Where to Find Antique Doors
Antique doors add timeless character and warmth to any space. Enrich your home with a craftsmanship from times gone by–solid wood, hand-forged iron details, and a little piece of history. Find out where we discovered antique doors for our home, and all the details.
Before we even started building Cottage on Blackberry Hill, I knew that I wanted to find antique doors for a few places in our home. I started looking very early, because I thought it might take some time to find just the right thing. After searching and searching, I stumbled across a gold mine, and found doors for our library, entryway, my office, and our kitchen pantry. Each is so unique and absolutely stunning, featuring original glass and hardware. They are the star of the show, and I’m in love!
If you’re searching for antique doors, read on…I’m sharing all the details!
Table of contents
Where to use antique doors
You can really use them for any interior doorway that you like, but there are a few spaces that I think work especially well. Double doors into an office, entryway, formal living room, library, or similar area can really showcase the doors. While they are functional in purpose, they are also part of the overall design, and will add to the character of the space. Another popular place for antique doors is the kitchen pantry, especially if they’re within the kitchen itself. Here’s where I put them in our home…
foyer area
I really wanted a statement for the entryway, along with the staircase. We have a piano room right off of the foyer, and I knew they’d be perfect leading into this space. I found two matching doors (they came separately), and I absolutely love them. They were at one point painted white, I think, but sanded down so just the barest amount peeks through. It gives my cottage farmhouse heart so much joy—it’s impossible to create that with a new piece, although I’ve tried!
TIP: If you have the wall space, hang the doors so they open “out” instead of “in”, like interior doors normally do. This way when you leave them open, they act as decor on your walls, and really let you take advantage of their beauty.
library
The library is probably my favorite room in our house, and when I envisioned it while in the design process, antique doors were a big part of the vision. I cannot believe my luck, because I found the most gorgeous matching set of doors from the early 1800s, with the original glass intact. The glass is absolutely stunning. I also hung these doors so they swing out, as I leave them open much of the time. We barely had enough room on one of the sides, as it was meeting up with the closet under the main stairs, but we got lucky, and it fit.
Kitchen
I was specifically trying to find antique doors for the pantry/scullery. It’s right in the heart of the kitchen, and I really wanted the warmth from the wood to spill over into the space. They would also lend to the aesthetic I was planning for in my design. I knew this would be a tougher find. The door opening had to be a set width, based on the cabinetry, appliances, and wall size that was not adjustable. I wasn’t limited on height, but I definitely had a firmer set of parameters in my search.
When I saw this set of double doors, I knew I had found them. Due to the width I thought I’d need to go with one door, but this was a set of narrow doors that fit! I decided to make them into pocket doors, so they’d slide into the wall, instead of having them open out. I love that they can slide easily, and they aren’t opening up into my sink area. Definitely better with kids coming in and out too! There’s a darling antique lock that was on the top (if you look closely you can see the screw holes), and I was sad to take it off, but it wouldn’t slide in with it on. But I saved it!
This doors also have the original glass that look like the library doors, and they are perfection.
Pocket office
I have a cute little pocket office right off of the kitchen in the family room. The door actually opens into the family room, so I really hoped to find something that would add to the room, instead of a regular door. I ended up getting a third door that matches the entryway doors, and it is perfect. The door swings out, so that it rests against the family room wall, instead of swinging into the room. I leave it open most of the time, but it’s nice to be able to close it if necessary.
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Antique door sourcing
Magnolia Antique Door Co.: This is where I found all of my doors! They source their doors from all over the world–many from Europe, including France and Belgium–but also farther locations such as North Africa. Nationwide shipping is offered, and a local delivery if you live close to them in Louisiana. Check their website often if you’re looking–they are one-of-a-kind doors that can go very quickly. I had a wonderful experience–extremely communicative and helpful. I contacted them early on, to make sure I knew exactly what kind of measurements were needed for our builders to make it work. My doors arrived safely and securely in a truck, and everything went very well. Here is their FAQ page, that answers many questions.
Facebook Marketplace: I spent hours browsing and searching for antique doors in my area, and within driving distance, in case I came across the perfect thing. In my case, I wasn’t able to find anything to match our timing, but I know people who have had really great luck. Search often–the best pieces tend to go quickly!
Etsy is a really great place to search for doors. Antiquesvintagetexas is one that I looked at, but there are even more shops that offer them.
Habitat Restore: This has long been one of my favorite places to look for all kinds of furniture and home finds. I think most of our dressers are antiques that I bought for around $40 and then refinished. But they also bring in a lot of home and building supplies, including old doors and windows. It could be worth it to find one in your area and go take a look. They may even be willing to take your name and number if something comes in you might like.
FAQ
This answer can really vary, depending on the source. Facebook marketplace and the Restore will likely be less expensive, and I’ve seen doors under $1000. On other sites, the prices can be vastly different, as each door is unique. Our entryway and pocket office doors were $1100 each, while the pantry set and library set (both doors included) were $1400. I saw others that were a bit less, and some that were quite a bit more. The ones we purchased are also intended to be used as actual doors, not just for decor purposes. Make sure you’re checking for that capability when purchasing.
The ideal time to add antique doors is either during a new build process, or a major renovation of an existing home. This gives you the most options for doors, because you can have your builder frame out the space for an exact fit. Finding the doors early in the process is important for all of those measurements. If you aren’t building or renovating, it’s still possible–you will need exact measurements of the space and then search for those dimensions. Even the three single doors we purchased that matched were all different heights, and our builder had to sand them down a bit to fit the space.
Yes, yes, and yes!! I went into this build planning to use antique doors, budgeted for it accordingly, and started searching early to make sure I could find something in time. But it was worth every single penny and hour spent. They are focal points of our home, and add some dimension and character–I absolutely love them.
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