It can be said that doors are more often thought of as things of practical amenity rather than beauty.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This is especially true in residential aged care facilities; they are generally wider than average to allow bulky equipment through, and give easier access to less mobile residents. But why can't they be beautiful as well?
Australian True Doors consultant Caryolyne Taplin is scouting ACT facilities for interest in the Netherlands-based company's product: made-to-measure door decals that give otherwise clinical-looking corridors a sense of home.
As well as offering an aesthetic improvement, evidence suggests the decals might also help people who have dementia or memory loss be better-orientated and have a stronger sense of independence.
"It becomes really clear when you're working with and spending time with people with dementia, and when you're in these environments, that people often don't feel safe because the institutionalised, hospital, clinical look adds to the stress of someone with these cognitive changes," Ms Taplin said.
Dementia Australia chief Maree McCabe agrees True Doors could give memory-impaired people a better sense of direction in aged care facilities, especially as there is generally little differentiation between their internal spaces.
"The introduction of the project into Australian aged care facilities assists to personalise and differentiate for people living with dementia," Ms McCabe said.
"We have indeed heard of projects and initiatives like this and it's very exciting to see it in action here in Australia.
"The environment can be a challenge for people living with dementia - especially with all doors painted the same so making it personalised and easy to distinguish it really helps."
Facilities or individuals can choose from a catalogue of hundreds of True Doors designs - including about 40 Australian, captured by Ms Taplin - or have a personalised door decal made using a photo of one from their past.
"Once you've started seeing doors in this light, you can't not see them anymore," Ms Taplin said.
"The doors that we have in the collection are reflective of the life experiences of the people who are choosing them."
Senior manager of aged care at Victoria's Kyabram District Health Service, Dorothy Stone, put 12 True Doors in one facility's memory support unit about three months ago.
In that short time, residents had proven less likely to enter other people's rooms by mistake, and felt more ownership over their own space having chosen a door.
True Doors was so cost effective, she said, that management had decided to order another 30 for the rest of the facility, and take the change even further with a complete "streetscape".
"There will be street signs, people will have their own letter boxes and we will be putting additional decals along the corridors to create gardens or fences," Ms Stone said.
The facility footed the about $150-each bill for the doors but would likely have to fundraise for the next lot.
Leisure lifestyle coordinator at Charla Lodge Aged Care in South Australia, Sharon Rothe, said the doors had made a huge difference in their facility since October, and she too was looking to get more every time they received more funding or donations.
"It has made staff stop and knock on the [residents'] doors [rather than go straight in] because it's their house, it's their door," she said.
"Just because people need that extra help, it doesn't mean that they should lose that personal touch."