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Tips for Matching Your Windows and Doors

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Windows and doors are not only practical solutions for protecting your home, allowing easy entry and letting useful and practical natural lighting flood your space, but they’re also crucial elements of your home’s design aesthetic and help to establish individuality. But when considering a new home remodel or designing a new construction, with so many design options available now, how can you find the right matching window and door styles to enhance your exteriors? We’re here to help make that decision easier for you.

match your door with your house architecture

Window and Door Styles

Finding the right matching window and door designs for your home is a blend of personal preference and your home’s architectural features. But before settling on a certain type of door or window, it’s best to know all of the different styles and designs available to you and each of their unique features.

For exterior doorways, you can choose from the following designs:

  • Flush: This minimalistic yet dramatic door style has a flat surface on each side, which is perfectly suited for contemporary and minimalistic-style homes.
  • Paneled: A paneled door is very traditional-looking, with raised panels cut into the design, and it’s available in a variety of materials, including wood, fiberglass and steel.
  • Glass insert: Doors with a glass insert can feature designs that are more classic and simple, like a craftsman door, or have large glass panels, like many contemporary front doors. The glass inserts can feature different design elements — like a beveled edge, which will echo an older feel or other features like texture, stain or tint.
  • French: A French door is a classic feature for many homes. This style is recognized by its rectangular glass panes. It’s typically hung as a pair of doors.
  • Patio: A typical door installed at the back of the house and used for accessing backyard or patio areas, patio doors have a frame with a fixed pane of glass that slides open and closed. These doors are perfect for seeing large, full views of your property.

Window designs offer a bit more variety but generally fall into a double-hung, casement, awning, picture, transom, slider, stationary or bay or bow style. Each type of window offers its own kind of convenience and appeal, but you can easily customize your home’s windows to suit a certain design need or adapt to your changing tastes. To keep a consistent, matching door and window design, consider using similar construction materials, glass styles and colors.

Types of Home Architecture To Consider

What makes every home interesting and unique is that it features a distinctive architectural style — you’re not just living in a plain box situated next to other drab box structures. Each home design features distinguishable elements that characterize its appeal, and the right matching doors and windows can help define that architectural style and showcase your personal tastes. While there are many different residential architectural designs out there, let’s look at five popular options and explore which window and door designs best complement their features:

  1. Traditional: A traditional home is one with simple lines and clean architectural elements, constructed from brick or stone. It’s typically a Colonial, Cape Cod or Georgian-style home. The timeless appearance of these homes makes them perfect for the clean look of a double-hung window with or without decorative valence. Another option to consider is a bay, bow or transom window. Pair any of these window options with a paneled door to complete your stately home design.
  1. Contemporary: The idea of contemporary design is marked by simplicity, little to no embellishments and asymmetrical features. Keeping contemporary homes light and airy is a crucial element, so most of these homes have large stationary, sliding and casement windows for added drama and opening up the space. The ideal door style for a contemporary home is a solid or glass insert flush door that has little added adornment and is sleek and smooth. Keep the glass insert design simple, with basic geometric shapes.
  1. Craftsman: The iconic craftsman home was an incredibly popular style in the early part of the twentieth century, featuring warm brick construction, low-pitched roofs, front porches and bulky, square columns. To make your craftsman home stand out, install double or single hung windows with a valance grid. For added style and individuality, add a custom stain glass to several smaller windows or your front door. Craftsman homes are often characterized by the front door style, with a paneled, thick wood construction and small windows at the top of the door. For back or other exterior doors, consider a pleasing and simple French door.
  1. Victorian: A Victorian home is one of the most pleasing and intricate designs available, often characterized by delicate adornments, railings and columns, bold colors, wrap porches and circular or geometric towers. The sky’s the limit on window designs that will pair beautifully with a Victorian home — double-hung, transom, bay or bow, fixed, arched and specialty shapes are all quality options. Many entryways use decorative glass panels or stained glass. Choose a front door with panels and decorative features, then paint it with a fun color. For back doors, incorporate a classic French-style decor.
  1. Spanish or Mediterranean: Known for their warm, exotic feel, Mediterranean homes are immediately recognized for their tile roofing and stucco exteriors. Good window choices for your Spanish-style home are large bay or bow windows or stationery and arched windows with wrought-iron or wooden grilles. Mediterranean and Spanish houses are known for their intricate and grand entrances — find a solid double-door design with decorative hardware and rich color.

