Double-leaf interior doors

Double-leaf interior doors are becoming a fashionable design technique for decorating a room. A skillfully selected model will become a highlight of the interior of any apartment if it has a doorway of more than 1 meter. As a rule, the installation of double doors is done in the living room, adding special solemnity and functionality to it. A large doorway is very convenient when receiving guests, and also means a lot when arranging a room. Usually, large objects are brought into the living room through such doors: a large dining table, a piano, cupboards.

Double doors are two door leaves that cover one doorway. Each canvas can function independently of each other. Professionals call a structure that has two door leaves, two-leaf, this is its difference from a design called a single-leaf, which has only one leaf. It is customary to put a single-leaf door in standard doorways of 200x80 cm, which most rooms have. However, unlike conventional living spaces, halls and living rooms have an extended doorway. The difference in door designs will differ from the usual dimensions in that the doors in this case are also selected in the appropriate sizes.

When designing premises, the width of the doorway depends on the height of the ceilings: increasing in height, they proportionally increase the dimensions of the doorways.

The most common size of two-floor structures is one in which the width is no more than 120-130 cm, and the height is in the range from 200 to 230 cm.

Double-leaf doors can be of various designs.

Most often, they use symmetrical designs with a pendulum mechanism that opens the door in any direction that is convenient for you in the direction of travel. There are also asymmetric versions of the same design, when one door leaf is smaller than the other in width.

Doors are made much less often in the "compact" version, which implies the presence of a folding sash mechanism. The essence of such a constructive solution lies in the fact that when opened, the door folds in half and is pressed against the wall. The halves of such a door can be of the same size or asymmetrical. This type of door came to us from Italy, but there is no great demand for them in Russia.

Modern spaces have a wider range of doorways than they did decades ago, when the swing double-leaf structure was 130 cm wide and the height was no more than 200 cm.Now we have moved away from strict standards and door leaves are available in other sizes: narrow options can be from 50 to 60 cm wide, and large ones - from 70 to 90 cm.In addition, there are asymmetrical one and a half modifications, where one sash will be 40 cm, and the other - from 60 to 90 cm. During the use of such doors, their the smaller sash is fixed to the floor by a special mechanism and opens only when necessary, and the second wide sash acts as a swing door.

According to the manufacturing method, interior doors are divided into models assembled from paneled parts and panel doors.

• Paneled doors: the main bearing part of such a model is made in the form of a frame with free areas in the form of openings. The entire frame consists of elements that are joined together in a vertical or horizontal position, using tongue-and-groove fittings, attached together with glue.

• Panel doors: a frame is made of wide slats, on top of it are attached decorative furniture panels made of wood processing products - MDF. The voids between the frame and the panel are filled with corrugated cardboard, wooden beams, chipboard. Models can be solid or supplemented with glass inserts. Such modifications of door structures are lightweight and have a low cost, however, they have proven themselves well in operation and are quite durable when handled carefully.

The selection of material for the production of door structures is determined based on their properties, cost and decorative qualities. An important criterion is their operational resistance and durability.

• Solid wood: premium class models are made mainly to order from natural wood species: ash, oak, hornbeam, walnut, individual non-standard projects are used. Often they are decorated with a mirror layout, metal inserts, carvings. There are door options where natural wood is used only as the top thin coating of the main structure made from wood products. Such models are called veneered. Visually, they look like their expensive solid wood counterparts; it can be very difficult to distinguish one model from another;

• Plastic material: a plastic material is applied to the frame with a filler - polyvinyl chloride, imitating various types of natural wood. The strong polymer structure of the material gives it increased resistance to external influences: moisture resistance, sound and thermal insulation. The cost price of products is low, so they are in demand for rooms with high humidity and temperature extremes;
• Laminated coating: the structure consists of a wooden frame with a filler, finishing elements are laid on top of it and it is laminated with a PVC film. Film lamination gives the structure shine, brightness, resistance to impacts during operation;

• Glass doors: Recently, more and more often used in the design of door models made of thick tempered impact-resistant glass. Glass doors look unusual, presentable, create a feeling of spaciousness and light. However, the weight of such doors is quite large, so the door frames require a large margin of safety.

The color scheme of doors should be in harmony with the color of the floor, walls, furniture, while taking into account the overall design style.

