To Door or Not to Door ??

Hey guys

Well as usual I spent last night glued to my floor plans and I am having second thoughts about all the doors I have added.

I added double doors to the study, the formal longe and the rumpus room (aka the kids playroom) and also to the ensuite and 2 WIRs.

Now I'm 100% definatly keeping the doors to the ensuite, but I am having 2nd thoughts about the rest.

The formal lounge doesn't need them at all, it is going to be turned into a games/sports room, with a pool table and Mark's footy stuff, I can't for the life of me see why the doors would need to be closed at any stage, so in theory they are only taking up space and adding money to the budget.

Then I thought about the study, these 2 rooms are right next to each other and I thought they should either both have doors or both not. Again we had a study in the old house and never once closed the door, it is a small room and I am again thinking the doors are going to take up unnecessary space. Also it is at the front of the house far away from the rest of the living areas of the house, so if someone was studying I don't think the open door thing would be a problem.

Lastly the WIRs...we have one in our current main bedroom and it has a door, but we have never closed it, and it makes it hard for DH to use the space behind the door for anything. We can't put a sliding door on it due to not a large enough wall cavity, so what would you do? Leave it open? Put a door on it? I'm worried about how messy it could get, that was the original reason for the door. But now that I have lived with one and reaslised that it is never closed anyway, what is the point?

What do you think? I'm looking to save about $1600 from removing all these doors...

Bel, the only reason for doors is privacy and mess.

If you dont need either, then dont have doors.

You could always put a beaded curtain across the doorway of the wir. We did this to "hide" the mess in ours. Of course it could be annoying if you were carrying an armful of folded clothes into the wir but I liked the way it made the room a bit less open. Our "beads" were in pretty paua shell colours and I loved the colour. But a sheer would look lovely and would be easy to draw back if you were moving in and out of the wir..

That's what I was thinking Paula - looks like the doors are going!!!

Hmm the idea of the beaded curtain has me thinking, maybe a white shear or something I'll leave the doors off, except the ensuite. If it gets to the point where I can't stand not having a door on the WIR I can just add that later

Thanks guys

I've been wondering the same thing lately.

I think having no door on the WIR is a good excuse to fit it out and keep it looking nice. I love looking at a well organised WIR, it's my OCD! So ours will have no door! You won't see yours when you enter the room or when you are ****** in bed so I wouldn't bother with a door.

The study I have pretty much decided to leave with no doors aswell as it's the first room as you enter the house, and I also think we won't close it much. I'm not sure on this one though as I work from home and I might need to close it to take phone calls if kids are home. hmmm..

I actually probably would put one on the lounge, even though you'd probably never close it when it was in use. I'd be worried that the decor in that room wouldn't flow with the rest of the house. lol, my hubby's old footy jerseys are gold and black, so I would be closing the door if it was me!! sshh

We took the same approach but then added one set on the basis of breaking the house up for heating/cooling purposes. And one on the theater that I'm still scratching my head over, too late now tho!

We didn't add one on our WIR but that means that all the shoes now have to be off the floor to keep out of the mouths of little puppies!

We won't be having a door on our WIR, but you can't see into it from the master, as it's around the corner behind the bed.

I can't remember your floorplan, Bel, is your WIR anywhere near your Ensuite? If so , you might want doors to help keep the steam out of your clothes?

We have put doors on our study, as it's next to the front door, and tends to be a very messy room! Husband also records music, so we put doors and sound proofed it to keep external noise out.

Thanks for the input guys - our study wouldn't get very messy so we decided to keep it door free

The WIR I have also decided to keep door free and like you said Rachelle, use this as motivation to9 get it fitted out and keeping it clean, ot is right next door to the ensuite Stormy but we will have a door on the ensuite which I will close when in use

As for bed 2's WIR we might put a cavity slider on here to maximise space

I'd leave one on your kids area. We have french style glass doors onto our kids retreat. The glass means I can see what is going on from the kitchen but it gives them some space. Its annoying when they keep opening them but it keeps the noise down when they get noisy (as boys do!)

We didn't do formal lounge but now wish that we had considered asking for a cavity door.

