the side, if possible. Review designs that fit your type of home, and never skimp on the actual size of the front door entrance. Keep in mind that a front door that is too narrow will hurt the curbside appeal of your house, and a door that is too small will also affect the ambiance of the actual living room.
Tags: living room, coming into, door that, each door, entrance door