What Can Be Customised on a Bespoke Door?

The word ‘bespoke’ appears frequently in home décor ranges, with varying degrees of meaning. For some manufacturers, it might be the ability to adapt an existing design through a selection of predetermined sizes and hardware; for others it can simply mean a range of different colours.

At SWD the process goes much further, and with us, every bespoke doorset that we create is specified individually for each project. This gives our clients complete control over everything from its proportions and panel design to the veneer cut, beading profile, frame and hardware. Even details that are rarely visible once installed are determined according to our client’s requirements.

This means that rather than adapting a room to accommodate a standard product, SWD doors can be designed around the interior from the very beginning. It also explains why a bespoke SWD door looks, and performs so differently to anything ‘off the shelf’.

Starting with the Door

The most visible decisions naturally begin with the door itself. At SWD, clients can choose from a style within the internal door collection, or alternatively, supply a technical drawing of their own bespoke design, before confirming a panel style of flat, raised and fielded, glazed, layered or fully-bespoke. A beading profile can also be taken from SWD's range or submitted as a CAD file for something more unique. This allows familiar designs to be interpreted differently from one project to another, as well as giving homeowners and interior designers the freedom to create something entirely individual.

Material selection then introduces another set of possibilities and, at SWD, the finish is treated with the same level of consideration as the door itself. A stain, a sheen level and a base veneer such as oak, walnut or sapele are all agreed early on, along with crown and quarter cuts offering different results with the same timber. Where an exact colour match is required, a physical sample is produced before anything else; a process which typically takes four to five weeks but makes sure that the finish arriving on-site is the one that was actually approved, rather than an approximation of it.

Designing the Frame Around the Opening

The architrave profile and dimensions are considered alongside the door itself, together with the finished wall depth. Fire-rated doors have minimum requirements for the top, cross and bottom rails, which are incorporated into the design before manufacture. To achieve a consistent look when installing several doors, heights are standardised across each floor of a project and each door's handing is confirmed individually; this makes sure that they arrive ready-to-open in the required direction.

Double doors bring an additional layer of detail; flush bolts can be selected by style and length and positioned at the top, bottom or both, whilst the meeting stile can be square or rebated depending on the required finish and operation.

These are relatively small details individually but together they determine how a finished doorset looks and closes with everyday use.

Hardware and Hinges

Each door can be specified with its own lock type, whether that's a simple latch, a bathroom lock or a key lock, along with a forend style and a preference for radius or square corners. Doors can also be customised with traditional butt hinges or concealed completely, before adding a handle style, such as lever, mortice knob, pull handle or flush handle, to tie the whole doorset together.

At SWD our clients can also supply their own hardware, and in these cases, measurements such as the rose cut-out are established before manufacture. This allows the doors to arrive prepared for the chosen pieces rather than requiring additional alterations on-site.

A Different Set of Decisions for Sliding Doors

Sliding doors introduce a further layer of bespoke customisation on top of the above. For pocket doors (sliding doors that disappear fully into a cavity built inside the wall), the maximum thickness has to be established alongside the finished wall dimensions on either side. These measurements are particularly important because altering them after installation can expose a cut edge. Handle style becomes more of a practical consideration too; a pull handle means that the door won't fully-close into the pocket, whereas a flush handle or a motorised system with no visible handle at all, will.

In terms of final flourishes, at SWD we also discuss with our clients how the pocket will meet the surrounding wall. Some interiors call for a plastered opening without architraves, whilst others suit traditional reveals and architraves. Soft-close and auto-eject mechanisms can also be incorporated where appropriate for the size and specification of the door.

From Specification to Manufacture

Once all of the above details have been confirmed, the design is then sent to our workshop for a formal drawing and quote, with production starting once these have been approved. An SWD project specialist liaises with the workshop throughout the creation of the doorset, with a full quality check carried out around three weeks before dispatch and an update provided to clients roughly two weeks before. Any issues are resolved before a door ever leaves the workshop, rather than being discovered on-site.

Lead times for SWD bespoke items are 12 to 14 weeks for internal doors and furniture and 10 weeks for external doors, reflecting the level of attention given at every stage. It isn't time that’s lost to production; it's time which is genuinely required to create the result of dozens of individual decisions correctly, rather than compromising on any one of them.

What Does Bespoke Really Mean?

Perhaps the easiest way to understand a bespoke doorset is not by looking at any one feature, but at the number of moving parts behind the finished piece. The dimensions might respond to an unusually tall opening or a veneer could be selected to complement neighbouring cabinetry. A bespoke bead might repeat detailing that’s found elsewhere in the room, whilst the hardware can be chosen to match with lighting, furniture, carpets or metal finishes throughout the property.

No single decision defines a finished SWD doorset and it’s this ability to make all of them together that allows a door to feel as though it belongs to the interior that it was created for.

Explore SWD's internal door and hardware collections for inspiration or speak to the SWD team to begin specifying a doorset for your project.