The Times - UK (2022-05-27)

AKIRA SUEMORI FOR THE TIMES

family business turned the job around in

six weeks for £1,800: they made, painted

and installed the door, then affixed the

hardware for us (runcent.co.uk).

For the door furniture, the hip Gipsy

Hill Hardware company, with its Insta-

friendly scrolled fan letterboxes and

clinging tree-frog knockers, is local to us

— we chose its scallop drop knocker in

unlacquered brass (£159). That felt

showy enough, so we decided on a plain

letter flap and interior plate from the

Suffolk Latch Company (£75).

To keep the door as uncluttered as

possible (ours is a narrow terraced house

with an entranceway to match) we had

the house number painted on to the

frosted panel above. The Write Good Co

usually stencils shop windows, but

Francesca showed us a few designs, then

painted our favourite in black with gold

leaf in an afternoon.

Finally, we swapped a defunct side-

light for a minimal and modern

overhead pendant light — one that

didn’t feel too period drama-esque (£70,

gardentrading.co.uk). As fashion editor

at The Times, I had to have Christopher

Kane’s catwalk-inspired “More Joy”

doormat for a finishing touch (£60,

matchesfashion.com).

Forget dentistry, our new front door

has given the entire house a facelift.

incorporate some mindful cultivating of
greenery and, crucially, gave us
something different to look at.
“Updating your front door is a quick
and easy way to increase kerb appeal
and put a smile on your face when you
come home,” agrees the garden designer
Melanie Hick. “Easy wins include jet-
washing dirty paths and brickwork, then
replacing unsuitable plants. Any old door
can have an instant update with exterior
wood paint from Mylands.”
Alas, the door we inherited from the
previous owners was old and flimsy, with
dodgy locks and weak glass, so the whole
thing needed replacing. It was also
pillarbox red. “Red can be quite
confrontational, which isn’t right for
welcoming visitors,” says the designer
Chloe Cubitt of Honey & Toast Interiors.
She recommended Little Greene’s
Hopper 297, a rich green. Colour
psychologists have found that the colour
can have a calming effect — it also
wouldn’t clash with next door’s purple.
To the door itself, and the London
Door Company (LDC) and Elwyns have
something of a hegemony where we live.
Both quoted in the region of £5,000 for
bespoke timber or £2,300 for a
composite (timber core with a uPVC
surround), citing a 20-week lead time
because of the supply chain crisis.
We paid one door company £3,000
only a few years ago for a timber door at
our previous property, it arrived with
scratched hardware, no apology or
replacements, and needed repainting
within 18 months, so I was hesitant to
use them again. This time, we found a
well-recommended local joiner, whose

with a scalloped knocker in brass

Bricks

& Mortar

Friday May 27 2022 9

the times

Bricks

& Mortar

Save&splurge

Barbecues

Need to know

6 If you can afford it, always choose

real timber over PVC or composite.

Every professional I spoke to was

adamant about this.

6 If you don’t mind sourcing your own

paint and door furniture, and have a

clear idea of design in mind, shop

around local joiners for a better and

quicker deal than the bigger

companies who will sell you a package

at an inflated price.

6 “Too many grid lines exaggerate

narrowness on a door,” says Chloe

Cubitt from Honey & Toast. “A

horizontal panel at the bottom has the

visual effect of stretching it widthways.

To make a door feel bigger and

grander, paint the frame, threshold

tread and around the glass panel in

the same colour as the door itself.”

6 “A high-low mix of off-the-shelf,

reclaimed and bespoke is a clever way

to add character,” says Melanie Hick, a

garden designer. “Lassco is a great

resource for period brass and they

offer reproduction pieces too. Mylands

muted pink Bloomsbury shade teams

perfectly with brass door furniture.”

6 Train climbing plants on discreet

wires to hide media boxes and cabling.

Star jasmine grows in all conditions, or

Rosa ‘Malvern Hills’ is a buttery yellow

that matches London brickwork.

6 “Considered steps and paving at the

front of your house can drastically

reduce frustration levels when moving

bins, bikes and baby buggies,” Hick

says. “A bespoke sawn sandstone step

is slip-resistant and easily installed by

a knowledgeable landscaper.”

6 “Think about the immediate area

around your door by weeding steps

and refreshing tired paint,” Cubitt says.

6 “Light equals security,” says Hick.

“A black-framed lantern is a strong,

classic look and can be found at the

top and budget end of suppliers.”

i

X Char-Broil

Performance

Pro S 4B;

£689.99,

notcutts.co.uk

U Big Green Egg Large

with ConvEGGtor;

£1,770, johnlewis.com

Compiled by

Victoria Brzezinski

@vbrzezin

X Fornetto

Explorer

Charcoal Grill,

£220;

homebase.co.uk

X Korpon

charcoal

barbecue;

£22, ikea.com

For more

barbecues,

go to

thetimes.co.uk

I love the sense

of fun a colourful

door gives to a street

— it shows personality