A picture would help. There are lots of options. Paint, adding moulding, diff handles.

I think the people who built the house thought double were stylish. Maybe two wider doors would be, with proper door handles. They had some odd ideas! I think converting to a single door would be a significant task as it would require changing the framing. I'm wondering if just putting dummy handles matching the other doors in the house might help?

I'll take a photo Kate. The kitchen has been removed so it's a mess at present, but I should be able to get some pictures that tell the story.

I'm with Dr Retro -- 410mm wide doors are just weird . Most frames can be modified by a competent builder , or even a DIYer , to fit a single door , but a picture would help obviously . As a matter of interest , are the doors bi-fold , or are they 'spring loaded' like those old-style doors ? I can't work out how any other style would work , without locks or stays .

Anyway , a single door you could paint , add a modern handle , use a wood ( e.g cedar ) that adds some interest to both the kitchen and bedroom , or paint it metallic silver if you are a Star Trek fan . . . . . . . . .

Hi Pottsy99

Thank you for your comment. The doors are not bi-fold or spring=loaded. They just push shut against magnets mounted at the top of the door jamb. They are grooved so that they fit together when closed, and you have to take care that they fit together correctly before pushing them shut. I've never seen anything like it, but they do seem to work fine - though a little noisy when they click shut.

Lorraine, if they are two 410mm wide doors it sounds like they have been fitted to an 820mm opening. An 820mm wide door is the most commonly available door size and I reckon that your other internal doors are mostly between 810 and 820mm wide, but why don't you go and measure them? When replacing doors you don't adjust the width of the frame, but adjust the width of the door by cutting off the excess width from the edge of the door. There is a good chance in your case that an 820mm wide, standard door will not need any width adjustment! Trying to fix your current weird 410mm doors will end up looking like a compromise. Your tape measure is your best friend.

best of luck,
Dr Retro if Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits

Yes, all the other doors are standard 820mm wide. I had hoped for a quick and dirty solution for the bedroom doors, but maybe I kick this can down the road a bit and plan to replace them completely. There are much higher priorities at the moment, but I probably should look for door furniture to match the other doors now - hopefully before that style is discontinued.

Photos of doors. First photo shows magnetic catches at the top. Doors snap closed against these.

Second photo is looking from bedroom out into kitchen. You can see that the drawer handles are the same as the handles on the door. (Kitchen is being replaced and new cabinets will have no handles. The drawer unit visible in this photo will be replaced with a polished timber table and chairs.)

Last photo shows doors closed looking from living area. Kitchen is makeshift, but kitchen cabinets and splash backs will be visible here when the new kitchen is installed. Cabinets will be off-white with white/grey/gold marbled bench top and splash backs.