wow pam, great minds think alike!
i'm going to use them also in my remodel. one on either side of my pantry opening, and two each on either side of my reading nook.
i think they'll look great, the only other thing is i know i need a talented carpenter to build it so it looks great.

Only you can decide if the doors you pick look good.

Just remember that used doors are going to have mortises on the edges for hinges and a hole (or holes) for a lockset. While there's no reason you couldn't reuse the hinge mortises and lockset hole, you need to take into account the "hand" on the door. That is to say, the way it opens.

Ideally you'd want double entry door so that everything matches and remember that entry doors typically open inward. Then have your carpenter frame the opening, build a jamb, and rehang the doors.

If you don't have a carpenter it might not be a bad idea to pick one now. Pay him for an hour or two of his time to measure the existing opening and offer some advice as what to buy.

Are you thinking of using them for clothes closets? My first thought is that sunlight fades fabrics. Exposing your clothing could make them deteriorate. A house up the street from us has a huge palladian window, which is actually on a closet wall. Dumb!!

I was thinking of them for clothes closets, but the windows would face into the bedroom so not a whole lot of light (it would be filtered pretty heavily).

I think a lot will wind up depending on the size of the closets we get in the build.

-Pam

If they're intended as exterior doors, the thickness will generally be more than for interior doors. This might have some impact on some of your hardware choices...

I would expect the final door and installation cost to be so high that you could afford an alternative much more interesting than a hollow core door.

If you want character I would use glass French doors with multiple panes and a curtain on the inside face. I think old doors with glass in the upper half will look distractingly odd. I saw one with frosted glass in an old house and it looked like an exit door to me. Such doors were often used in old houses for basement stairs, closets and servant bathrooms in order to borrow light from the adjacent room or hall.

I'd think again.

Thanks, Renovator8. I think we've decided to go with doors from Allegheny Wood Works in PA. I need to go see one in person, but they have more style than what I've seen at big-box stores and they're priced reasonably well. It probably will end up being not much more than all the labor to retrofit old doors into new spaces.

Sort of a shame because I love the look of old doors, but I don't want them to distract from the overall space.

-Pam

You could still get doors with window panes even if you buy new. I saw a dressing room in which all the doors were solid on the bottom, but had glass on the top. The homeowner put shirred fabric on the inside of the doors so you couldn't see inside.

Another idea if you want to add interest can be to insert one or two drawers underneath the closet. If you saw the movie "The Breakup", they had a closet at the end of a hall that looked like a built-in armoire, with a drawer underneath and doors above. My contractor is going to make some of our closets like that, and essentially all you would do is elevate the closet by a foot or so and give it a floor. If you didn't want the drawer, you could just have wood trim underneath.

If you like the glass look, you can also go with frosted glass. There are options out there, and one is a sheet that you apply, and it can be taken back off if you decide later you don't want it.

We moved into an old house that the only room big enough for our bed was the second living room. It had two french doors, and that was not going to work for our bedroom. So I bought the paper to apply to the glass to make it frosted so we'd have privacy.

These are the doors to my wardrobe - no closets in this old house.