Get the look: six styles for front doors

Here is our essential guide to updating your home with a new front door, packed with clever ideas to give the front of your house a quick and easy refresh, while cleverly complementing your main entrance with the other doors and windows throughout your property…

As the main entrance to your home, your front door is a hard-working part of your property. Key architectural principles herald the front door as being the most important focal point of a building. It will be the first thing that greets you as you retreat into your own personal space after a hard day at work, and it is what guests and visitors will be looking at while they are waiting for you to answer the doorbell. 

A poorly fitted or ugly front door can let your whole property down, giving a bad first impression to those walking over your threshold. If you are renovating your property or having new windows, including a new front door at the same time could be a brilliant opportunity to say goodbye to dated and dull designs and improve the whole style of your home. Consider making your entrance an elegant and functional feature by fitting a brand new front door in a style that perfectly suits your property.

Choosing quality and high-performance

No matter what style of front door you might choose, it is worth considering a high-quality product complete with hinges, glazing, and ironmongery that will deliver on both form and function. When browsing for options, try to make decisions based on performance rather than budget, and choose durable designs to ensure that the entrance to your home is strong, insulated, and secure with a soft close and double draught exclusion. With a premium door design, you can rest assured that the threshold measurements are correct, as inward and outward opening doors will always have different internal heights. 

No matter what your personal tastes are, your front door can say quite a lot about your own style, with the size, material, and colour making a statement about what kind of home might be revealed on the other side.  

Traditional and timeless

A classic and simple front door can still stand out when it complements the entryway to your home, as these examples do. On the left, the elegant four-panel entrance door with glazed sidelights has been painted in a smart, contrasting black colour, which makes it stand out from the cream pillars and yellow brick façade. In the images below, in the centre, a clean white front door with two glazed panels at the top works well with the rustic, decorative brick and knapped flint walls. On the right, this stunning door has a classic four-panel design, but the decorative glazing in the top panels and fanlight makes this a very grand and lavish design. 

Natural and beautiful 

These oak-boarded entrance doors bring a unique and modern look to a home, displaying the natural beauty of timber in all its glory. All three designs have sidelights, which help to soften the entrance and let plenty of natural light stream into the hallways inside. The centre design, below, also includes a vision panel, which helps to break up the shape of the boarded door while providing an additional element of transparency when answering the door to unexpected visitors. 

Sleek and modern

A front door painted in a bold, contemporary shade will never fail to impress. These colours certainly fit in with the current colour trends, making these entrances an appealing focal point for the properties. These great colours help to bring the doors to life, with the shades of paint changing throughout the day as the natural sunlight altering the way we perceive colour. The left and centre doors, below, have a classic six- panel design, while the horizontal boarded entrance door on the right has a cutting-edge style with an elongated vision panel in the centre. 

Grand and elegant

Bring a touch of prestige to your home with a front door that will certainly make a good impression! On the right, is a four-panel entrance door with narrow sidelights and a striking fanlight. The six-panel entrance door on the left is made to measure, perfectly fitting into the wider doorway. Finish the look off with smart ironmongery, like these shiny brass doorknobs, knockers, and letterboxes. 

Country cottage

The cosy, quaint country style is a very popular look that can be reflected in a whole range of home features, from staircases and windows to interiors and furniture choices – and front doors are no exception! The smaller vision panels and clean lines work in balance with smaller windows and dainty cottage hallways. Painted in neutral or pastel shades, these doors help to gently complement the traditional characteristics of period homes, rather than command all the attention. 

Transparent and welcoming

With big, expansive vision panels in the door itself and long glazed sidelights, these entrance doors help to make the inside of your home feel connected to the outside world. On the far right, the door features particularly large sidelights with glazing bars that frames the door and emphasises the importance of the main entrance to the property. Plenty of natural light can stream into your entrance halls and adjoining rooms, making your interiors feel bigger.