• Neutral shades: the entire pastel palette, including light tones, white, light beige, light gray, as well as colors imitating light tones of natural wood, are considered a universal base color scheme used for design in classic style, Scandinavian, Japanese and Provence style. The same tonalities can be applied to Baroque and Rococo. Doors of this color will add a feeling of warmth, comfort;

• Cold shades: Combines all shades of gray, metallic, grass green, blue. They are used to equip high-tech, modern, minimalism, eclectic, loft-style rooms. Today these are the most popular styles and shades of color;
• Dark colors: create a sense of solidity and good quality. The most commonly used color is wenge, dark walnut, oak, teak, merabu. They are used in high-tech, minimalism, classic styles. To prevent the room from being oversaturated with dark color, glass, mirrors, metal or contrasting inserts are added to the door structure;

• Bright colors: Applies rich, vivid colors of any hue. Such products are made from plastic materials, and they are used in a children's room, in the kitchen, in household premises. Designers believe that the color of such a bright door should overlap with the color scheme of the same name in interior design to balance the entire composition.

Doorways are closed by doors in order to separate rooms from each other. Doors used indoors are divided into certain types, based on their structural device:

Swing doors are hinged to the uprights of the door frame. This model is considered a classic, installing it where there is enough free space for opening the doors. Swing doors are reliable and simple, they are supplemented with handles and locks. In wide openings, two-door models are usually installed.

Sliding hinged doors are convenient in that, along a special guiding surface, their canvases move to one plane or another along the wall. There may be one or two flaps. The design is used in confined spaces where it is not possible to install swing doors.

Cassette sliding doors can be used if special niches are built along the wall on both sides of the opening, into which the drop-down doors will slide. Installing such a model requires certain skills and dexterity. They are used where it is possible to take a dozen centimeters from the area for niches.

In the case of folding doors, the leaf is folded in half and placed along the wall using a special folding mechanism installed in the door leaf. This design can consist of one, two or three door panels. This is an intermediate option, between a swing door and a sliding door. The model saves space and serves as an original design element.

Swing doors can be single or double leaf. A special mechanism pushes the door leaf to the middle of the opening, and it can swing open in one direction or another. Doors are used in public areas as they do not have a good airtightness and require free space.

In pendulum doors, the mechanism provides for the opening of their doors in any direction - outward or inward. This model is convenient for the living room, as it does not interfere with moving to one side or the other, especially when the table is being laid.

Rooms with wide doorways framed by double-leaf door designs look modern and inviting. In such a room, even the minimal presence of design looks worthy.

Modern design allows for a wide variety of stylistic interior decoration. Accordingly, the style of the doors should correspond to this style. Let's take a look at some styles as an example:

The design of the classic style uses light and pastel shades of natural or artificial surface material for the manufacture of doors.Classicism allows constructions from natural solid wood or paneled models. They look solid, solid, expensive.

Colonial style uses dark, saturated colors. The texture is used rough, the material for the manufacture is used natural or a good imitation for a natural solid. The decor details are chiseled, symmetrical, richly executed.

For the Empire style, as a rule, white, cream or sand shades are chosen, used to paint the door leaf. The decoration is gilding, silvering, pretentious carving, ornamentation, not only of the door itself, but also of the platbands.

For oriental styles, designs of light or dark shades are chosen, made openwork, translucent, or with carvings on an array of a blind door leaf. The ornament uses hexagons, rhombuses, straight and acute angles.

In the Art Nouveau style, materials can be any, but more often they choose inexpensive ones from wood processing products. The surfaces are even, smooth, without decorations. Colors - from light to dark shades. The only decor is the doorknob.

For the Provence style, as a rule, light shades are taken, there is a lot of glass in the door decoration, simple interweaving of wooden slats, but in general this simplicity looks very interesting and attracts attention, sometimes becoming the center of the entire composition of the room design.

In the high-tech style, models made of glass, aluminum, plastic are widely used, their color can be any, the most unexpected. Any decoration is allowed - with mirrors, glass, colored inserts, textured plastic, imitation of a stone.

Choosing the right door is not only the beauty of the interior, but also practicality and functionality. When choosing, the following parameters must be taken into account:

• determine the internal dimensions of the perimeter of the doorway;
• determine the thickness of the door frame, which will depend on the door model and the way it is closed;
• determine the width of platbands and extensions;
• determine whether a threshold will be needed and what dimensions it will have;

• decide which door is suitable for the width of the doorway - two-sided or one-sided;
• evaluate the surrounding space and choose a way to open and close doors;
• choose the color and model of the door in accordance with the interior design.

When choosing interior doors, people most of all pay attention to their appearance, forgetting that the structure must have a certain functionality: sound insulation, structural reliability, ease of use.

