The first thing I want to address is the curve. It’s the whole conversation of this piece. Rather than dividing the door face into predictable symmetrical panels, I drew a single flowing line that runs the full height, making the copper at the bottom wider, then pinching near the middle, opening back up toward the top. That curve separates two very different materials, and the tension between them is where the design lives.
On the right side of that curve sit three walnut panels, stacked with thin dark reveals between them. The grain runs horizontally, which was a deliberate choice; it steadies the composition and keeps those panels from competing with the vertical space of the curved copper.
The copper side is doing the opposite. I left the patina raw and uneven with dark spots, oxidized patches, and surface variation throughout. That’s not a finishing oversight; that’s the point. Copper ages in place, and I wanted the door to carry that quality from day one rather than pretending to be something static. The client wants to have bright blues similar to a copper panel in her kitchen. I am still exploring different patina techniques to get the right color.
The black frame holds all of it together. It’s thick enough to feel structural but doesn’t draw attention to itself. The hardware is a dark-toned bar pull, so it reads as part of the frame rather than an addition.
At 36 by 80 inches, the proportions are standard, but nothing about the face feels standard. The curve shifts weight toward the hinge side at the bottom and toward the latch side at the top, which gives the door a sense of movement even when it’s standing still.
What I keep coming back to is that the copper and the walnut are genuinely different materials, and I think that’s worth designing for rather than against.
Suppose you want to see this copper door being built. This will give you a good idea of what is possible in custom products.
Pictures of the finished Curved Copper and Walnut Door.
