Doors
Today as I was driving about the countryside evaluating potential lots for potential client homes to be built on, I was thinking hard about the funny things we have all convinced ourselves are important in a house, and asking why? There are so many things in homes that we all just take for granted are needed. Why do roofs have to always have pointy peaks? Why do luxury minded folks insist on having two master sinks but only one toilet? Why do so many folks like the idea of having a whirlpool tub in the master but only end up having the kids mostly use it? Why does siding look better going sideways and not going vertically? But, the question that stood out to me today , (I have thought of this many times before) is why do we all want , and seemingly need, a door on every room?
If I may do my immitation of Andy Roony for a moment, “Why do you suppose people want a door on , for example, their master closet, then they never close it except when someone comes to visit, or to get it out of their way so they can get to the hanging clothes that are obstructed behind the door?” When I am sitting across the table and designing homes for people, I have been asking just that question. In your current house, how often do you close your master closet door? For folks who have non-walk-in traditional closets, they usually answer they always close the doors. For folks who have a walk-in closet, they comment they hardly ever close the door and this door is actually , constantly, in their way and obstructing something in the closet.
I know, I know, the hair on most people’s backs just raises whenever I suggest any off the wall “wild” idea like letting go of a pre-conceived, well accepted notion that just seems so right. The natural human reaction is for folks to quickly start to self-examine why they would not like to change their perceptions. They try to justify the reason for staying in their normal ways and resist change, even if it makes their lives easier and costs less. Keep in mind, I am NOT just talking here about one meezly master bedroom closet door, but rather a whole host of other doors that , like this one, may just be hindering our lives and not enhancing them. The usual reaction in defending this door question is to claim that, without this door, any potential visitor would see their clothes which are deemed(rightfully so) to be of a “private” nature. Some say, they don’t want to see their own “mess” in their closet and don’t want others to see it either.
In my past blogs, I have explained how I believe good home design trys to always identify problems then go about the task of finding a better way to creatively design ” to move past”, or to solve the problem. At some point SOMEONE had to say, why are we always opening two doors and searching through closets when we could just open one door and walk “into” the closet? Thus, the walk-in closet is born. Today, the walk-in closet is normal and well accepted, even demanded. When they were first introduced, I bet the public thought the idea “odd”. Today, they just make so much sense. My grandparents “new” modern Glendale home in the late 70’s, or my own 6 bedroom , family’s home I grew up in , (circa 1968) had loads of closets but not one walk-in.
So………….let’s again identify the ONLY problem I have ever heard about WHY in the world we are still putting doors on (for this example) the master closet? The problem is privacy or keeping things looking neater and out of sight. On the flip-side, NOT having doors means not having to bother with opening and closing doors. NOT having doors means less initial cost in the home, less matenence, less germs from dirty door knobs, not cleaning or dusting of the door or oiling a squeaky hinge(that was stretch) , not having to move a door to get to whatever is behind it, and MOSTLY, just making living in the home a very little bit , easier.
Let me suggest that if you are thinking about how life would be if you simply took the door off your present closet, I agree, that would likely not look too good, since your home was not designed to work/look good without doors. No matter how neat you are , seeing hanging clothes is just not visually agreeable to most people. You DO need a way to not have guests see your “stuff” and a door seems the only logical conclusion. It is not. While this may not work on your present home(or for that matter, most any home I have seen in those new design/plan books), it certainly can work if you design your home to work with a door-less application. If you have not yet guessed where I am going with this, here is the solution.
For drama and to understand the solution, take the drama up a notch in asking what if I designed a bathroom that had no door on it? Your saying “WOW Tom, I may have been with you on this closet thing but now you’ve really flipped WAY out”. Now ask yourself, the last time you went to the Milwaukee Midwest Airlines Convention Center , or any modern movie theatre, did you need to open a door before you walked-into the bathroom? I am not suggesting (at least not today)that you do a doorless bathroom. I am suggesting you think of how you walked into that movie theatre bathroom and then apply that same method for getting into your closet. This is called creating a “blind alley” hallway. My newest designs are just now applying this “wild idea” and they are working quite nicely! I have yet to se or hear any other designer exploring this “doorless” concept. These closets are now totally private from you and your visitor’s views but, just like those theatre bathrooms are SOO EASY to just drift in and out effortlessly. C’mon, just remember how easy it was in that movie theatre! No messing with doors, no doors in the way, no germs , in short,…easy living WITH complete privacy.
Now let’s put that same idea to work in your foyer closet. Imagine how pleasant (not to mention , memorable to your guests) to have guests flow into the hanging area for hanging their coats. Take this a step further and now apply this to a kitchen pantry. Why would you want to open and close ANY door if you did not have to. I envision a day when every bedroom closet , front and back hall closet, as well as pantry, will be door-less. It will cost less and life will be just a very little bit easier.
Before I close the door subject (close the door…almost had something there) for this blog, here is another quick idea for your consideration. Why do all of our exterior doors open into the home? If you want to have a screen door, that may seem the only way to go, but on a commercial building fire safety dictates all exterior located doors MUST open toward the exterior.
Just like in my last real-life observance about why we need doors on closets, this will be the next thing you might want to consider if you are really thinking “green” and safe.
In closing, if you really want to build your next home to be ahead of the curve in what is new, find a designer who has the passion to think ahead of the trends. If you can find the guy who invented that walk-in closet, hire him (or her)! Imagine building a new home then 2 years later finding door-less closets becoming all the rage or the new normal.
This Friday, I will be telling you something on the blog that I hope is special just to you blog readers. There is so much to be thankful for here at Miracle. Our sales continue to stay quite, unusually, high. One of our “old timers” who left us 2 years ago is back and making even happier Miracle clients. I am in the midst of innovating some new “top secret” home inventions exclusively for our newest generation of Miracle designs. This will make door-less closets pale in comparison! I just met with the Parade Of Homes people today and we are working toward our involvement with this late Summer event. We are also working on bring together our bigger Miracle Tour Of Homes to once again, precede the Parade. If someone wants to be a part of owning (building a home below, ((yes , I said BELOW)) builder cost) our most exciting new home design in Richfield , get a hold of me fast. I try to make these blogs non-selling so forgive me if I slip every now and again. I hope you are enjoying some of the new Wild Ideas here on the blog and look forward to your comments , corrections, and observations.
Blessings,
Tom Hignite
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