Hope this helps

Hi Bel,
I'm going to go against the grain here. I'd leave the doors on simply as they give the rooms versatility.

The study may have to be a bedroom/guest room one day. Especially if the four kids eventuate.

As the kids get older they will want to watch TV, play games, etc, etc and you will love the doors.

Think in ten years time, DS and some friends playing pool, DD wanting to watch TV in the main living area near the kitchen, future bubs in the rumpus playing with toys on the floor and you in the study on homeone.

You will need doors!!!!

And as far as the WIR goes, I lived in a house without a door on the WIR and it drove me absolutely nuts. One thing a WIR is usually good for is hiding Santa's stuff and a door comes in handy for this.

Jo

Thanks for your input guys

Jo - I so know what you are saying, but I have lived in a house with a study and formal lounge and WIR and would you believe I have never once closed any of those doors.

The study would be too small for a guest room, I figure any potential guests would have to stay the night in one of the kids room.

I do think perhaps I should leave some doors in the rumpus room. Does anyone know if it is a difficult task to add doors on a few years down the track if for some reason we really thought we needed them?

If you have a square opening but no door, ie wall already built down to door height, it will be very easy to add a door later.

Bel, I think you need to think of the future use of the home and whether doors are a necessity. We have them, i learned that timber floors allow the noise to travel down the other end of the house, so we have double doors to the Theatre (of course), the Kids play room and the study.

Also, think if you need to have heating and cooling zones in the house and if not having doors on these rooms would make any difference to that?

Saying that though, its not that hard to put doors in, if the framework is already there and is the correct sizing for doors that is....just pull off plaster, add some architraves and hang the doors...

Whatever you choose, it needs to suit your families lifestyle......

I'm not sure about expense but you'd be crazy not to have doors on at least the rumpus. It's not so much now but being able to have two TVs going later and at some point the kids may want privacy with their friends.

Open plan is really good but I don't think it's all that practical for day to day living. I grew up with four siblings and doors were the saviour of everyone's sanity.

Bel I know no doors suit you now but if you want to be in this house for ten of fifteen years what about how the house will work for you when you have teenagers.

I just looked at your plan and your bottom storey is over 20sq and you're not gonna have any that can be closed off.

I'd be worried that as the kids got older the only place they can go to get privacy would be their bedrooms and then they might disconnect a bit.

I just think doors give a choice and flexibility and to me that's just about the most important things a house can offer.

Jo

God I sound like a door salesperson!

I've just decided to request that the squareset opening on the study be the exact right size for a standard double opening door!

Bel, the other thing is here, are the doors your thinking of just the plain ones?
We've got those, but we now want to get the ones with glass insert, either clear or frosted we haven't decided yet, but then they also become a feature of the house IMO....

It also gives you the flexibility to keep them open or closed and still be able to see in the room.

Sorry, but seems Joles and i are both strong believers of doors....lol....maybe its just that you don't have noisy kids.... (lucky you!) lol (joke)

The other thing you have to think about is what the thickness of the walls is where you may later put doors.
Once we decided to put doors on the sitting room the wall went from 270mm (it had a feature bulkhead) to 90mm so the doors sit more flush. You can imagine that the doors would look a bit odd if added later to a 270mm thick wall and had to sort of sit in a bit on both sides rather than sit more flush with the wall.
Does that make sense?

Jo

Thanks for all your help guys - it is greatly appreciated

We will definately be putting doors on the rumpus, as this is also going to be designated kids sleepover room when they are older.

I will leave them off the study and formal lounge for now, but both will have an opening that is perfect for 2 standard double doors if we decide we want them down the track

Good compromise Bel and Rachelle for making the openings the right size for doors down the track. Planning ahead is always the best bet.

Jo

That sounds perfect, Bel!
We added them - cavity sliders-to our (4!) kids' ensuites - I can't believe they don't just come like that! I figured that if they have a friend over and someone needs the loo, you wouldn't feel comfortable going in with no door there!

We're also thinking of adding French doors btw the end of the hall and kitchen/family at some stage....just ONE more thing to think about!