A-door-able animals

By Jeyda, Doorco’s chief doork.

In times of emergency, when humanity is all a bit much, our furry companions can be the perfect antidote for calming anxious spirits.

Coronavirus or not, our barking sidekicks are still going to need to stretch their legs. We’ve called them cat flaps for many years but I prefer to think of them as doggy doors.

I haven’t seen many people having fun with their doggy doors, which is a shame. Why let us humans have all the fun? One option is to mimic the full doorway around the flap, to truly make it look like their own grand entrance.

The reality is that a doggy door is quite hard to retrofit onto a front door so most people leave it to the back door. As is usually the way, the back door is often neglected; people simply don’t see the value in splashing out like they do for the front one, showing off all of its glory for the neighbours. That said, if you can’t fit a fun-looking animal door, then my advice would be to stick with the norm and have a flap at the back.

However, for those who simply love animals, the door can still be a place of expression. I’ve seen many animal-painted doors which look like a sort of large shrine or celebration of our favourite creatures.

Some go for a full mural of an exotic animal, which I can only assume is done to remind the homeowner of their fantastic safari trip in the early 2000s.

Others go for a subtle addition like a few bumble bees around the door number. There could be all kinds of reasons to go for something like this. Love honey? Named Buzz? Worried about the plight of bees? Regardless, it’s a nice touch and you could replicate with any insect of your choice (butterfly all the way for me).

I’ve also seen some magnificent pieces of animal art, loudly plastered across doors. One artist went to town expressing his love for the great British bulldog.

Birds seem to feature quite heavily in the world of doors, which did get me wondering about the symbolic significance. Our winged counterparts often represent freedom, which is a beautiful way to think about your own door. If you like that idea, there are a number of ways to reflect it within a door.

You could paint your own feathery mural, add a bird doormat, or choose a bird-shaped knockers for your door.

Finally, if you’re keen to leave the door intact but have the option to decorate surrounding glass, this could be the perfect spot to add your animal amour.