Trust Glass.com With Your Window and Door Needs

To find these window and door installation options in your area, use Glass.com to find and reach out to local installers in your area. For assistance, call us at 816-945-2778 to speak to a specialist, or fill out our online contact form.

Please note, this article may contain links to Amazon products. As an Amazon Associate, Glass.com earns from qualifying purchases.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daniel Snow

Daniel Snow serves as the Vice President of Operations for Glass.com and is also a contributing editor. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from George Mason University and has a background in the real estate industry. After high school, Daniel even worked at a family-owned glass shop for a short period of time and is an Auto Glass Safety Council certified installer. In his free time, Daniel enjoys being outdoors, especially around the water where he can be found surfing, fishing, and boating. He has a passion for bringing old vehicles back to life and loves working with his hands to restore cars, boats, and motorcycles. Find out more about Daniel on Linkedin.

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14 Responses

  1. I like that you explain the popular residential architectural designs and that you talk about how matching doors and windows can help enhance the exterior of the house as well as make sure that it fits your personal preferences. Once you’ve chosen the style, it might help to research local contractors that offer door installation services in order to see if they can work with the one you want. Hiring professionals for the installation could ensure that it’s done correctly so everything works properly.

  2. In a few months, I’m going to be redoing a lot of my homes’ exterior. That being said, I will have to choose a new door and a new set of windows. Now as you said, there are door styles that go with certain types of homes. My home is a traditional style and I think it would look best with the glass insert style door. I’ll have to mimic that in the windows so that the home looks good all together.

  3. My wife and I want to install new windows when we remodel, so thanks for sharing this. I like your point about choosing windows that match the architecture of your home. I will look into different styles so I can see what fits best.

  4. It really helped when you said that glass inserts will make the windows look older to match the appearance of the house. I will share this tip with my mom because her windows really look off. This is because the house is more than 4 decades old which is why it has an antique feel to it.

  5. I like the tip that you gave to choose a style of window that will match the style of the rest of your home. My wife and I are talking about getting new windows, and it would be important for us to know that we have chosen the right ones. If we decide to get new windows, I will be sure to look for a style that will match the rest of our home.

  6. We are a window installation contractor in Albany, NY and we come across this issue all of the time. Hiring the right window replacement company to do your windows is key simply because a quality window installer can help you navigate through the process of choosing the right style of windows to match the style of your home and help you achieve the look you are going for. This is a great resource for anyone who is looking to get ideas on replacing the windows on their home. Thank you for sharing!

    Alex

  7. I like what you said about installing doors with glass inserts and how they can be classic and simple. Working with a glass company is the best way to go if you are in need of a new glass door. My neighbor is looking to buy a new sliding glass door, so I’ll help her locate a glass business in our area that can give her the best options available.

  8. I really appreciate your tip to use paneled glass if you want your house to have a more traditional look. My wife and I have been thinking of getting a new house, and we want to make sure that we impress our guests whenever we throw a house party. I will be sure to look out for a house with paneled glass since that will be the most traditional and impressive!

  9. Thanks for this advice for matching your windows and doors. It’s good to know that a glass insert door could be good for a more classic and simple look. I’m kind of interested to learn how large these doors could be or if has to be of a certain size.

  10. Thank you for pointing out that when it comes to choosing a door it’s very important to keep craftsmen ship in mind. I’m wanting to get a new glass door and need to find the best place to get it from. I’ll have to do some research and find a great glass company.

  11. You’ve got great tips for matching doors and windows. We’re looking at replace our home’s windows, so this is great. I love how you said that we can easily customize the windows to fit our home’s style. That’s good to know!

  12. I loved when you mentioned how Spanish windows are warm. It is important to understand that doing some research can help you find the best type of windows for your house. We need to replace some of our windows, so I’m glad I found your page.

  13. Hi my house has white upvc windows and I am looking to purchase a new dark grey composite door, with a small glass panel to the right. Do I have to have white upvc , or could I have the grey to match the door ?

    1. Hi Morgan,

      Just about anything is possible! Work with your local window and door dealer to figure out the best option for getting the color you want.

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