My first encounter with a carved Indian wooden door was at my Aunt’s house in India.  She has a small temple room on one side of the dining area, enclosed by a beautiful wooden carved door with little brass bells.  For as long as I can remember, the door was usually open.  My uncle and aunt, as very devout Brahmins, prayed nearly every morning and placed fresh flowers on the deities, immediately after their baths and before breakfast.

I have to admit that, as an American, my religious rituals do not rise to that level.  Not at all.  Fortunately, here in the U.S., you don’t need a home temple room to have an Indian wooden carved door.  I think this type of door would look exceptionally beautiful as the door to a study, or as the entrance to a guest bedroom.  It’s a great way to pair up beautiful Indian art with the practical necessities of a home – after all, most bedrooms and studies in the average American home need doors!

Let’s take a look at some different options:

Photo from Pinterest (Elle Decor)

My first thought was – wow!  Now, this was not exactly what I had in mind when I said “Indian wooden carved door”.  I meant an actual door – one that opens up to a room.  But, the placement of these lovely carved wood panels/ doors is so phenomenal, that I had to include it here.  This is, in fact, one way to incorporate an Indian carved wooden door into your home.  And what a way to do it!

Truth be told, this look is probably too magnificent for me.  The wooden doors look old, so they could be antiques.  And, I think I might be a little too conventional for this design.  This look is for very wealthy CEOs or venture capital partners, with excess cash and enough stature to feel perfectly at home in this room.  I would simply enter, gawk, and fail to fall asleep.  It just looks absolutely too perfect for my messy, attorney, white-collar professional, disorganized life.  But, I still love the look!  It’s something for me to aspire to.

According to http://www.sohautestyle.com/2008/07/global-chic.html, where I got this photo from, via Pinterest, the room was designed by Matthew Patrick Smyth and featured in Elle a decade ago.  It’s interesting to note that, even a decade later, this room works.  It doesn’t feel dated.  It feels contemporary, with a very appropriate nod to Indian history and Indian design.  Double wow!

Now let’s take a look at an entirely different integration of Indian wooden doors:

So, this isn’t actually a door – it’s more of a door frame.  But that little fact doesn’t lessen the magnificence of this look.  It has a presence, and perfectly weds an old colonial look with modernity – just check out the metal chairs past the door frame.  They don’t seem to clash with the heavy wooden frame, even though I would have expected them to.

This frame seems to be an antique, which means it probably is very expensive.  Still – it’s an idea worth considering.  How many homes have you seen with fancy door frames?  I don’t think I’ve seen any, at least not here in the U.S.  Granted, I don’t hang out in the homes of billionaires, but I do think a carved door or door frame look could be easily incorporated into many American homes.  It would bring that special other-culture and historic look, while blending into the modern day reality of our lives.

Now let’s take a look at an actual Indian door in an actual home:

This door isn’t as heavily carved as I would like.  But maybe that’s a good thing – I have to assume that the more intricate the carving, the more heavy dusting you need to do.

I’m not sure if this door is actually leading out of the home, or merely to another room.  But it looks magnificent.  Really magnificent.  It has a presence in the midst of the house, and a kind of permanence that you don’t see with our run of the mill doors here in the U.S.  Sometimes, front doors are magnificent, but I’ve rarely seen impressive looking interior doors.  I think a version of this door (and its frame) would work well as the entry to a dining room, a study, or perhaps even a master bedroom.

To get a quick contrast, let’s take a look at a temple room door in an Indian home:

How different is this door!  What an incredible presence!  Although this door is clearly for a temple room, I really do think it would work well as the door to a bedroom.  Perhaps it is more magnificent than a kid’s bedroom door would need, but again, this would work as the door to a master bedroom, study, or perhaps to a separate dining room.  Food for thought!