The term “Green Baize Doors” refers to the divide in wealthy households, between staff quarters and the family’s home.

Covering Doors With Baize

Baize is as quintessentially British as cricket and afternoon tea. It has been used for the interiors of stately homes for hundreds of years. Not only for detailing and finishing furniture, like covering writing desks or gaming tables, but also for the lining of interior surfaces. Doors in particular.

Choosing to use baize as a covering for doors, may seem strange. However, because this hard wearing fabric is made from wool, it acts as a brilliant acoustic insulator which is why it’s used for soundproofing rooms and recording studios to this day.

This was a particularly important consideration in stately homes and elegant houses of the 17th Century. With high ceilings and cavernous rooms, sound would be prone to echoing or escaping from busy service quarters, like the kitchen.

In fact it was the doors between the staff quarters and the wider family home that were in most need of covering. The benefit being threefold. Not only did the baize prevent the staff snooping on their masters, but it also deadened the jarring sounds emanating from the kitchen. Thus the ambience being maintained. Thirdly, wool is naturally fire retardant. Covering a door separating the kitchens from the main house with baize was an important safety feature.

Thinking of Upholstering a Door Using Baize?

Using baize for upholstering a door adds an air of luxury and an interesting design feature, and the fabrics that we stock are a perfect choice as they are all heritage grade and available in a wide range of colours and generous widths.

If you have a Baize covered door that’s looking a little worse for wear after many years of service, our standard or extra wide baizes are ideal for replacing the fabric and restoring the door to its former glory. The baize we stock is made in a U.K. mill that’s been producing this fabric since the Battle of Waterloo; so the piece you buy from us might even have been woven on the same loom as the original you’re replacing. You don’t get more authentic than that!

Not only does baize act as an acoustic baffle, it is a practical fabric too. Thanks to its tight weave, baize is incredibly durable making it ideal for covering doors that will see a lot of traffic and need to be hard wearing. As well as being naturally fire retardant, wool also makes interiors healthier because it improves indoor air quality.

Do You Need to Cover a Door?

We regularly supply interior designers and architectural restorers with our heritage-grade fabrics. If you need any help in choosing a fabric please feel free to contact us either via the comments below or using our contact us page. We’re always happy to help.

Fabrics for Interior Design

All our Interiors Fabrics are ideally suited for covering doors. Our two most popular are detailed below.