Wood Barn

I admit to having a thing about internal doors. I believe they’re hugely underrated as a design choice in most interiors. I’ve watched hundreds of home improvement TV shows and am astounded at how little attention is paid to doors. I’m also happy to declare I’m a little over the top and obsessive about them.

When we first viewed our new home, one of the things we knew we wanted to change were the doors. There was nothing wrong with the current ones per se, they just weren’t what we’d have chosen. For us they talked of commercial office rather than ‘home’ and therefore left us feeling a bit cold. As we were re-modelling and decorating various rooms, we were always left feeling stumped and restricted by the doors.

After dabbling with looking for alternatives I decided one day I’d had enough. I was going to find some that would suit us. I searched and searched and searched for inspiration. All to no avail. What this fruitless search did was establish in my head, exactly what I wanted.

I wanted rough faced, rustic, textured oak doors. I didn’t like the over manufactured, clean, smooth offerings of door manufacturers. I eventually found a firm in Belgium that would create doors exactly like I wanted, at last! I eagerly requested a quote. I’m not joking when they unashamedly replied with a price for 13 doors of £20,000, before delivery!!!!

I didn’t know what to do next, maybe speak to a skilled joiner and request a price to my exact specifications? I had no reason to believe they’d be any more affordable than the Belgian firm.

I was talking with my friend, the one that set me on my woodworking journey and told him of my frustration regarding doors. His reply was, to me, ridiculous. “Make them yourself, it’s pretty easy and you have all you need tool wise”. I’d seriously not even contemplated such a massive undertaking. I mean, was it possible? Could someone like me make a door, one that actually looked good and worked? Surely not.

Over the next few weeks I drew up some plans and discussed them with my friend. I dithered and dallied for a long time. I watched door making Youtube videos galore. I chatted with my wife and in the end, we decided the risk of ruining any purchased timber was worth it to find out it it was possible.

I carefully drew up some plans (a bit more detailed than the one above!) and worked out what timber I’d need to make just one door. I visited the local lumbar yard to discuss my needs. This time I was honest and said I was clueless and needed their help. To my surprise they confirmed they could provide me with exactly what I needed, planed on 3 sides, rough sawn on 1 face. The different thicknesses for the stiles were no problem and they’d get onto it. 3 weeks later they delivered our boards. Gulp…