How to select the perfect doors to match your design style

Doors aren’t just entryways; they set the scene for the style of a room—or entire home—well before you even open them.

The right doors will enhance your home’s style and make a lasting impression. Whether you love a classic Coastal feel, you’re mesmerised by Mediterranean aesthetics, or prefer other interior and architectural design styles, there are always doors to deliver on your dream look. The key is choosing the right designs to reiterate your overall style, while delivering the functionality you need.

So, how do you make the right selection? In this piece, the team at Three Birds offers up some tricks of the trade, with examples from three of their favourite recent renovation projects.

Before you think about choosing doors, it’s helpful to consider the style traits and characteristics that define the overarching aesthetic you want to achieve.

In each project, Three Birds start by highlighting the must-have design elements that contribute to the style of the home, then go through and find the perfect match for each door the project requires. Let’s look at some practical examples in application.

1. The Hamptons and Coastal style in Three Birds Dream Home, House 14

Hamptons style homes are known for their relaxed sophistication and coastal charm, with a focus on comfort, light, and natural beauty.

For a classic Hamptons style home, the must-have design elements are:

• A colour palette of whites and neutrals
• Lots of natural materials, like timber flooring, jute rugs, rattan furniture and linen
• A sense of grandeur and luxury
• Maximum natural light for a seamless indoor-outdoor flow.

In House 14, Three Birds wanted to take the Hamptons style and blend it with Coastal design cues for their signature coastal-cool aesthetic.

Like the Hamptons style, the hallmarks of a Coastal design are:

• Predominantly white colour palette
• Large windows and doors, opening the inside to the outdoors
• Natural materials and lots of texture in the design
• White weatherboards and plenty of interior cladding.

With these style cues in place, it’s time to find your perfect match:

Every element of your design—from fittings and fixtures to doors and architectural decisions—should reiterate the traits of your overarching style.

In House 14, Three Birds describe some of their choices:

“We love the look of traditional French Doors, and we knew we wanted double doors to make a statement at the front entrance of the home. We love French Doors to allow natural light into the home and create a more open and airy feel. The stunning entrance doors (Blonde Oak AWO 40) were the perfect choice to achieve this.”

“Because we can’t get enough of a good thing, we used the same doors inside for the media room and added sidelights (AWOSL21) on both sides of the doorway to create a gorgeous glass wall with a wide opening to the hallway, which can be closed off when required.”

“Throughout the home, we added interest and texture by choosing doors with vertical routing for the bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry (Deco 4S). The vertical joint detail complements the classic coastal style of this home perfectly.”

2.    The Mediterranean style with ‘Modern Mallorca’ House 15

House 15 is a little slice of Spain in Sydney. As always, the approach starts with identifying the overarching style traits we hope to deliver. Mediterranean-style houses are often characterised by:

• Warm colour palettes, with an emphasis on outdoor living and entertaining
• Arched windows and doorways
• Rustic stone accents, with natural materials to add texture and visual interest to both the interior and exterior of the home.

With these style cues in place, it’s time to find your perfect match

For Three Birds, the brief was to make the owners feel like they’re on a Mediterranean island vacation every day. As a result, grand-scale hotel-style details were essential, with the Spanish beach resort town of Mallorca providing inspiration.

“The front door of the home needed to be a real statement feature, provide that wow factor and create a sense of excitement for what’s to come inside. A stunning pivot door (Pivot DECO PV 4S), painted in Dulux Coalition, was the ultimate door to fit the brief.”

3. The Urban Farmhouse style with House 16

Farmhouse-style homes are inspired by the rustic charm of rural farmhouses, but with a more modern take and inner-city loft or warehouse style flourishes.

Some of the must-have aesthetic elements that help define the farmhouse style include:

• A cosy atmosphere combination of natural materials, like reclaimed wood and natural stone
• Industrial design flairs for an urban edge, like exposed beams
• Farmhouse style fixtures, like sliding barn doors, shaker-style cabinets and butcherblock countertops
• Open, spacious architectural layouts, with the exterior featuring covered porches and gabled roofs.

With these style cues in place, it’s time to find your perfect match

This home has experienced a huge transition, which you can read more about in detail here.

Let’s hear about the experience from Three Birds, as they outline their approach to House 16, also known as Erin’s family ‘forever home’:

“A huge part of the transformation of this home was updating the tired brick façade to create an Urban Farmhouse. We moved the original front door to make a statement in the middle of the home, with an undercover front porch and a gabled roof to match the rest of the façade.”

“The gorgeous glass panel doors with sidelights at the entrance (Blonde Oak AWO 40 and AWO SL21) create a clean and contemporary look while letting lots of light flow through the entry.”

“Inside the home, we used three different styles of door to help bring the Urban Farmhouse aesthetic to life.”

“For the bedrooms, bathrooms and study, we chose a classic Shaker-style door (PMOD 10) from the Moda Collection. The range has 24 different designs with horizontal and vertical rails, so you’ll be sure to find one that will match the lines of any style of interior.”

“The laundry door is in plain view of the kitchen and living area, so it was a great place to add some eye-catching character with a barn door (PBD2), with a statement piece that really puts the ‘farmhouse’ in our Urban Farmhouse.”

“We used black accents throughout the home to complement the black window frames. The black-framed glass doors we used for the butler’s pantry are another standout, from the Manhattan Collection (BHAT 10G). The black accents provide that classic industrial design aesthetic, and the wider collection has some amazing options for internal glazed doors that align with that warehouse or loft look.”

Take it from the experts.

For Three Birds, it’s all about itemising and understanding the stylistic traits you hope to achieve, then choosing exterior and interior doors that align with those aesthetic characteristics. And, of course, taking the time to consider any functional requirements for doors in different locations throughout the home; like maximising natural light, or sliding or folding to save on space.

If you need some inspiration, check out some of our curated lists of doors that match different styles, including Hamptons, Coastal, Contemporary, Palm Springs, and Farmhouse. Or, if you’re ready to go with your style choice sorted, start browsing through all our doors now.

Remember to catalogue all your favourite selections in My Doors, where you can easily refer back to different collections of doors whenever you need, or send them to other people involved with your project.

Check out Three Birds own website for more tips and techniques for dream-home renovation projects.