How To Choose the Right Door For a Room

Last week, we explained how to choose the right window for a room, and today, we move our focus from windows to glass doors, providing invaluable tips on the same.

If you’re renovating your home or planning a new home build, you will know how essential doors are in a house. Functionally, they provide essential access to a house, first and foremost. But have you stopped to consider the other benefits doors can play? What pops to my mind immediately – particularly glass doors, which we’re focusing on here in this article – is their ability to maximise natural light and connect you to the outdoors – two very important aspects of any well-designed home.

Ross’s Discount Home Centre is Perth’s go-to source for quality glass doors in Perth. We have been supplying quality renovation products to Perth residents since 1973, and we’re exclusive stockists of Jason Windows, WA’s leading window and door suppliers. We have close to half a century of experience under our belt and know a thing or two about glass doors and the considerations when choosing them.

Whether you’re about to embark on a home renovation or a new home build in Perth, you’ll want to read this article. Continue reading as we take an in-depth look at everything you need to consider when choosing the perfect doors in Perth for each room of your home.

Before we dive into this article, I recommend you have a quick read of one of my previous articles, The Ultimate Sliding Doors And Windows Buying Guide, to familiarise yourself with the types of glass doors we will be discussing and recommending in this article. Once you’ve finished reading about the kinds of glass doors in Peth, come back to this article to continue reading.

Table of Contents

The Right Doors for Each Room

Now that you have a good understanding of the types of glass doors available, you need to apply these to each room of your home. Choosing the right – or best – door for each room is essential, for once your order is confirmed, it can be costly to change the order, and once your doors are installed, you will be living with your decisions for at least 15 years; so no pressure!!

Front Entrance Doors

The front entry door is undoubtedly the most important door of any home. It’s what we use every day to come and go to and from the house, and it’s the first thing that guests focus on as they enter your home. Thus, choosing the right front entrance door is essential.

There are a couple of key considerations when choosing front entrance doors – aesthetics, light and durability.

Although timber is a typical material choice for entrance doors, glass is growing in popularity. This trend is mainly due to the elegant aesthetics and longevity that glass entrance doors in Perth provide. They’re constructed with an aluminium frame, which, unlike timber, is maintenance-free, and due to the high glass content, they provide excellent natural light to what can otherwise be a dark area of your home. You can even get timber-look glass entry doors. Moreover, with the various glass options, including obscure and translucent glass, you can benefit from a glass front door whilst maintaining privacy.

Type Of Glass Doors For Front Entrances

There are a few options in terms of the types of glass doors suitable for use as a front entrance door. The most common being a hinged glass door – also referred to as a single French Door. They’re available in various configurations with or without midrails, or with vertical midrails to create the desired look. As mentioned, they are also available with a timber-look aluminium frame for a low-to-no maintenance option. Lastly, you have pivot doors, which are truly stunning and will undoubtedly make for a grand entrance. Pivot doors are the most contemporary glass door option. However, they do require additional space and are best suited for wide openings.

Recommended glass doors for front entrances include:

Glass hinged doors (single French doors)
Timber-look aluminium doors
Pivot doors

Bedroom Doors

Although most bedrooms may not feature an external door, they are an elegant addition that provides maximum ventilation and airflow to a room. They also make a room appear more grandiose, which is why they are a common feature of master bedrooms.

There are a few considerations to make when selecting a glass door for bedrooms: clearance and space, ventilation and airflow, and security.

Clearance and space are most important – it will determine whether you will need to opt for a space-saving sliding door or something more lavish, like double French doors, where swing room is needed (which opens inwards). In terms of ventilation and airflow, opting for double French doors, where both doors can open, will provide more airflow than a sliding door that only allows airflow through one side of the door. If you have a large bedroom wall, you can consider a single sliding door or double sliding doors to increase the airflow if double French Doors are not suitable due to space limitations. Security will always play a factor. If you intend to leave the door/s open during the day while you run errands or at night as you sleep, you will need to consider available security screen options and how they will affect the door and room’s appearance.

Type Of Glass Doors For Bedrooms

When choosing glass doors for bedrooms, there are various options to consider, including sliding doors, double sliding doors, and double French Doors.

Sliding doors are the most economical and are great space savers because they slide along the rain and don’t swing open like French doors. They offer good ventilation, and security screens are easy to fit and won’t impact the aesthetics too much.

