Front Door Buying Guide

From style to color to material, here’s everything you need to know to find your perfect front door

It may seem obvious, but when it comes to curb appeal and first impressions, your front door really matters. Choosing the right one can make a big difference in the look and feel of your home, with the architectural style and color you select helping to set the mood as people arrive and enter.

But not all front door choices revolve around aesthetics. You’ll need to decide everything from what material the door is made from (which can affect its thermal performance and energy efficiency) to which way it swings (to the inside or to the outside). There’s a lot to consider when specifying or buying a front door. Here are some things to think about:

Buying Considerations: Styles, Materials, and Color 

First and foremost, your front door’s style should complement your home’s architectural style. Putting a farmhouse-style door on an ultra-contemporary home, for example, is going to stand out and seem off. It’s not the sort of first impression you want your front to door to invite. Here are some examples of popular front door styles. Marvin offers doors that seamlessly match or complement just about any architectural style.

Cape Cod

Cape Cod front doors emphasize symmetry and often live at the center of a home. The front door can separate the home into two equal sections, making for an appealing look. Cape Cod-style entry doors often have transom windows — meaning windows set above the door — offering additional light to the entryway of the home. They can also have one sidelite or two sidelites — windows placed vertically alongside the door — for even more natural light. Cape Cod front door colors vary, but white and shades of blue are some of the most popular. You’ll also often see Cape Cod homes with brightly colored front doors, like a red, to draw visual interest and attention.

Coastal

Coastal front doors often feature large glass panels to let the sunlight fill homes. To keep with their tropical feel, this style of entry door can come in a variety of vibrant colors to create a sunny, beach house vibe. But for a more lowkey take on the coastal style, some homeowners choose cool, more natural colors that reflect and complement the scenery.

Contemporary

Though it’s tough to find a truly consistent theme, contemporary front doors generally have clean lines and minimalistic looks, often featuring multiple glass panels rather than one large panel. Grid patterns and divided lites are sometimes included with contemporary front door looks. Color choices can span the rainbow though more often contemporary doors are darker colors. But want to add a pop of excitement? A bright yellow or orange door is perfect to bring some color to the front of the home.

Craftsman

Sprouting from the Arts-and-Crafts architectural movement, craftsman front doors offer a vintage look, highlighted by clean lines and, like the name suggests, handcrafted detail. These doors often feature intricate woodwork designs, and some add a dentil shelf for even more visual appeal.

Farmhouse

As the rise of contemporary farmhouse homes took hold, so did the inclusion of farmhouse-style front doors. Featuring large glass panels and offering both classic and contemporary looks, farmhouse doors use symmetry and sleek lines to achieve a timeless appeal. The doors are often white or black, but some feature natural wood tones. Many farmhouse entry doors are double front doors, creating a more grand entrance than a single panel unit.

French Country

For a rustic, cozy feel, a French country door is good choice. They often feature divided lite patterns on large glass areas, with the grid-and-glass taking up the top two-thirds or three-fourths of the door’s area. Another common feature of French country doors is an arched design at the top. The doors can be both single and double doors, and many include both transom windows and sidelites.

Mediterranean

For charm and warmth, think Mediterranean front doors. These stylish units evoke ideas of Spanish and Italian living, often seen with Tuscan-style arches, deep wood tones, and wrought iron details. Though not the perfect fit for all home styles, Mediterranean front doors offer understated appeal in the right settings.

Traditional

Like the name suggests, traditional style front doors are a timeless, classic take on a front entry door. Often featuring transom windows and sidelites, these extra windows bring more natural light into the home and entryway. Though a single traditional door is common, to make an even grander entranceway, many homeowners choose double door units.

Front Door Materials 

Another part of choosing a front door is deciding what material you want it made from. There are three main materials used to make front entry doors: aluminum, wood, and fiberglass. While each front door material has its advantages, you’ll find some differences between them. One important thing to consider is your door’s thermal performance. Depending on your region, the right door can even help you save on your energy bills. 
 

Aluminum  

One of the more affordable choices, aluminum front doors have long remained a popular entry door option. But they do have their drawbacks. Aluminum is an energy conductor, meaning heat and cold easily pass through them, so these doors tend to be cold in the winter and hot in the summer. This could add to your heating and cooling costs.  

Fiberglass  

Fiberglass is a durable, popular front door material. It offers greatly increased thermal performance over aluminum, as fiberglass is not nearly the energy conductor aluminum is. Also, fiberglass won’t warp or swell, like some entry door materials can. Many Marvin doors are made with fiberglass for better thermal performance, durability, and energy efficiency, including the Modern collection (constructed with a proprietary High-Density Fiberglass) and the Marvin Vivid, Marvin Elevate, and Marvin Essential collections, which feature proprietary Ultrex fiberglass. 

 

Wood

When you’re thinking about a new front door or a front door replacement, wood can be an excellent choice. Wood has a classic, timeless appeal that people enjoy and offers a pleasing aesthetic to many home and architectural styles. TruStile wood entry doors feature the Resilient and the Reserve wood entry systems. The Resilient line can be painted while the Reserve line showcases stained natural wood.

Front Door Color Choices 

Do you want your front door to blend in? Or maybe you want to make a statement and have your front door standout? Well, there’s no easier way to achieve either of these goals than by the color you choose. 

