Entry doors are often the first thing guests and visitors notice about your home. This affects curb appeal and even the value of your home. The look, architectural style, material the door is made from, and even the color can all have an impact on the way others perceive your home. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Here’s how you can make it count.

Know the Different Styles

Entry doors aren’t one size fits all. Each door has its own style, and that style needs to match the house itself. Exploring the different looks can help you find the right entry door for your home. Whether your home is built in a traditional architectural style or with contemporary flair, you can find the right type of door for your home.

Contemporary Estate Entrance

Contemporary estate entrance doors are made to reflect a minimalist, modern architectural style. They often feature clean, straight grid lines to project a tasteful, attractive aesthetic. Contemporary estate entrance doors can feature solid colors like black, silver, gray, clear anodized, and bone white, as well as wood grain finishes like hazelnut brown, walnut brown, and mahogany red. Pick the color or finish that speaks to you and best coordinates with your home.

Contemporary estate entrance doors often feature panes of glass to allow natural light into your home, but of course, privacy takes priority when it comes to the front door. If desired, you can always choose a glass that obscures the shapes on the other side. Patterned glass like rain and obscure accomplishes this easily while allowing filtered, gentle light into your home.

Traditional Estate Entrance

Traditional estate entrances are similar to contemporary estate entrances but for a few key differences. While contemporary estate entrances mainly feature straight lines and minimalist details, traditional estate entrances often feature more flourishes and decorative details. Like contemporary estate entrances, traditional entrances come in a variety of finishes to meet your needs, including solids (black, white, and many colors in between) as well as a range of wood grain finishes.

Grids and beads give traditional estate entrances a particularly pleasing aesthetic, while also offering the opportunity for customizations. Work with your door manufacturer and dealer to choose the customizations that you like best. Details make all the difference when it comes to the entry door, so this is your chance to make your door honestly reflect your personal tastes.

Pivot Door

A pivot door is a door completely unlike traditional entrance doors. Whereas standard doors swing on a hinge, pivot doors operate on a vertical axis. The axis sticks in the ground, allowing the door to “pivot” around the axis. This key difference gives pivot doors a very different aesthetic and also impacts the way the door works.

Hinged doors are limited in size because the hinges themselves can only support so much weight. Pivot doors can be much larger and heavier than standard hinged doors, because the pivot is able to support a great deal of weight. This small detail gives homeowners more creative freedom, enabling them to install pivot doors that are very tall or made from unusual, more weighty materials.

It’s also important to remember that the pivots on these doors are not placed at the door’s outer edge. Instead, the pivot is usually a few inches into the door itself. As a result, pivot doors often have a “tail” that swings in the opposite direction of the door, making the operation of the door both interesting and unique.

Truly, pivot doors are distinctive in their appearance and the way they work. This makes this type of door the preferred option for homeowners who want to make a lasting impression. Pivot doors are often found in contemporary style homes.

What to Consider

When you’re selecting a new door for your luxury home, here’s what to look for:

• Style. As discussed above, door styles vary dramatically. Choose a style that matches the appearance of your home.
• Illumination. How much glass should be included in your home’s entry door? What type of glass? Should the glass obscure the view or give a straight view into your home’s entry? Answer these questions as you shop for your entry door.
• Material. Aluminum and glass doors are strong and durable, able to last for many years. Glass and aluminum doors can also be made in a range of styles to coordinate with your home’s architectural style.
• Quality. Most important of all is to buy a quality door from a respected door manufacturer and dealer. Quality impacts the appearance and durability of the door for many years to come.

Making a Choice

Making a decision can take time. Start by shopping around with different door manufacturers and dealers. When you’re shopping around, ask yourself:

• Is installation included with purchase? Some companies offer installation as a part of the purchase of the door. Getting a door from a company that offers installation services can help simplify the purchase process.
• Does the company have a reputation for providing quality products to customers? Look for an award-winning company with innovative products.
• Does the company cater to the luxury home market? A luxury home requires a luxury door. Look for doors sold by companies that cater to high-end home markets. Products from these manufacturers will feature unique details and highest quality construction to ensure that each door will rise to the level of the home’s own construction.
• Does the company offer a solid warranty? Buy a door from a company that offers a good warranty. This shows the brand stands behind its products.

Once you’ve selected the door manufacturer and dealer, choose the door style that you like best. Visit a showroom to see the doors that you like up close. It’s especially important to see the finish you’re considering in person, as online pictures won’t do justice to the reality of the door’s appearance.

Tips to Nail the First Impression

Be cautious about installing doors that follow trends. “Trendy” doors only last so long before they begin to look dated. Look for doors designed in timeless styles to get the most use out of your door.

Don’t be afraid to get creative. There’s nothing more frustrating than installing a front door that looks like other doors in the neighborhood. Consider a pivot door and details like contemporary, minimalist door handles to make your entry door attractive as well as unusual.

Consider going high-tech. Get more value from your front door by installing an electronic deluxe handleset. Electronic handlesets offer the convenience of keyless entry. This offers value to homeowners and can make your home more impressive to buyers when it’s time to sell.

It’s Your Door. Make the Most of It.

Your home’s glass and aluminum door sets the tone and character for your home. It’s the first thing that visitors see when they approach your house. When you’re installing a new front door, it’s your chance to make your home stand out. Don’t make your decision lightly. The door you buy now will impact your life for years to come.