A front door is such an important element of your home’s exterior. It is one of the first things people look at when they see a house. It says a lot about the architecture and people who live in the house. I love a good front door!
We are just a few years away from having to replace our front door; it’s not in the best shape. Knowing a new front door is in our future, I have been on the lookout for contenders over the past year. As we drive through neighborhoods, I am observing door types, styles and colors trying to find one that would fit our needs. There are so many good options out there, but so far I can’t seem to nail down which one is the right one for us.
My ideal front door would:
- Reflect a modern cottage style. As I outlined on THIS post a while back, I would like to add some modern cottage exterior elements to the house in the next few years. A front door is the perfect place to infuse a little of this modern cottage feel.
- Let light in. I would kill for more natural light in our house. Adding glass to the front door would be the best way to bring more light into our living space. It would even allow us to have a living plant in the entry, since now there is no way anything could survive longer than a few days there. We do have a window above the doors, which is better than nothing, but adding sidelights or glass on the doors would help a bunch.
- Bring in a natural element. I would love to have a natural/raw wood door. The problem is we live in Florida, where the humidity is at 100% for a majority of the year and I am thinking a wood door is not going to work. I need to see if there is some workaround there.
I wish it was as easy as just picking a nice-looking door and going with it. It’s not 🙁
Front door challenges:
- Double door. Our front door is a double door. A double door is not that functional, since you are only ever using one of the doors. The other one pretty much stays shut. Hanging stuff on the front door is always weird because you have to hang two of whatever it is you are hanging. So the question is do we go to a single door with sidelights? Or stick with double doors? I don’t know the answer to that yet.
- Privacy. If it wasn’t for this sticking point, I probably already would have made the front door decision. Equal to my desire for bringing in more natural light, I need my door to provide privacy. If there is a window on the door or sidelights, anyone could see in pretty much the whole house. And I am a big scaredy cat. Of course I am thinking about all kinds of window coverings and that is a definite possibility BUT…it changes the look, you know?
Oh well. Until I decide what we’ll do, here are some of the front doors that have been inspiring me lately.
The other very plausible option is to stick with a front door with no windows (wah!), and keep them solid. If that is the case, we could always look for an updated classic design in a beautiful finish.
Solid Front Doors
Source unknown
You could always add some special details to personalize the doors and make them lean a little more cottage modern.
Sigh. Aren’t they gorgeous? Who knows how long it will take us to decide what do about the light versus privacy debate, but in the meantime, I will keep looking for inspiration. And don’t mind me if you see me stalking your door.
For even more front doors, check out my Front Doors Pinterest board.
Regina ranieri
I see your challenge with all the options you included. I don’t think you can wrong with any of them. We recently had our house painted and went with a bold blue front door. Our home looks happier :-). good luck! Regina
Jen
I’m the same way about the front door and wanting light but don’t want anyone to see in LOL ours is glass with wrought iron design inside but the glass is textured so you can’t see in ! Just a thought for you on your journey of door looking 🙂 good luck!!!