 

Why Your Front Door Color Matters

It’s the first thing people see.
A bold front door color can help boost your curb appeal or complement your home’s color scheme.
Your door gives your home character and helps it stand out from other houses.
Colors can evoke moods and your front door color can help achieve a certain aesthetic. Cooler colors, for example, can signal calmness or peacefulness, while louder colors bring energy and excitement.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Front Door Color

Figure out what will blend in well or complement your home’s exterior.
Think about your home’s architectural style. Some colors lend themselves better to specific home styles.
Want to keep it simple? Stick to traditional brown, black, or white front door colors.
Have a more contemporary home? Brighter colors can work well here.
Sometimes looking at a color wheel can help you find complementary colors that fit your existing color scheme.
Consider your trim. Many designers suggest your front door trim color should not match the color of your front door. Why shouldn’t it match? Because a different color for the trim can help accent your front door.

In the end, picking a front door color depends on your home's architectural style, your taste, and if you want your door to blend in or stand out. Marvin and TruStile offer a wide range of color options and some units can also be painted. The exteriors for Marvin doors are available in a range of color options, or even custom colors, to help reflect the personality of your home. Here are some colors to consider: 

Black Front Door 

One of the most popular choices, a black entry door can complement black exterior windows, while creating contrast on white and brick homes, too. Black doors can exude sophistication and don’t go out of style.

White Front Door

Like black, white front doors will always remain popular. They work well on homes with dark colors, creating contrast, and helping a home stand out from the curb.

Brown or Wood Front Door

Wood and brown doors have a timeless, classic appeal. A brown door signals comfort and coziness, and the color fits with many home styles.

Blue Front Door

Ranging from a rich navy blue to lighter grayish-blues, front doors in blue hues are hugely popular. The lighter blues often appear on coastal homes, while darker tones appear on more traditional styles. Blue is a cool, comforting color, making it appealing as a front door color.

Green Front Door

Looking to blend into nature? A green door can help. Greens and other earth tones offer calm, peaceful feelings, and the idea of bucolic, natural getaway.

Red Front Door

Want to make a statement but still have a classic look? Red front doors have energy and pair especially well with white homes or homes with lighter exteriors.

Yellow Front Door

Choosing a yellow front door can show warmth and make for an inviting entrance. Yellow can work with a variety of home styles, including brick and farmhouse styles, as well as grays and blues for a real splash of color.

Orange Front Door

An orange front door creates energy and excitement. A standard in mid-century modern homes, oranges of all hues mix well with blue and gray exteriors, and the color can be carried through into mid-century modern interior decorating.

Purple Front Door

Both playful and soothing, purple front doors are a good choice if you’re looking to stand out. Purple front doors, especially a lilac shade, have seen a surge in popularity and make for a memorable first impression.

Buying Considerations: Pre-Hung vs. Slab Replacement Door 

When you work with TruStile or Marvin for your front door installation or replacement, your dealer or builder will help you determine if you need a pre-hung door or a slab replacement. Installing a pre-hung door involves more work, while a slab door replaces an existing door. Here’s the difference:

Pre-Hung Replacement Doors

These doors come with a frame included, making them great for older doors that might have some frame damage.

Slab Replacement Doors

Slab doors are the front door by itself. Usually they don’t include hinges, a frame, or a doorknob. As you’d guess, slab replacement doors often cost less than pre-hung replacement doors since it’s simply the door and not the full frame.  

Buying Considerations: Handling and Swing, Glass, Transoms, and More 

Handing (or “Which Way Should a Door Swing?”)

Handing is a way to describe how a door operates. The direction the door swings when viewed from the outside is known as its handing. What determines a door’s handing? Its hinge placement. For example:

A left-handed inswing door has hinges on the left side.
A left-handed outswing door has hinges on the right side.
A right-handed inswing door has hinges on the right side.
A right-handed outswing door has hinges on the left side.

Which handing you choose can be determined by your region and climate. In colder, snowier climates, it’s best to have a front door that swings in. It can be difficult to open an outswing door when there’s a pile of snow in front of it. In windier climates, it’s best to have a door that swings out. Outward opening doors provide an added layer of protection to prevent a door from blowing into your home.  

Glass

It’s important to consider glass options with entry doors, as glass affects everything from door design to its energy efficiency. Some types of glass you might encounter include tempered and laminated. Tempered glass breaks into little, dull pieces when broken, while laminated glass remains in place if damaged, thanks to the plastic interlayer placed between two layers of glass.

For energy efficiency, there are also several Low Emissivity (Low E) glass options that can help. Low E glass has microscopic metallic layers that help reflect heat. The layers can reduce heat entering a home. Certain types of Low E glass work better than others in different climates, so be sure to ask your dealer, builder, etc. which Low E options are preferred in your area.

Transom Windows and Front Doors with Sidelites

A transom window is a horizontal window placed above a door and is often paired with front entry doors. Transoms add natural light to your entryway and help create a grander entryway and stellar curb appeal.

Sidelites (or “side lights”) are the vertical windows that are sometimes placed on the, you guessed it, sides of a front door. Like a transom window, they can increase natural light and add elegance to your front entry. The sidelites on front doors often have privacy glass to obscure or limit the view into your home. When combined with a transom window, entry door sidelites create a warm, welcoming entry space for guests.

For more on front doors, visit Marvin and TruStile today.  

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A Marvin Trustile entry door system with two swinging doors on a classic brownstone