The French Door is perhaps one of the most impactful, yet underrated, design details you can add to a main ground-floor room, such as a living room or kitchen, to brighten your home. These architectural solutions aren't most people's first line of thought for fixing design problems, but photos of Jim Carrey's home from 1991 show why maybe they should be.
White, glass, and gold doors on the side of the comedian's home serve peak '90s chicness. Jim sits on the ledge, ushering light into his wooden living room. Though the space is barely visible, the many windows on the doors mean that Carrey's backyard view will be just as much a part of the interiors as the piano and hardwood floors we can see through them.
We explore the impact of how the chosen French doors become a central anchor point for his space. I've also put together an edit of the best French doors I could find for replicating the look, and spoken to experts to understand why French doors are so striking.
Recreate Jim's Look at Home
These elegant doors are made of solid pine wood with a sturdy white silk finish. They are gorgeous and easy to install.
If you prefer something older, these beautiful 19th century French doors have a reclaimed beauty that's impossible to replicate. It would be the perfect match to a white exterior like Jim Carrey's.
These pretty doors have a distinctly contemporary feel with their gorgeous glass windows and smooth white surfaces. I love how they appear here on the front of the pantry.
Elegant in color and shape, this planter pot will pair well with any plant or flower. Featuring a single drainage hole, you can place this round planter both indoors and outdoors on your patio, porch, entryway, and beyond.
These sophisticated glazed pots feature feet to elevate plants. With a drainage hole and silicon plug, you're able to manage moisture levels easily.
This beautiful indoor planter brings a rustic, vintage feel to interiors. Ideal for small and medium houseplants, as well as displaying cut flowers.
As you can see from Jim Carrey's patio door design, the natural light invited by French doors is one of their main benefits. Cathy Dean, Founder & CEO of Studio Dean, explains: 'The way the light hits and enters your house through the day can be a real superpower if you harness it well. Observe how light falls at different times of the day and year, and then think about what you can do to make the most of it. It might be useful to speak to an architectural interior designer at this point.'
To recreate the look at home, Cathy advises: 'Options could be to open up some skylights and create double-height spaces to move light through the house vertically. Or enlarge windows and remove interior walls to let light flow through horizontally.'
Furthermore, installing patio doors is a wonderful choice because they turn your backyard into a part of your home. We see this in Jim Carrey's yard, where the grass outside the window becomes a design feature of the interior.
'Sometimes it’s what’s outside your home that is your superpower,' explains Cathy. 'If you have a gorgeous view to one side of your house, redesign your interior architecture to harness it throughout. Move all the rooms that you spend quality time in to the ‘view side’ so you are waking up, eating, and relaxing with the view. Open up sightlines by removing walls through the house so you can see the view throughout. Put lesser-used rooms the furthest from the view – such as bathrooms, boot rooms, and snugs that are usually used when it’s dark.'
To make this view really pop, coordinate the interior of your home with what you can see through the French doors. Cathy advises: 'Work with the theme of your view. If it is coastal or countryside, bring those colors into your interior design. Be careful not to become kitschy - just because you are near the beach, you do not need seaside things. There are ways of saying coastal without a sign saying "gone fishin’’. Instead, use the same woods that are outside or use driftwood. Look at colors outside and reflect them in art and fabrics. Don’t buy artwork pictures of the coast. Your view is that. Try abstract images and representative sculptures instead.'
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