When it comes time to complete home renovations, it’s not uncommon to start with your front door. After all, you probably see it every day, and if it isn’t exactly the way you want it, odds are some features stick out like sore thumbs. Whether you know exactly how you’d like to refresh your front façade or you’re on the hunt for inspiration, there’s good news: breathing new life into your entryway can be as easy as you want it to be, depending on the type of project you choose to undertake. However, no matter what you choose, even something small could have a great impact on the aesthetic of your home’s exterior.
Why Front Door Makeovers Matter
A front door makeover isn’t just a fun project you can use to pass an afternoon, it’s a reliable way to upgrade the entire look of your home’s entryway. Since a homeowner sees their main entryway every day, they may not think a lot about the others who could also take critical looks at the space, including neighbors and passersby.
By taking special care to increase the main exterior entryway’s perceived appearance, you’ll be working to increase the entry’s curb appeal—and as the focal point of the main exterior entryway, changing up your front door is the fastest way to create the most effective impact.
This is important for the homeliness that should be felt by someone as they return to their place of residence, but it’s also an important factor in giving the outward appearance of a clean, tidy, and well-maintained home. This makes a great first impression on visitors, as well as those who may just be driving or walking by. All of that attention could help to keep uninvited visitors away, too, especially if your front door makeover includes additional outdoor lighting or the installation of an impact-resistant fiberglass door.
Finally, a change in your front door could change a lot about your home’s indoor atmosphere, including how much hot or cold air your home retains, how much natural light penetrates the home, and how much or little privacy your home maintains from the outside world. Door decisions and upgrades can have an immediately noticeable impact on your finances based on project cost, but the long-term effects on your energy bill should be taken into consideration, too.
Choosing the Right Styles
When choosing to rehabilitate or replace your front door, there should be a checklist to inform your decision. You’ll want to keep your home’s architectural style in mind when making important renovation decisions.
You can always look at trends to learn about your home’s architectural style and help ensure you’ll choose a door to match. This will help maximize curb appeal—a well-designed entryway naturally frames the door as the focal point.
Modern homes are growing in popularity due to their no-frills, practical, and contemporary approach to habitation. If your abode was built with modern sensibilities, it’s likely sporting a lot of flat, angular, and open walls on its exterior. Those walls were probably constructed using materials that don’t feature a lot of texture and their colors probably trend on the darker side of the spectrum.
A lack of decorative features sans non-intrusive recessed lighting rounds out the modern look. The correct door for this style would be reflective of it by featuring large subtle panels—or none at all—alongside a singular vertical glass insert all set on a darkly-colored door. Hardware would be kept to a minimum and be made from sleek-looking steel, such as a latch-style doorknob.
Traditional homes are one of the most prevalent styles of home architecture and are represented throughout the United States. At the top, they sport roofs that focus on function over form, helping keep traditional-style homes safe from the elements. On the walls, window placement is symmetrical, creating an eye-pleasing presentation and allowing for balanced interior lighting. Details on traditional style homes aren’t overly ornate or showy—function triumphs and any door that adorns a traditional home should embody this virtue.
Rustic-style homes take cues from the surrounding environment in the same way you should be taking cues from your home while planning your front door makeover. By taking stock of available local materials and using as many as possible during the building process, rustic homes become a reflection of available natural resources. Because of the rustic style’s approach to construction, a rustic home could include a range of different building materials. That’s why it’s best to look at the smaller defining features of the home’s exterior, like trim or accents around windows. Speaking of windows, utilize a door with glass inserts if you’d like to let light in and continue the theme of connecting with nature. On the other hand, a textured large slab door can hammer that cottage look home.
The philosophy of the craftsman-style home is rustic-adjacent. When the British Industrial Revolution began to demonstrate the impact that large-scale manufacturing would have on various industries, the craftsman movement became a pushback against artisan products and items not made by hand using natural materials. The aesthetic these anti-revolution revolutionaries created hopped the pond to the United States, where early 20th-century home stylists were looking for the next new thing in homebuilding. The ethos central to the craftsman movement informed a new DIY craft-style look that’s best paired with a door that sticks to the script with natural materials and glass inserts.
Materials Matter
When it comes to front door makeovers, your desired look can probably be achieved using the full range of door materials. Steel and wood can be utilized in a variety of ways, and they can be painted, decorated, or outfitted with accessories to reflect the chosen aesthetic. Despite their adaptability, there’s one door material that outpaces both when it comes to customization, and that’s fiberglass.
No matter which architectural style your home is built in, there’s a fiberglass door to match. That’s because fiberglass can be crafted into doors that are full of texture or flat and ready to blend into your home’s front entryway. It can imitate a wide range of woods or reflect the best features of a metal door, and it can do it all while outperforming both materials in safety, durability, and energy efficiency. From modern to traditional, fiberglass doors have a look that matches your stylistic needs.
How Do I Make My Front Door Look Better?
The below helpful tips will work on a newly installed front door or a door that’s been hanging on your hinges for years and just needs a little attention.
First, consider repainting or refinishing the door. This can act as a reset for your existing door by adding some durability, protection from the elements, and extra energy efficiency effectiveness. It can also completely change up your entryway look by introducing a new color or stain to your outward presentation. When you’re making your color and finish suggestion, just remember not to go more than three shades away from the primary color found on your home’s exterior.
Next, consider updating the door’s hardware and accessories, mainly the knob and any door knockers or mail slots. Updating the color and material or modernizing these features with smart locks or cameras can go a long way toward a new home identity. Accessories can range from clavos, which simulate large nails, hinge straps, which are inspired by the appealing look of hinged doors, or decorative speakeasies that are usually non-functional since peepholes and doorbell cameras have replaced them.
Finally, decorative accents like plants, lighting, or a dentil shelf can help breathe new life into an entryway.
Front Door Makeover Unique Design Ideas
The addition of raised geometric patterns is a design idea that fell out of favor but is making a major comeback. These large, sometimes mountainous or cavernous additions to what’s usually a monochrome slab door can sometimes even resemble modern art.
Geometric patterns can also be used in glass inserts, along with other kinds of patterns made of black lines called caming lines. Glass inserts may also feature different levels of transparency and different kinds of textures.
Sidelights are additional vertical panes of glass that can be installed in such a way that they flank your front door. These sidelights extend the surface area of your door, giving it an even larger role in your entryway presentation, and letting more light into your home.
You can also look to current trends in exterior design for inspiration.
Front Door Makeovers on a Budget
One of the best ways to enhance your curb appeal on a budget is to focus on what’s surrounding your doors, like mats, furniture, plants, lighting, and other front porch mainstays. If you’d like to bring some budget-friendly changes to the door itself, you can add a sign or a wreath, clean the door and its hardware, including some of the low-cost accessories like clavos, and add trim or molding.
However, if you do find yourself in need of a new front door, fiberglass doors are cost-effective due to their energy efficiency and low repair needs.
Transform Your Home with Plastpro
Fiberglass doors aren’t just cost-effective—they’re also very customizable, making them a great match for any of the aforementioned architectural styles. A front door makeover is going to give your home a new identity, grab visitors’ attention, and leave a lasting impression. Fiberglass door manufacturer Plastpro offers a wide range of high-quality front doors that can act as the focal point of your makeover project. Find a dealer to explore your options and give your home a refresh!
