Open door to personalisation
By Liniar.
Liniar may not fabricate finished products at its facility in the East Midlands, but that doesn’t stop the team from keeping track of changes in customer behaviour. This month, the focus has been on entrance doors.
PVCU doors are increasingly popular, thanks to superb thermal efficiency and the ability to give them a foiled finish such as woodgrain or metallic effects. In the case of composite doors, Liniar produces the door frames and thresholds, with fabricators choosing door slabs from a range of suppliers.
“Our complex supply chain creates some confusion for homeowners and even installers,” business services manager Colin Sharpe said. “We receive many enquiries for finished products, which are passed onto fabricators.
“It’s important that we stay ahead of trends in order to continue to deliver the products our customers are being asked for. Knowing what consumer tastes are leaning towards allows us to tweak our range and colours.
“In fact, we’ve recently overhauled our colour ranges, now having more than 36 foils available on very short lead times to Liniar customers; we see this critical area continuing to grow even further.”
So, what are the top entrance door trends for 2020?
Getting moody. From furniture and carpets to soft furnishings, the shades-of-grey trend continues to rise. For doors, this translates into black and grey foiled frames in either glossy or matte finishes, paired with bold door colours, including plum, deep blue, graphite grey and burgundy.
These darker neutral shades are taking over the former popularity of pops of colour; we envisage teals, oranges and turquoises will decline over the next 12 months.
Industrial revolution. The copper trend has been increasing for nearly a decade now, and this will continue. Homeowners are opting for grunge-metallic foiled door frames such as grey aluminium or bronze platin, paired with doors in bold colours as well as monochrome woodgrain foils like anteak oak and Sheffield oak concrete.
To complement these colours, large door knockers are making a comeback with hardware in brushed steel, champagne bronze and copper or rose gold.
Inspired by nature. Timber is one of the most popular construction mediums for homes, and modern builders are pairing this classic material with metals and stone. Savvy consumers who want thermal performance and exceptional security can choose a PVCU door (or an aluminium door such as Alumina) foiled in a range of realistic, factory-fitted foils.
Most popular in major city centres like London where security can be a serious issue, foiled Liniar doors provide the look customers are trying to achieve with the bonus of PAS24 and Secured by Design accreditation.
Changing perceptions. Some homeowners are thinking outside the box – or the house in this case – when it comes to the aesthetics of their property, choosing French doors for their entrance. This also goes hand in hand with the rise in consumers wanting more glass in their properties.
Excellent U-values can be achieved with French doors, with fully opening apertures and low thresholds for family-friendly access. Architects are choosing high-spec thermally rated triple glazing or specialised glass coatings including privacy glass.
Generation digital. The days of classic doorknobs and keys are still popular, however there’s a new age dawning and fabricators would do well to keep updated about developments here. As seen at the last FIT Show, smart technology and smart homes are the future for the industry. Customers are searching for fingerprint and facial recognition solutions, with opening mechanisms and video doorbells already widely used by families of all ages.
“Fashion trends change with the seasons,” Colin said, “and while fenestration fads tend to last longer than fashion, it’s still important to know what homeowners are searching for, so that you’re ready when they are at the purchase point of their buying journey.”
