In addition to kitchens, furniture and architectural millwork, we love to craft entry doors that make a statement, enhance the architecture and produce a solid entrance to any environment.

A beautiful door welcomes you and your guests with a promise of great things to come.

“An entry door is the first impression of your home, and it should reflect the style and character of the house and those who live there.”

The first step in designing an entry door is choosing a style that will harmonize with and enhance the architecture of your home. Designing within context, while adding your own personal flair, will dictate the feeling and style of the door and will help you to choose hardware and handles. Existing architecture and materials, as well as exposure considerations will help you choose the materials, finish for the door, threshold and frames.

Some things to take in consideration when choosing the style, material and finish for the doors are:

• Overall house style to help dictate design elements
• Amount of exposure to weather and elements
• Color and quality of wood for design purposes
• Overall condition of existing jambs and casings
• Threshold function and design aspect (materials and raised/flushed design)

Exterior Door

Exposure to the weather is a very important factor when selecting the appropriate materials and finishes for an entry door. South facing doors, especially those without an overhang, are the most vulnerable while North facing doors have more protection, and thus more options.

In high exposure locations, we recommend using Teak or Mahogany wood, since these hardwoods are stable and have the highest resistance to weather. These doors should be finished with either oil finish or epoxy.

•     Oil finish is mostly used on doors that have a lot of contact with the natural elements like sun, rain and sudden change in temperatures. Oil lets the door breath a bit more and though an oil finish can dry out over time, it will not peel like varnish or lacquer. The downside of oil is that it requires more upkeep; it will need to be reapplied every six months to a year, depending on weather exposure.
•     Conversion varnish is mostly used for doors that do not have much exposure to the elements, such as doors that are under a deep overhang or facing away from the sun throughout the day. If protected from the elements, a conversion varnish finish can last a long time without refinishing up to 3 years depending on the door’s location.
•     Epoxy is great for both situations, inside and outside, and it has a higher build and glossier looks than oil or conversion varnish. An epoxy finish is the most durable, even under extreme conditions, but it is also the most difficult to reapply when it becomes necessary.

A new Berkeley Mills entry door can be built into your existing jamb, or we can build new jambs, sidelites and casings. A new threshold can also be included in the design, allowing us to adjust the height to meet interior tiles or carpeting. The threshold can be made from matching hardwood or wrapped in metal such as copper, brass or stainless steel. Whether it’s just a new door in an existing jamb, or entirely new from the threshold up, we can transform your ordinary doorway into a beautiful entry way.

Interior Doors

Interior doors and room dividers are more flexible in terms of materials and operation. Closet doors, Shoji panels and sliding doors all offer the possibility of integrating a client’s vision with the design and functional needs of the room.

Sliding doors can be used as room dividers, privacy screens, and to cover appliances or equipment.  The sliding doors keep the laundry room out of sight when not in use.

Every door that Berkeley Mills builds and installs comes with the same level of design, craftsmanship and attention to detail as our furniture.  Whether it’s an entry door that says you’ve arrived or an interior door to beautify your environment, a custom door from Berkeley Mills is a long-lasting upgrade to your home.
In order to ensure the highest possible outcome, one of our designers will come to your home to site measure the openings and to see the architecture into which the door will integrate. Your new door will then be designed, built to order and installed by our team of precision installers.  The first step is to call us!

.2 CEU – Bright Ideas: Luminous Alchemy for Light in Architecture.

Berkeley Mills welcomes you to the Distinguished Speaker Series 2013, presented by ASID Northern California Chapter.