Double sliding doors and stacking sliding doors provide maximum natural light and more airflow than standard sliding doors. As with sliding doors, they are great space savers, and security screens are easy to fit. They offer excellent ventilation.

The most luxurious option is double Fench doors – they look the most attractive, offer excellent airflow, ventilation, and natural light, and they’re the most contemporary in design. However, they do present drawbacks. They open inwards and, therefore need clearance and space to swing open, and security screens don’t look as good installed to double French doors as they do on their sliding counterparts.

Recommended glass doors for bedrooms include:

Living Room / Lounge Room Doors

In my opinion, a living room/lounge room door is just as important (if not more) than the front entrance door. It’s what connects us most to the outdoors, joining our indoor living with outdoor living, and is usually the large opening to the outdoor environment.

There are a few considerations when choosing glass doors for this area of the house, but number one is; the bigger, the better! You want to maximise the opening and amount of natural light as much as possible and, ideally, as seamlessly as possible. Like bedroom doors, you also want to consider clearance and space, ventilation and airflow, and security.

Doors that open across large areas are ideal for living rooms/lounge rooms. They meet the criteria above and are great when entertaining, allowing multiple people to pass through the opening at once.

Type Of Glass Doors For Living Rooms / Lounge Rooms

Choosing the right living room/lounge room door is vital. While various types are suitable, considerations such as size and how they open will be crucial considerations.

If you entertain frequently and your living room/lounge room door is the main access point to your outdoor living space, then bi-fold or stacking sliding doors will be the best option. Each provides vast opening space, seamlessly combining the indoors and outdoors and providing excellent access, airflow and ventilation. Keep in mind that it is challenging to fit fly screens or security screens to bi-fold doors, but it is effortless to do so with stacking sliding doors.

If your living room/lounge room door opens more to a small courtyard than an outdoor living space, then you might like to consider double Fench doors or standard sliding doors. Each provides a good source of natural light, ventilation and airflow. Which you choose will come down to the available space and clearance for opening and security options – and of course, price.

Of the suitable options, bi-fold doors are the most expensive; however, they are the most attractive, followed by double French doors and stacking sliding doors. Double sliding doors and sliding doors are the most economical options.

Recommended glass doors for living rooms and lounge rooms include:

Laundry Doors

Much like the front entrance door, it is common to use timber doors as a laundry door. However, there are significant advantages of choosing a glass entry door for laundry rooms. Ofen, laundry rooms are designed to be functional first and foremost. As such, they are not designed to maximise light, causing many rooms to be dark and unsightly. Choosing a glass door to access your clothesline will completely change the appearance of the laundry, making it light and bright.

Thus, in my opinion, the primary consideration for choosing a laundry door is natural light. If you use your laundry to hang and dry clothes, ventilation and airflow should also be considered. Clearance and space are also factors.

Type Of Glass Doors For Laundry Rooms

There are a couple of good options when it comes to choosing glass doors for laundry rooms; sliding doors and hinged glass doors. Both present great sources of light and ventilation, and airflow, sliding doors more so due to their larger size.

Which type of glass door is best for your laundry will come down to space and size. Do you have the width to fit a sliding door (1500 mm wide or more), or do you have a narrow space only suited to a hinged door (620 mm wide or more)?

There will be a significant price difference also. Although sliding doors are larger in size, they are the cheaper of the two. A hinged door is, however, the most modern and attractive choice.

Recommended glass doors for laundry rooms include:

Single sliding doors

Conclusion

Choosing glass doors for a home renovation or a new home build is vital in the decision-making process. There are many factors to consider, including natural light, ventilation, airflow, security and how they interact with the space.

While the purpose of an external door is to provide access to the outdoors, the key considerations will differ based on the room. For example, maximising the opening space is crucial when choosing a living room/lounge room door, while maximising natural light is a key consideration for choosing a laundry door. Moreover, these key considerations will narrow down the possible types of suitable glass doors for each room. Thus, it’s essential to incorporate all factors to ensure you select the best type of door for each room.

If you’re shopping for glass doors in Perth or need help deciding which door is best suited for each room of your home, the team at Ross’s Discount Home Centre can help! We have an in-store display so you can see our range in person, and we have sales representatives who are only too happy to assist in your door selection process. Plus, we offer a custom door service in addition to our standard products so you can also get the best fit for your home. Email us today for a quote.

You can view a selection of our glass doors online or place a Special Order for one of the many other types of doors available in the extensive Jason Windows range.