Description
THE DOOR NAME ORIGIN – “SHAKER STYLE 2 PANEL”
Depending on what you’re looking for, this no-frills interior door model may be the answer – may fit right in your decor. Its themes deviate from the “pure simplicity” concept, championed by the Shakers, in this important aspect: the design contains a hint of the times past, i.e. the epochs preceding the one in which this particular style came into fashion. The two panels are not equal in size: the lower one is smaller. This subtle trick preserves the elegance for which Baroque was famous without falling into the trap of Baroque’s brazen luxury. This interior door is truly easy on the eyes.
And, and this is important, it costs less than the interior doors in our other collections. Those Shaking Quackers most certainly had a point, emphasizing functionality and favoring simplicity over luxury.
They had their reasons. Their movement was at its height in the middle of the Nineteenth Century, which was when their community had the most members, and the period was considered its “golden age.” It had expanded from New England to the Midwestern states of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. It was during this period that the Shakers became known for their furniture design and craftsmanship. Make no mistake: they were excellent craftsmen, conscientious and imaginative.
It takes just as much imagination to make something simple and elegant as it does to make something sumptuous. Compared to the opuses by the late Romantic composers, Ludwig van Beethoven’s music is simple, but is it any less inspired? Giuseppe Verdi’s operatic themes have been laughed at as “primitive” and “simplistic” by many of the latter-day composers who were a lot less popular (and, let me hasten to add, far less gifted).
Simplicity was the world’s reaction to the American and French Revolutions, among other things. Whilst rebelling against tyranny, good folks also rebelled against the “old ways,” with their excessive, and oftentimes wasteful, approach to everything, including architecture and fashion (and interior doors, of course). Tails jackets, trousers, and simple shoes replaced elaborate doublet, camisole, stockings, shoe buckles, overcoats, and wigs. Victorian dresses are hardly as intricate as the designs preferred by the ladies-in-waiting at Madame de Pompadour’s court. Classicism, which took the world of architecture by storm, was, in a way, a “going back to the roots” movement. Folks from every walk of life suddenly realized that luxury isn’t the answer to everything.
This interior door model does come with every wonderful feature for which Almes Doors are known:
The Italian-made 3D-adjustable self-lubricating concealed hinges are present, making the installation a walk in the park and ensuring that your interior door will never creak. Concealed? Yes, additional elegance points. No barrels and no pin – because there is no pin.
The good old magnetic lock, soundless and trustworthy, check.
And, of course, the automatic sweep is a popular option for many reasons, but let me mention two: the sound-proofing and thermal insulation qualities. Amazing. Way above industry standards.
Oh, and, of course, picking just the right color for your interior door can be a lot of fun. As a member of the Hi-Dur collection, this door is “wrapped” rather than finished: an innovative process that effectively fuses the materials through heat and high pressure, rendering the final product warp-proof, fade-proof, and scratch-resistant.
FINISH: WHITE
This is a bit tricky. Isn’t White the default finish that would look great on any interior door? Well, not quite.
W. is the color most often associated with perfection, honesty, cleanliness, newness, neutrality, and exactitude. The pigment has been known and used by humans since prehistoric times. In ancient Egypt, W. symbolized purity. Roman patricians paraded around in W. togas to distinguish themselves from the common folk. It was the color of choice of French monarchs. Architects of all epochs used W., with considerable enthusiasm, in various projects and for various reasons. In the United States, architects favored it when designing churches, capitols, and municipal buildings – which is, in fact, a tradition they inherited from classical and Renaissance architecture. According to some experts, most of the buildings in the celebrated Forum were either made of, or clad in, W. marble. In Taoism, it represents the yang or masculine energy, one of the two complementary natures of the universe. Many authors, both classical and contemporary, have referred to W. as a sign of purity, either physical (like William Shakespeare, whose treacherous usurper monarch wishes a heavenly rain would cleanse his blood-stained hand, washing it “white as snow”) or spiritual (like Tennessee Williams, who named his lead character Blanche (derived, incidentally, from the Germanic word blanc)) as a symbol of her innocent child-like spirit, perceptible from the moment she makes her first entrance (through the interior door stage-left).
Back in the Seventeenth Century, Sir Isaac Newton discovered that sunlight is composed of light with wavelengths across the visible spectrum which the human eye perceives as W. It is the lightest of the spectrum, and achromatic (hue-less) to boot, because it fully reflects and scatters all visible wavelengths of light, absorbing none. W. objects stand out in the dark. Depending on the surroundings, an interior door with W. finish might come off as emphatic or tactful, dominant or complementary. It blends seamlessly into most types of decor and, once the owner’s needs and disposition are taken into account, can symbolize – oh, so many different things, while bringing back a myriad memories: from those glorious snowy Alpine slopes and peaks to the fluffy tops of the wayward herd of cumulus cloud heap over the horizon on a balmy afternoon in the Caribbean. Tropical sand beaches are W. due to the high quantity of calcium carbonate they get from tiny bits of seashells ground to powder by the waves. In a number of cultures W. can also symbolize festivity, and be used lavishly to brighten up weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. It is beautiful. Make sure it goes well with your interior door model, though.