Date/Time
Date – 9 Sep 2013
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Location Berkeley Mills Showroom –

2830 Seventh Street, Berkeley California

* Light refreshments will be provided
* A limited number of ASID Student Members may attend for FREE
* .2 CEU credit available for this course – remember to bring your IDCEC number to receive credit. Students are not eligible to receive credit
* ASID Members, Industry Partners and Student Members must provide their Member ID number
* Plenty of free parking available
* Pre-pay $20, day-of-event tickets at the door will be $25

Event is open to the general public, so to reserve your place now! RSVP at http://asidcalnorthbrightideasceu.eventbrite.com/

DESCRIPTION

Distinguished Speaker Series 2013

“Bright Ideas: Luminous Alchemy for Light in Architecture“

Steven L. Klein, IALD, LC brings his brand of lighting education to the Northern California Chapter for a presentation on essential lighting design techniques and current technology. With an emphasis on what to do and why to do it, participants will leave confident, informed, and enthusiastic.

Stunning visual examples of real projects will illustrate the subtleties of architectural illustration, lighting for art, and the best techniques for providing the right light for specific tasks.

A thoroughly researched explanation of lighting and health will explain the science behind the psychological benefits of great lighting.

Learning Objectives:
* Attendees will join in identifying all the methods of ambient illumination and the lighting of vertical surfaces to correctly imagine and define space.
* Attendees will learn the latest LED technology and receive a satisfying explanation of the reasons why the new products can replace the old, which products are excellent choices (and which are not), what the differences will be and how to best predict outcomes.
* Attendees will better understand how the light spectrum affects functions of different parts of the body, and the potential implications for health in architectural projects.
* Attendees will discover the new lighting ergonomics and ways that lighting changes attitudes, increases client satisfaction and will also see how lighting design transforms ordinary spaces into environments that nurture and sustain people.

Space is limited! To hold your spot, RSVP now at http://asidcalnorthbrightideasceu.eventbrite.com/

 The Designer/Manufacture Interface

The latest edition of the American Society of Interior Designers ASID CA North chapters quarterly Magazine, feating an article from Berkeley Mills please click on the cover shot to read this edition. 

Is there any better symbol than a rocking chair for the lace-curtain, Victorian formality against which mid-century modern style rebels? Within the spacious casualness in an Eichler or Streng interior, a traditional straight-backed wooden rocker looks so awkward and uncomfortable it’s like trying to lounge around in a buttoned-up shirt collar a size too small. But it doesn’t have to be.

Berkeley Mills’ Masaya rocker recently caught my eye on their Facebook page because it looked like it could have been made by Ole Wanscher. Its low-slung profile and angular lines give it a distinctly mid-century modern look. But as the folks at Berkeley Mills explained to me, it’s also designed with comfort in mind, a bit like the organic functionalism of Hans Wegner.

For example, the back and seat cushions can be swapped out to adjust for the sitter’s height. “Somebody six-foot-four could be comfortable in it but so could someone five-foot-three,” Berkeley Mills owner Gene Agress said by phone. The inspiration came from that Scandinavian school of design, Agress said. “It’s something I describe as ‘extreme comfort.’ That was a time when furniture was made not just to be architecturally forward but to be very human and comfortable.”

And while the geometry appears simple, production manager Luong Le, who designed and built the chair, explained that perfecting it was acomplex process. “We had to find the center of gravity. If it’s too low, it won’t rock well, and if it’s too high, it will throw you off.” Additionally, Le used Agress as a model to determine the perfect angle for the seat and back so that the user would remain comfortable both while rocking and at rest.

Then there was the curve of the skid itself, which Le redesigned to be more efficient. “The curve has to be just right so it rocks like a pendulum. I made the curve more sharp, and the bottom has a curve, where most of them have a flat spot in the middle,” he said.

Mortise and Tenan joints hold the pieces together, instead of dowels, which Le explained was a complex way to do things because of the odd angles. But in the end, those joints provide better transitions between the pieces, so every plane on the chair is perfectly smooth, Le said. “No machine can produce these parts. It takes a lot of work to create smooth transitions from plane to plane.”

Much of Berkeley Mills’ collection has a modernist bent, but the Masaya chair is much more classically retro than most. Here’s hoping they continue down that road.

adam@eichlernetwork.com  http://www.eichlernetwork.com