If you think about it, doors and fences have a lot in common: their appeal can be as much about what they keep out as what they let in, creating in almost a single gesture, key focal points for the home—the kind of
stuff people slow down to get a look at and say to themselves, Nice.
The key to getting the blend of design and functionality that works for you is not just about choices—there are plenty of those—rather tasteful, elegant, and affordable choices that work together and that function in all the elements that make up a door from the door itself to transoms and sidelites.
For some homes (like ours) privacy—and light—are elemental to the house looking good from the exterior and feeling good on the interior. So for us, privacy glass makes the most sense. And because we wanted to highlight the dialed-in door, a simple glass detail looked best. Theresa chose Therma-Tru’s granite style privacy glass for our entry door. Light pours through and it’s great. But since we live in town, passers-by, the mailman, that infuriating door-to-door energy and internet sales people stop short of seeing into our home. The Granite’s tight surface variations deliver nice, even light and color inside and out. For a similar effect with a different look, check out Chord, Chinchilla, and Rainglass. And add the Augustine wrought-iron detail between the panes and you’ve just upped the ante to “super-stand out” with a privacy rating of a full-on 10.
Or take it another direction and add architectural detail. In other words, fence away outside eyes from coming it with an inlay and glass design their eyes don’t want to go past and still maintain a solid 5 on the privacy rating scale with a Villager style.
What’s more, you can take the style of your house—say a craftsman or bungalow—and bring it to life in the sidelite and transom glass—awesome. Add triple pane capability for sound quieting and increased thermal efficiency and you’re swinging for the fences with a curb appeal people will slow down to look at without seeing what’s happening safely inside. Nice.
