What is an Urban Door? | 7 Urban Door Features to Create a Dramatic Entrance

An urban home offers a peaceful escape from the hectic city. With artistic design elements and cozy furnishings, it becomes a calm oasis amidst the urban buzz. A key part of this aesthetic is the urban door. These doors complement the home's design to create a streamlined look. They typically have these features:

7 Features of an Urban Door

Minimalistic Design
Contrasting Look
Size and Function
Natural Light
Privacy
Durability
Sleek Hardware

These characteristics fit the definition of urban design, so any door with these features will make a great addition to your urban space. Before we jump into these features, though, let’s explore what defines urban design a bit more.

What is Urban Design?

Urban design began with urban apartments, lofts, and converted warehouses. Some spaces, like redesigned warehouses and lofts, are open and airy, while others, like apartments, are small and tight. Urban design aims to make each room feel open and spacious.

Urban design blends comfort with style and global influences. It often features unique vintage decor, large paintings, and sleek statues or plaster pieces. This style combines contemporary, minimalism, industrial, and mid-century modern design, creating its own unique and distinct look.

Because it’s a combination of styles, urban design can vary quite dramatically from space to space. Some homes might lean more towards industrial decor, while others may add a more rustic flare. However, they are still considered urban design if they have the following elements:

Soft and comfortable furnishings
Mixed materials (wood, metal, cement, glass, or brick)
Exposed ceilings and walls (open beams, raw wall materials, exposed metal ductwork)
Natural or neutral colors
Contrasting colors or shapes
Live plants
Large windows
Clean lines
Multifunctional decor

Along with these features, each room should have a “showstopper.” In other words, each space should have one staple piece that draws the eye. This piece may shape the design of the rest of the room, or all other design elements should discreetly complement it.

The staple piece could be a large painting, an elegant curved couch, a large, multi-colored rug, or even an impressive barn door. The showstopper doesn’t need to be excessive—in fact nothing in urban design should be excessive—but it should have enough of a presence to give the room distinct character.

While these parameters will help you create a defined urban space, it’s important to know that creative expression is at the core of every urban design concept. Let your artistic brilliance shine through when designing your home. After all, urban homes are meant to be peaceful and inspiring sanctuaries amid the city, so let your creativity lead you to create the perfect space for you.

7 Features of an Urban Door

With doors being a necessity in every home, they’re easy to overlook when designing an urban space. Just because a door is highly functional doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be addressed as a key part of the room’s design.

Every little detail counts in urban interior design, and the door is no exception. That’s why it’s important to remember the following features when shopping for your next urban door:

1. Minimalistic Design

Artistic design is fundamental to urban style, but it shouldn’t be too flamboyant. The same goes for an urban door, whether it’s an interior door or an exterior door.

Your urban front door should have an inconspicuous elegance that blends seamlessly with the rest of the design. Think minimalistic concepts: clean, straight lines, smooth surface, and sleek hardware.

This doesn't mean the door can't have bold designs; it just needs to have an overall minimalistic feel. However, these rules aren't set in stone. For instance, if you want a large barn door to be the room's showstopper, you might choose a modern, minimalistic style with expressive gold barn door hardware as a finishing touch. Alternatively, you could add a rustic feel by choosing a traditional paneled door with a barn X design. It all depends on the overall look you wish to achieve.

2. Contrasting Look

As mentioned above, you can mix and match different interior styles to create a contrasting, yet complementary design. Doing this may be tricky, as you don’t want your overall design to seem all over the place. Rather you want everything to fit perfectly and meld together to create a sophisticated urban style. You can try this with your door by choosing a unique door design that contrasts with another decor style in the room.

Another way to create contrast is through color. While urban design prioritizes natural earth tones, you can still add a splash of color here and there to create contrast with the rest of the room’s colors. You can do this by having a brightly colored door, such as a yellow, green, or red.

By choosing a painted door, you can add a pop of color to the room, creating contrast and depth that complements the neutral tones. Alternatively, a neutral or natural-colored door can contrast with another bright color in the room, like the couch or a painting. In this case, a natural wood door with a clear glaze would be perfect.

