French doors are essentially doors with windowpanes taking up the majority of their surface area. The door itself can be considered a hinged frame for the glass. They still operate the same as any other door, but they allow lots of natural light to enter a home. They also provide a great view of the outdoors.
French doors originated in, unsurprisingly, France. Before the advent of electrical lighting, keeping rooms lit was a struggle, even during the day. Windows help, but candles and fires often still needed to be lit to provide adequate illumination and prevent homes from feeling dim and depressing.
French doors provided an elegant solution – they incorporated large, floor to door-height windows that not only provided more natural light than smaller windows, but also functioned as an effective entrance and egress.
An Easy Way to Promote Indoor/Outdoor Living
Indoor/outdoor living is becoming increasingly popular across the nation, and for good reason. Most people don’t actively pursue gloomy interiors and having to keep lights on at all hours of the day just to make things brighter isn’t great from an aesthetic or energy-efficiency perspective. Plus, many homeowners put a lot of time, money and thought into their backyards and patio, but may not get as much use out of those outdoor spaces as they would like.
Indoor/outdoor living solves all these problems, bringing the beautiful outdoors inside along with the bright cheeriness of natural light.
There are a lot of window and door options that will help you embrace indoor/outdoor living in your home. Some people opt for replacing entire solid walls with moving glass wall systems, often in the form of bi-fold doors or stacking doors. Although these are great, they can be complex and expensive to install. For the sake of cost, expediency and in many cases, just a lack of space, homeowners often opt for French doors instead.
French doors have their own benefits as well – they are easier and faster to use for everyone in a household. French doors can be more quickly and easily opened and closed compared with some larger moving glass wall systems, making them a more functional option for people who may just want a patio door.
French Door Variations
French doors can be purchased with frames and grids made from wood, vinyl or fiberglass. They come in both in-swing and out-swing varieties. They can have either grid patterns with small panes of glass between the grid lines or they can have one large, solid pane of glass per door. The grids are also available in several different style options, from flat to sculptured.
The glass in French doors are also available in an array of energy-efficient varieties and can be an integral component in helping reduce your home’s energy consumption.
Procraft Windows sells and installs the highest quality French door varieties from some of the world’s leading manufacturers:
There are countless design and color options, making it easy to find a French patio door solution that will perfectly fit the aesthetic of your home’s interior and exterior.
Get the Most From Your French Doors
If you want to incorporate indoor/outdoor living elements into your home or you just need a new patio door solution, call Procraft Windows. Our design and installation experts understand the importance of exterior doors and windows in home design and can suggest all kinds of potential ideas to enhance natural light, energy efficiency and functionality in your home.
Call Procraft Windows at (206) 361-5121 to schedule a no-obligation design consultation. We’d be happy to discuss the possibilities for your home.
