Alluminio Elivia Horizontal Wood Grain 2VS - Black Apricot - Swing

The two vertical panels (2VS) in this interior door model are like the two Pillars of Hercules, celebrated in numerous Greek and Roman tales as a symbol of strength. In ancient mythology, the Strait of Gibraltar – linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean – was created by Zeus’s son when he encountered a mountain he wished neither to climb over nor circumvent. Some versions have him asking the locals whether they had any particular use for the mountain before smashing through it. Some of the locals may or may not have asked for compensation. Other versions have Hercules widen a pre-existing straight, while in others he proceeds to narrow it instead. Be that as it may, the two promontories on either side of the waterway have borne his name ever since.

The powerful image inspired numerous designs – the long list includes (to give you an idea of the symbol’s versatility) the coat of arms of Spain, and to this day you can observe the two columns, originally the impressa of Charles I, on the wall of Seville’s city hall.

Horizontal denotes the direction of the wood grain – or its longitudinal orientation, to use a professional term: no more and no less. This is important, as it will create additional visual space for you, making the room appear wider. A vertically oriented wood grain would give additional visual height to your ceiling – if that’s the effect you prefer, you might want to look into the appropriate interior door model type in this collection.

Visual architectural devices – or tricks, to use a layman’s term – have been around for thousands of years, literally. The Greeks called them “optical correction,” somewhat humorously, one would think. Next time you visit Greece, you might as well take a closer look – at the temple, the theatre, and the palace, or what’s left of them, anyway – and you’ll be delighted to discover that the trick is as ubiquitous as it is effective. You might want to go straight to the source and look at the Parthenon first. It’s amazing: no column is as wide at the top as it is at the bottom; most of the columns are tilted inward; the bottom of the facade slopes down from the middle on both sides. Here’s why: if you position yourself at, say, a hundred yards from the entrance, everything in that building will suddenly come off as perfectly level, even, and symmetrical. Pretty neat, eh?

Of course this interior door comes with all the usual wonderful Almese features, such as the state-of-the-art hardware (including the Italian-made 3D-adjustable self-lubricating concealed hinges, soundless magnetic lock, and automatic sweep), excellent sound-proofing and thermal insulation qualities, warp resistance, and so forth. As for the finish (pick your color!), it is applied using a process known colloquially as “stretching.” It works on molecular level (yes!): rather than laid on, the finish is fused with the door’s surface. This makes the resulting product – this interior door – scratch-resistant and fade-proof. The technology was made available only recently – through a series of technological breakthroughs.

Is this finish a good match for your interior door?

Saronno, a tiny commune in Lombardy, a sub-Alpine region in the north of Italiy, is famous for its almond kernel cookies (called amaretti in local parlance) and, naturally, Amaretto, a world-famous liqueur that is a staple at Manhattan cafes and California beach parties. While traditionally it is supposed to take its distinctive, instantly recognizable flavor from bitter almonds, most modern brands are prepared from a base of apricot pits. According to legend, a Saronno church once commissioned Bernadino Luini, one of Leonardo’s more passionate pupils, to cover the walls of its newly renovated sanctuary with frescoes. Interior doors weren’t mentioned. Luini was such an ardent (and gifted) follower of Leonardo’s technique that some of his works were attributed to Leonardo (until, armed with the most advanced scientific tools, a bunch of uncompromising experts produced evidence to the contrary, but that’s a story for another day). He is especially known today as the author of “graceful female figures with elongated eyes,” as one expert put it.

What does any of this have to do with interior doors? Read on.

Among other things, because the church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, one of the artist’s main tasks was to depict the Madonna. The picky painter spent quite some time trying to secure the services of the right model, finally lighting on a young widowed innkeeper who seemed to have all the right qualities and features. They may or may not have become lovers. Out of gratitude, the young lady decided to give the artist a present. Her very modest means would not allow her to splurge. She figured she might as well get creative. She locked herself in the kitchen (one wonders what the inn’s interior doors looked like), she spent some time experimenting. Eventually, steeping apricot kernels in brandy, she presented the resulting beverage to a very grateful, as well as pleasantly surprised, artist. Coincidentally, Luini’s palette features a lot of black, a manner not too many painters can get away with without coming across as bumptious, overbearing, or just tacky. Case in point: many of the French Impressionists renounced black paint altogether, substituting indigo, burnt umber, or a mixture of the two, when they needed to use dark tones. Luini’s trick is in the general pattern he follows when applying black and distributing it in a composition: a pattern in many ways resembling an apricot kernel’s ridges, bulges, and edges. Rather than upstaging the rest of the colors, Luini’s apricot-inspired black brings them all together in a clever, romantic way.

That is something to keep in mind when you choose apricot black as the finish for your interior doors. When thoughtfully applied to interior doors, it can serve as a compliment to your creative thinking, not to mention the joy of knowing that you’re on the same page as one of the beloved Old Masters.