When you design a custom urban door with Rustica, you can create this contrasting look by choosing your door’s final color. With wood doors, you can select your preferred wood species and wood finish or paint color to give the door the exact look you’re envisioning.

Furthermore, contrast can be achieved by mixing different materials, such as metal and wood accents. In this way, you can pair a metal door with wooden ceiling beams and furniture. With Rustica’s custom metal doors, you can choose your preferred metal type and finish.

3. Size and Function

On the practical side, when designing a custom urban door, consider its size and functionality. Think about how the door operates and what would work best for your space.

For entryways, consider a large and impressive urban front door that is both minimalist and bold. This converging of styles and paradoxes makes for an intriguing entry door that sets the tone for the rest of the home. Nothing is better than a little intrigue when it comes to urban design.

Pivot doors are one of the best options for urban entry doors when it comes to functionality and durability. The design of pivot doors—rotating on a spindle rather than hinges—is perfect for large, heavy doors, and they offer a sleek and modern design.

On the other hand, you may be looking for an urban interior door for your small apartment. In this instance, every inch of space matters. This might mean a barn door is a better choice since it slides along a track instead of swinging out on hinges. Plus, barn doors are the perfect fit for modern urban designs.

With Rustica, you can design a custom door in the size you need, whether it's a large urban entry door or a small barn door.

4. Natural Light

Large floor-to-ceiling windows that offer warm, ambient light are major components of classic urban design. Natural light creates a serene and comforting atmosphere that’s perfect for escaping city life's hecticness.

Consider an urban door with window to keep the natural light flowing between rooms. Interior doors with glass also add a style of their own—a contemporary and elegant flare that will surely complement the entire space.

If you need more privacy, consider adding obscured glass to your custom urban door. Rustica offers an extensive collection of glass types that will add privacy without sacrificing natural light. And what’s more, textured glass adds even more style and character to the door and room overall.

You can also add more natural light with a large exterior door with windows. Couple it with a pair of sidelights, and you’ll have lots of cheerful sunlight shining through your entryway.

5. Privacy

One of the key functions of doors, no matter the style, is privacy. Urban doors are no exception, and while they might have an artistic design, they are still fully functioning doors.

However, not all doors are equal in the privacy they offer, especially when it comes to soundproofing. When you live in an urban setting, soundproof doors are essential for creating a quieter atmosphere.

Rustica’s solid wood doors are ideal for creating a durable and stylish barrier between rooms. Even our metal doors have a solid wood core to improve their strength and durability. The solid core door helps muffle sounds, creating a private and secluded place within.

Even urban doors with windows can offer privacy if they are custom-designed with Rustica. As mentioned above, there are several decorative glass options to choose from that will offer privacy without sacrificing light or aesthetics.

6. Durability

Along with privacy, Rustica’s modern urban doors offer professional-grade durability, no matter whether they’re interior or exterior. All of our exterior doors are specifically designed to withstand the elements and be a stronghold against exterior forces.

When you choose a door design with Rustica, you’ll receive a door that is not only stylish for an urban setting, but also highly durable, strong, and long-lasting. Our high-quality American craftsmanship coupled with our wide range of urban door designs makes Rustica the perfect choice for your door needs.

7. Sleek Hardware

When choosing an urban door for your space, consider the door hardware as well. Though small in detail, items like hinges and handles are important. They are the final touches that complete the overall design.

With urban doors, you want hardware that complements the door and the entire room. For a minimalistic look, you can opt for discreet hardware. If you’re looking for a bolder look, consider something outside the norm, such as a barn red metal finishing.

Rustica’s customization process allows you to select all of these little details for your door so that you receive everything you need for installation in one convenient delivery.

Find the Best Urban Door for Your Home

If you’re ready to start designing a new urban door for your home, check out our extensive collection of modern doors today! Each of our designer doors is handcrafted by skilled craftsmen. Whether you need a large front door, French patio doors, pocket doors, or a pivot door—we have everything you need. All you need to bring is your own imagination.