Finding the Perfect Front Door

Written by Jaqui Lividini

Choosing the front door of a house is one of the most important decisions you can make in home design. So naturally we looked far and wide for the perfect door. And because shopping is so much easier these days with everything online—we really looked at every possible option. Should we use wood or glass? Should the trim match the garage doors? Do we need a screen? These are just a few of the myriad questions that arose during the process.

Eventually we choose the Simpson Door Company. Not only are the doors expertly made, but Simpson also lets you design your door to your own specifications— choosing wood type, size, number of glass panes, trim, etc. It was nirvana for this Mad Renovator! With this option we knew we would have a door that would perfectly match the rest of the house. Initially, I had my heart set on a Dutch style door (a horizontally divided door where the bottom half can stay closed while the top is open), but eventually thought better of it due to its limited functionality. 

Moving forward, we knew we wanted bead board as bead board is featured prominently throughout the house. Additionally, we chose to add pane windows to be consistent with the windows on the house and garage doors. We decided on nine pane windows in total with bead board trim on the bottom.

When our self-designed front door arrived from Simpson, I realized that I hadn’t yet picked out a handle! And with this realization came more questions. Should it be nickel? Oil-rubbed? We decided on a sleek black lock and handle and it truly looks perfect.

There is one final question though: Do we keep the door white or paint it blue? Opinions welcome!