• Noise isolation: the level of sound insulation of the door depends on its filling and the external finish of the structure. To reduce noise penetration, it is important that the door seals fit snugly against the door frame. The most advantageous are models without glazing, internal voids, and a thickness of at least 40 mm;
• Reliability of construction: the strongest doors are made of solid natural wood. Cheaper, but reliable analogue, are the tsarovyh models. This design provides for the presence of transverse bars between the main vertical struts of the structure. The distance between the bars is filled with other materials - metal, glass, paneled inserts;

• Ease of use: the most convenient option is swing doors. They allow free passage through the doorway in one direction or the other, without worrying about opening or closing the doors, which automatically return to their original position. This is especially convenient at a time when your hands are full.

Next, you need to choose a door frame - one of the most important parts in the entire door structure. The boxes can be ordinary and telescopic. A regular box is a rectangle of wooden beams that is attached to the doorway.The telescopic system has special grooves along the entire perimeter, where extensions and platbands will be inserted.

Complements and platbands are an equally significant part in the selection process. Addons are needed when the width of the wall is larger than a standard box, which has a size of 70 mm. They are produced in widths of 100, 150 and 200 mm in different configurations: with an edge, without processing the end part and telescopic, inserted into the grooves of the box. Platbands are considered a decorative element. They close the junction of the box with the wall, and also visually expand the space of the doorway. Platbands in their shape are round, flat, drop-shaped and curly.

When choosing interior doors, pay attention to the manufacturer. Focus on the quality of brands of world companies or companies known for their good reputation in Russia and neighboring countries. An important parameter that you should pay attention to is the fittings attached to the structure. All of it should be made of durable metal, taking into account the weight of the door leaf. It is impossible to bend a single high-quality fittings by hand.

By price range, door structures can be conditionally divided into three groups:

• from 2000 to 5000 rubles - a budget option from inexpensive but high-quality materials;
• from 5000 to 35000 rubles - middle price segment made of high quality materials with a wide variety of finishing details and accessories;
• from 35,000 rubles and more - premium class made of natural solid wood furniture.

On any sites of large furniture companies, there are now special calculators that help determine the dimensions of the door with the accessories for it, for a given parameter of the width and height of the doorway.

The installation of interior doors can be done independently if you have the skills of carpentry work, or you can entrust this responsible job to a knowledgeable specialist. The installation steps are as follows:

• The door frame can be initially assembled, or consist of separate parts that need to be assembled into a single structure. You can assemble two vertical beams with a perpendicular one at an angle of 45 or 90 degrees;
• Assembly of loops. Two hinges are placed on interior doors made of light materials - above and below. Heavy solid wood doors will hold double sets of hinges evenly spaced along the vertical part of the frame. First, the hinges are attached to the door leaf, and only then they are fixed in one box;

• The assembled frame is installed in the doorway, but without the door leaf. The verticality of the structure relative to the wall is checked using a level or plumb line. A gap of 15 mm is left between the box and the wall;
• After the position of the box is verified, it can be secured using mounting wedges, which are placed first above the lintel, and then evenly along the entire length of the vertical posts;
• The box is fixed to the wall using mounting plates or self-tapping screws. The caps of the self-tapping screws should be well sunk into the box material so as not to interfere with the further installation of the hinges;

• Foaming the cracks between the box and the wall with polyurethane foam. So that the box does not bend when the foam expands, spacers are placed between the vertical struts of the structure. The foam should be chosen with a low expansion coefficient;
• After polymerization of the foam, which occurs on average for 2-3 hours, the spacers are removed from the door opening and the prepared door leaves are hung. First, one blade is hung on several screws, after which its work is checked with the cut, then the second blade is mounted. After that, they check the operation of both doors in the assembly and put hinges on all the screws;

• The last step is to hang handles and locks, and also put platbands. The insert of the lock is a very important part of the work, since the discrepancy between its input part and the locking mechanism will lead to the fact that the lock will have to be changed. The special complexity of the work lies in the fact that the lock has to be cut into the canopy, which requires special care and caution.

For more information on how to install double doors yourself, see the next video.

Double-leaf doors are an adornment of the interior of any apartment, attracting attention and often being the central design element.

The white minimalist version, despite its simplicity, is a connecting element, connecting two different-purpose rooms into a single whole.

An interesting sliding version of an interior door with a large opening. Thanks to its design, the door fulfills its function without reducing the usable space.

A colonial-style solid wood door looks very solid and expensive.

A glass door with a translucent design does not require the addition of additional elements and objects to the interior, being a key detail.