What starts out as a simple home refurbishment plan can often turn into a whole-hearted re-construction of the guts of your house. It's difficult to comprehend the fact that when you decide to put a new floor on your kitchen or change the curtains in the living room you might end up with an irrepressible urge to replace all the furniture, paint the walls and replace all the doors, too.

Why is this? Nobody really knows. Impromptu removal of doors throughout the house is just a natural progression from an innocent comment about buying a new lamp for the end table. But let's face it – doors get old and unattractive just like every other fixture. After a few years, what once was a shiny oaken door can turn into the cat's scratching post, and after that, the doorway needs a new lease on life.

Replacement doors can be more fun to buy than most people realise. Seeing the wide range of products in a showcase can very often inspire the primarily bored replacement shopper to install a set of French doors between the living room and kitchen, or windowed panels in the front doorway. Filling such functional spaces with pretty, creative doors is usually one of the last aspects in a renovation, but it works like a charm to brighten up what was a dull and dreary space.

Well-chosen doors can also make a public space feel more private – two and a half inches of sturdy wood between a student and the rest of the family can make all the difference. The same results can be given to a self-employed person with a severe lack of office space. After a few kitchen modifications, slap a door on the pantry and someone can get a lot more work done, and might even be in a good mood at the end of the day!

A door can be a lot more than just a way in and out of a room.