Manhattan Swank Craftsman Chelsea - White - Swing

It goes without saying that this interior door model can easily blend in any type of decor, but is that all it can do? Not by a long shot. For one thing, it can easily improve on it by bringing all the important parts of it into focus, the way old masters focused the viewer’s attention on the composition’s natural center of gravity.

In certain ancient cultures, a single vertical band of light was used to represent wisdom, discernment, and sound judgement; the voice of reason shining through the fog of muddled thoughts and circumstances, as if saying, “Look, my friend, do not let external influences cloud your judgment. Smoke and mirrors must leave you unimpressed. No amount of honey-tongued poppycock can ever distract you, nor force you to deviate from the path of your choosing. You are in control of the situation. Your decisions are solid because they are entirely your own, based on your experience and your ability to tell the difference between truth and falsehood.”

That single shiny band of light, characteristic of this interior door model, is designed to do just that: to point out the (usually minor) adjustments that will harmonize your interior design for you; and to continue keeping everything within that space perfectly balanced.

This interior door, like the vast majority of them in this collection, is put together using the latest breakthroughs of Twenty-First Century technology. The “wrap” method essentially fuses the finish and the surface, which renders it scratch-resistant, moisture-resistant, and warp-proof.

It was one of the early venues (interior doors and all) of that marvelous time known to historians today as La Belle Epoque. Viennese operetta’s heyday had passed, even though the cancan continued to enjoy its popularity; the “silver age” of operetta was about to begin, with Franz Lehar’s masterpiece, The Merry Widow, already composed and ready to be staged.

As for the hardware, why, you’ll enjoy our usual excellent Italian-made, 3D-adjustable, self-lubricating concealed hinges; the soundless magnetic lock; and the automatic sweep. The sound-proofing and thermal insulation qualities of this interior door model are off the chart.

As for the “noir” part: naturally, the designers were inspired by the famous cabaret in Paris, which first opened in the second half of the Nineteenth century in a small two-room space without only a few interior doors, which today bears an historical plaque. The arrival of young writers and artists assured the establishment’s success, so much so that it soon outgrew its original space and, in 1885, just three years after opening, had to move to a new venue (with lots of interior doors, some of them quite stylish) belonging to the celebrated artists Alfred Stevens, who hired an architect and transformed his old private mansion situated just south of the Boulevard Clichi (which was rapidly becoming fashionable) into a sort of “fancy country inn.” Plays and monologues were performed, the hot topics of the day were hotly discussed, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was one of the frequent customers. Horse-drawn carriages and early automobiles dropped off affluent patrons; others, including the writers and poets, preferred to arrive on foot, as writers and poets often will. Soon the place became a veritable staple of the City of Light’s night life, and a tourist magnet to boot.

Theophile Steinlen’s famous billboard depicting a black cat, done in keeping with the art nouveau style, is now famous throughout the world; iconic, in fact. Other cabarets copied and adapted the model established by Le Chat Noir.

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.