During lockdown as the great UK home renovation project got underway, we noticed lots of changes to front doors. And it seems, the more glass in their front door, the better for lots of households this past year.
More glass = more light
Well, it does make sense. The bigger the area of glass in your front door, the more light is going to come flooding into your hallway.
A glass front door is especially great if you have one of those long narrow hallways that Georgian and Victorian villas and apartments tend to have, and which, no matter how many lights you add, always appear a bit gloomy.
You can buy front doors with inserts of all sizes these days. Particularly popular are the doors with four square glass inserts in a vertical row on the right-hand side of the door.
We have also spotted glass doors where the majority of the area is reinforced glass. More commonly – certainly in the past – was the wooden door with a half crescent of glass inserted near the top.
Glass doors following glass panel wall trend
But people are getting more adventurous with adding glass to their doors these days. It’s not surprising when you consider the trend for glass panels rather than walls and ceilings in a huge number of contemporary open plan extensions.
The amount of light this allows into a room has certainly transformed the rear rooms in many people’s homes.
DIY glass insert doors
The thing about glass inserts though is that they can prove pretty expensive so, if you happen to be on a budget, you might consider some DIY options.
This is especially the case if you happen to have a friend with good contacts, like Sabrina @pinklilnotebook did: “There’s a ton of tutorials online to help navigate your way through the switch.
Thanks to my amazing best friend, Barbara, (who has a dad in the door business), she graciously provided me with the glass insert and did the install so quickly!”
If you are looking for privacy though, instead of using glass, she suggests, opting for mirrored window film (if you can find it – it’s quite difficult to obtain). This, Sabrina insists, is the new ‘frosted glass.’
Other ways to add light to hallways
You don’t have to change your door, or add window inserts to it, to add light to your hallway – although it is the best way to do it. There are other methods, such as:
Add mirrors at opposite sides of the hall to each other. This should double the light as they reflect off one another.
Add windows to the side panels either side of the door. Great if you have wooden side panels. For privacy reasons, you can make this frosted or opaque glass.
Add a glass balustrade. If you have stairs going directly from the hallway as you enter, replacing a heavy wooden balustrade with glass can make a huge difference.
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