Your front door is often the first thing people notice when they visit your home – so it is vital to get the look and feel of your entrance door right. This includes considering your ideal front door material, colour, accessories, door panel design, and more.
Here, we discuss how to choose a design and style for your front door.
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Read more about how to choose the right configuration option for your front door.
Find out more about the different styles of exterior door panels you can choose from.
Find out more about the different front door hardware options for your front door.
Read our guide to the popular front door colour and style options.
Choosing a door configuration
Configuration means the combination of elements that comprise the entire front door —that is, the number of doors and any sections of glazing above and beside the doorway.
Here are some of the most popular configurations:
Single door
The standard, traditional option. One door within a frame.
Double door/French door
Are you concerned about the security of your front door? Read our full guide to front door security.
Single door with sidelights left or right
Adding a sidelight to a single door not only lets more natural light into your home but gives the illusion of a larger entryway.
Sidelights can be customised, so you have the option of choosing different types of glass (e.g. frosted).
Single door with sidelights on both sides
Matching decorative sidelights on either side of a single door are even more effective at flooding your home with light. Their grand and imposing appearance gives your property valuable kerb appeal.
You can customise the sidelights with different types of glass (e.g. frosted). Your chosen installation partner will be the one sourcing the glass, so speak to them to find out more about the options.
Single door with transom
A transom is the horizontal structural beam that separates the doorway from the windowed section above it. This is a more decorative feature than anything else.
Single door with transom and sidelights
This option features the best of all worlds, with glazing above and at either side of the doorway.
These are just some of the more common configurations. As a lot of today’s residential doors are custom-made to your exact specifications, you’ll often have a much wider range of choices. Origin Front Doors are bespoke, and you can choose between the following bespoke options:
- Pick a panel or mid-rail option.
- Specify your size.
- Pick a colour on the frame, sash and panel.
- Select your handle & colour.
- Choose your knocker and letterbox.
- Pick your threshold.
View our complete range of aluminium front doors here.
Choosing a panel design for your front door
Once you’ve decided on a configuration, you then have to choose the style of the door and how you want the panels to look. It’s here you need to consider how your home looks from the outside, and the property’s immediate surroundings, so you can keep everything consistent in its design. Read our complete guide to the different types of front door panels here.
At Origin, we offer 10 innovative and modern panel styles for front doors.
Choosing hardware for your front door
No front door is complete without its hardware-handles, locks, letterboxes and the like. And as with the other elements of the door, you have an extensive range of options to choose from.
But when picking out hardware, what must you consider? How can you tell what’s a good door handle and what isn’t? Our guide to front door parts and hardware tells you everything you need to know.
Ideas for choosing front door styles and colours
Contemporary styles
At Origin, we make all our doors from the highest-grade aluminium, a metal that lends itself very well to contemporary design.
Credit: Lincolnshire Bifolding Doors
Doors in blue match a lot of different shades, while bold reds offer that eye-catching yet classic door style that never fails to impress.
With our contemporary range of doors, you can choose to contrast your front door panel to the glazing (as shown above in anthracite).
Credit: Lincolnshire Bifolding Doors
Darker, almost-grey blues can accentuate many different tones, while fun, vibrant yellows work best with more toned-down, neutral colours.
Another option for a more modern entrance is our GE 01 panel, which can be combined with glass sidelights —one of the latest trends in door design.
Sidelights are especially useful if you’re looking for a single door for a particularly large aperture—they can fill the space, without the need to install French doors.
Credit: Basfords
Although light-coloured doors sometimes fight for prominence against pale exteriors, this door cleverly complements the porch’s stonework for an understated, elegant look.
Our range of doors is based around sleek, simple design. The understated narrow glass panels provide a twist on the traditional door panel, while the sidelights ensure your home won’t suffer from a lack of daylight. The straight bar handle perfectly complements this modern style and adds a stylish finishing touch.
Credit: HBD
Matching a door to brickwork can sometimes be tricky, but each of the doors above complement the stone’s shades of red, orange and black.
Traditional styles
Credit: Freedom Bespoke
The neutral colours associated with more traditional styles are increasingly popular with home designers, who like to match doors to the surrounding landscape.
Not every home needs to embrace the contemporary. Accentuate your property’s architectural heritage with some of our more traditional panels, which combine the durability of aluminium with a number of period features you’d normally find in the classic timber doors of Victorian or Georgian homes.
Opting for a traditional design doesn’t mean you have to compromise on natural light, as many of the styles in the front door range incorporate glass panes. The addition of glass not only provides a welcoming feel to visitors, but presents you with another opportunity to add a personal touch to the design.
View our complete range of aluminium front doors here.
Choosing the right colour for your front door
Deciding on an exterior front door colour means taking your cue from your home’s exterior. This includes:
- the materials the property is built from
- the style of the architecture
- the surrounding landscape.
Add to that your taste in design and what you value most aesthetically. Most home-improvement choices reflect our personal styles and choosing a front door is no different.
Find out more about what to consider when choosing a front door colour here.
Aluminium front doors are a great option for those who want a broad choice of colours, and unlike timber doors, they won’t need re-painting. All Origin Aluminium Front Doors are available in a choice of over 150 RAL shades to ensure you find an option that is perfect for you. When you choose Origin, you can also select different colours for the outer frame, door sash and panel. Our popular colours for the Origin Front Door include Slate Grey, Anthracite Grey, Black Grey, Jet Black, Dark Silver Metallic and Hipca White. If you order a popular colour for a panel in the Kensington range, you can also enjoy a 1-week lead time.
Find out more about Origin’s RAL colours here.
Order our brochure and find your ideal front door!
The Origin Front Door
The Origin Aluminium Front Door is a precision-driven, sleek door front door. From single front doors and French doors that can be used in a home or garage space through to grand entranceways with side flags and transom windows, our range of front doors are made from exclusive premium-grade aluminium. This enables you to create a personal statement with ease; because first impressions matter.
Shop the Origin Front Door today.
Frequently asked questions
Can a front door be made to measure?
Yes. Not all homes throughout the UK have the same-sized doors and doorways, so it is often ideal for people to request a custom-sized front door. All Origin Front Doors are completely bespoke. This allows them to be tailored to your exact requirements in terms of size, colour, finish and additional accessories such as handles and letterboxes.
Find out more about front door sizes here.
How often should you clean your front door?
The Origin Residential Door is designed to require minimal maintenance. As a general guideline, however, we would recommend cleaning your aluminium front door every few months. This keeps it looking fresh and helps to prevent any build-up of tough stains. Find out more about cleaning aluminium front doors.
View our full range of aluminium front doors here.
Are aluminium front doors better than timber front doors?
Although both wooden and aluminium front doors are extremely popular and are both high-quality options – aluminium front doors offer some advantages that a timber door can’t offer.
Aluminium doors are resilient to warping in different weather conditions. Origin Front Doors are powder coated to prevent the risk of rust. Aluminium bifold doors, French and single doors are also available in a woodgrain finish, which allows them to achieve a truly realistic wood effect without the risks of warping or rotting. Aluminium front doors are also a great option if you want a modern front door design, whereas a wooden door often provides a more traditional feel.
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