Sometimes everyone gets trapped into thinking in predictable ways instead of considering all the various possibilities. For many homeowners with a smaller home and a smaller front entrance, conventional wisdom may say to go small and minimal with your front door design.

In our years of working with top architects and designers, we have found that often conventional wisdom doesn’t produce the results that really add to the curb appeal of a home. This is certainly the case with small entrances, where going big with double doors opens up a whole new level of possibilities.

The Small Trap

In many ways, people just fall into a trap of assuming that to keep everything in balance the front entrance has to be proportional to the rest of the home. This means downsizing or staying with just a single door rather than upgrading to a double door style.

In reality, the double doors we offer at Nick’s Building Supply become the focus of the front of the home and create an appeal that is not possible with a single door. To avoid looking too overbearing, we recommend you consider a door style with large lites, providing an open, light and airy look even with the larger door style and design.

Another option to create the impression of a much bigger space is to select a lighter color of wood, such as an alder, and keep the color very light with the choice of stain. Even a mahogany that is more of a red rather than a dark brown tone is a great way to open up the front of the home.

Go Bold

To create even more light, consider adding sidelites, either one or two, as well as a transom. This makes the door part of the overall design and gives a balanced look to the door that will flow naturally into the surrounding windows in the rooms on either side of the door.

Bold designs in the glass add to the look, and the transom adds a touch of height and a lofty look that makes the entire space look bigger. This isn’t just visible from the exterior of the home, remember the same open and bright look will be available in your double doors entrance, and you will have the advantage of a more open space with the additional windows and lites.