Where can I get good advice on white lacquer doors - and doors with a white lacquer look?

... but it could just as well be a CPL door!

Because PRÜM offers doors made of Continuous Pressure Laminates (CPL) in many designs and colours: Sometimes it even feels like grained wood. This is thanks to completely new printing processes. At the same time, the impact- and scratch-resistant surface with melamine resins is just as tough as worktops in the kitchen. This can be a clear advantage over (real) wooden doors.

• The rolling process - for a normal, smooth surface: the door leaves are lacquered eight times with eight rollers. This guarantees a smooth, uniformly smooth surface.
• The combined process with roller and robot - for designer doors: After the primer has been applied in the rolling line, the door is then sprayed by the paint spraying robot. Water-based lacquer ensures a very fine, homogeneous result.

• White (lacquer) trend: White furniture, white walls, white decorations - white has been a favourite colour among Germans for several years now.
• Thefavourite white lacquer among PRÜM customers is the classic range in country house style. This is directly followed by the panelled door, the best-selling interior door across all target and age groups, from young "house builders" to "best agers".
• Rising demand for white door elements at PRÜM: 575,000 door elements in white were sold in 2017. By comparison, the figure for 2018 was 615,000 and the company is expecting a further 6 per cent increase in 2019.

• "Two doors, please!" Statistically speaking, every German buys doors twice in their lifetime. This makes the Royal series extremely popular: a PRÜM white lacquer door with groove milling in four horizontal lines.
• Renovating, refurbishing - all new with white lacquer: People who renovate or refurbish their homes in the second half of their lives choose white lacquer doors more often. This is because many people are now moving away from dark woods and colours. Instead, they want more light and a brighter living atmosphere.
• It's not getting whiter? Yes, RAL 9016 has recently shaken up the palette of white colours. The new colour is significantly lighter than the established white.

A new, lighter-coloured "traffic white", RAL 9016, has been available for a good five years. Until then, door white meant the muted RAL 9010 white across the industry.

"If you hold the two next to each other and look closely, the 9010 RAL white looks more opaque in direct comparison," explains Oliver Greene (51), PRÜM sales representative and businessman.

PRÜM sells 600,000 door elements in white lacquer or white lacquer look every year; over 90 per cent of these are still in classic RAL 9010. At the same time, PRÜM has noticed a significant increase in demand for lighter white since 2017: a gradual change, initiated by architects and business customers, which is slowly reaching the end customer.

This is why professional advice on white lacquer doors is necessary. Because only a few customers realise how big the difference can be between different shades of white. After all, the door should harmonise with the interior design and furnishings. This means that it should not only match the furniture, but also the sockets, light switches, skirting boards and other elements.

It is true that only a few end customers are currently asking retailers specifically for a particular shade of white for their door. Nevertheless, PRÜM is expanding its range in lighter shades of white, as the trend towards "whiter white" is clearly recognisable.

... for example at Holz-Richter GmbH, Lindlar: the wood professionals for doors, floors and gardens present over 150 door models, 80 of them in white, including PRÜM, on 1,000 square metres of exhibition space.

Customers often come "with a dark wooden door in mind", says Guido Heß, interior door consultant and master carpenter. "When I then ask "What about white?", some people need a coffee first to let that sink in." Alternatively, customers can spend their deliberation time at Holz-Richter in the flooring exhibition, with ceiling panels or in the garden department.

Guido Heß knows when to ask which questions to whom. There are essentially five aspects that he clarifies during the customer consultation:

Landlords are usually looking for the cheapest and most durable solution. Design or personal requirements do not play a role here. The "top seller" for this target group is the CPL door with a white lacquer look. The decision to buy is usually made quickly.

"What do you expect from your new door?"

Robust and easy to clean? Or: design element and eye-catcher? During the family (formation) phase, robust and easy-care CPL doors (in white lacquer look) fit better into life. After all, prams, pushchairs and little dirty fingers put a lot of strain on doors to flats and rooms. White lacquer doors, smooth, grooved or milled, are design elements. Those who opt for them do so for aesthetic reasons, not for practical ones. Although white lacquer doors are more susceptible to damage than the CPL alternative.

"What is your budget situation?"

When building a private home, buying doors often comes at the very end. There's not that much left of the budget - and the loan for the house is running. Once everything is paid off and the children have moved out, things look different. Because in the second half of life, people like to spend a little more on renovating and refurbishing their own home.

"What do you think of the classic, smooth white lacquer door"?

Sometimes the decision is made enthusiastically. Or the reaction is clearly negative ("Far too sterile, cold!") and therefore also informative for Guido Heß. From this fork in the road, the consultant quickly approaches the customer's personal taste and style.

"How/where do you live?"

In a terraced house, 200 square metre loft or in a converted barn? Special rooms and unusual architecture require additional door functions, for example accessibility, climate, sound or fire protection.

"Don't buy anything expensive, abrasive or harmful to the environment!" warns Guido Heß from Holz-Richter. "Simply clean your white lacquer door with a little warm dishwater and the soft cloth that you also use for your good crystal glasses."

More tips on door care can be found in the PRÜM door blog.

"During the consultation, I personally accompany our customers through our showroom. I try to get to know them as quickly as possible and empathise with their needs. The important thing is to listen and ask the right questions to give the right impetus. Many customers come without a clear idea. Only a few bring precise information from architects or other service providers. While one consultation lasts five minutes, other customers spend more than five hours in our showroom or in the house."

Guido Heß, master carpenter and specialist consultant for interior doors at Holz-Richter GmbH

• RAL colours are standardised. This means that they are based on the official RAL GmbH grid. It is a subsidiary of RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V.: www.ral.de/../
• Environmentally friendly and tested for harmful substances: PRÜM white lacquer doors are both. www.tuer.de/../
• Professional advice on white lacquer doors is available from Holz-Richter in Lindlar, for example: www.holz-richter.de/../