_ We have posted on several doormats on the site … it is actually quite difficult to find well-designed and/or traditional style doormats, but quite easy to find crazy, out-there ones. These flip flop doormats are by the masters of the onomatopoeic shoe, Havaianas, and include a pair of built in shoes! From here on out I’m going to refer to the shoes by my native Australian term of thongs (just a warning for those of you who speak a different English!), and ignore the potential sniggers about what I do with what would be underwear, in a different part of the world. Researching for this...

At Architectural Classics, we love doors, and see them as an art of their own. Just like the human body, we reckon they look pretty good without all the bits, bobs, accessories and makeup (apart from essential usability items, like handles and knockers … also non-negotiable on the human body ). However, this door art was so stunning, we had to pass it on. From Rachael Hamm, the door was a piece of architectural salvage of sorts. Although rather than being taken from an old, or about to be demolished house, it was beside a dumpster. Can’t beat that price! The photos in the door were taken...

Okay, so this post is not strictly about doors, or even strictly about design … it is strictly about a photographer. But holy crackers, does he make doors look good! As well as chairs, walls, glasses of cordial on persimmon trays, crazy shrunken heads on sticks (okay, they might be made of wood and paint or some such, rather than flesh and bone… boring!). Guido Barbagelata is a 37 year old photographer from Milan, and specializes in products and home interiors, by the look of his portfolio. He can make your home come alive with its own particular palette - every room has its own individual...

Folding sliding doors can make for a really unique feature in your home, letting in plenty of fresh air and light, and making for stunning views. Plus, you get to put ordinary door handles on them - no reduction of your range options! Folding sliding doors take up minimal room when they’re opened, and are usually made of glass. Unless, that is, you are in a primary school, and the folding sliding doors are those fabric-covered, accordion style ones *shudder*. You can even get much smaller, dual panel folding sliding doors. These are recommended for spaces where a swinging door would be in...

If you had a dollar for every minute you spent outside the bathroom door, twiddling your thumbs, watching the clock tick down towards the minute you were supposed to be at work (or past that minute), waiting for your blooming brother or husband to finish waxing their legs and let you have a shower, would you be rich?! Well, if anybody ever gives you all those dollars, you can buy one of these self-unlocking timers for your bathroom door. What’s more, if somebody stays in the bathroom over their allotted time, the door doesn’t just unlock to reveal them in all their leg-waxy, hair-dyeish,...

This door looks like it leads to Santa’s workshop, in the middle of Edinburgh! Wouldn’t you just feel like you were coming home to a dungeon every night, if it weren’t for the colourful door to this dwelling? Painting the panels different colors can work extremely well, and while this example might be a bit gaudy for the taste of people over about 5 years old, there is also a myriad of possibilities with variations of a single colour (olive green, sea green and green-brown, for example), ore you could use more neutral, shaded, primary colours. Photo: Colourful door by Joseph...

You may have seen some of our posts on doors that look like plain ordinary bookshelves, and drooled a bit. It just sounds so decadent, and sort of Addams Family-ish, having a secret room in your house concealed by a bookcase! We have hinted at this before - the instructions for creating a jib door, along with the jib door decorating idea which utilises book facades are one way of creating a room in your home hidden by books - but it isn’t quite the same as having an actual, opening book case in your home, a secret door to a secret room. Of course, unless you plan to knock out some walls...

We’ve spoken a lot about the energy and symbolism of doors. Your front door is the gateway to a hidden world, for all those that have never been inside your house… why not make it seem fun, mysterious, ethereal, crazy, or just a bit different to every other boring door (and therefore house) out there? That feeling of excitement and energy should last once people are safely within your walls, also …. Mwa hah hah haaaaaaa…! Also a good way to deter travelling  salespeople and religious propagandists, with the right decorations Image: Yellow door by Tim Norris

For those of you that arrived at this post from the main site, this may seem a bit ‘duuuuhhh’ worthy - but for those of you that got to the blog direct from Google or another ad, prepare to be amazed and flabbergasted! The online shop has changed, and it’s all for the good . We’ve been in the process of re-doing the website for some time now - with the explosion of new and different suppliers we’ve had, the old product search methods we had were getting a bit unwieldy. However, the same popularity which made it unwieldy also made it quite tricky to redevelop. So while...

Do you ever lie awake at night, just waiting in fear for the Incredible Hulk to come smashing through your door and carry you off over the horizon? Do you worry about stray bullets or hand-launched rockets coming whizzing through your bedroom door, smashing you to smithereens? Well, you could be resting a lot easier if you had the same technology that Barack Obama has protecting him in the presidential Cadillac! The doors on the new US president’s Cadillac One are armour plated, and weigh as much as the cabin door on a 757 Boeing jet does. That’s quite a lot. You couldn’t lift...