Addison Harris
If you are considering replacing your front door or planning to build a new home, there are many options to create a stylish and aesthetically pleasing entryway. If you are looking for ideas to transform your front door, increase curb appeal, and let in more light, then sidelights and transoms may be an ideal solution. In recent years, many homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex have utilized sidelights and transoms in their entryways.
In this post, you’ll learn about what sidelights and transoms are, the available options, whether they can be added to an existing doorway, and their pros and cons.
As mentioned, they offer curb appeal and improve the aesthetics of your entryway, both around the exterior of your front door as well as your home’s interior. The extra glass brings in more natural light and helps your home feel more open, spacious, and inviting while calling attention to other decorative details inside.
Sidelights can also improve your visibility outside by creating more viewable window space, particularly if your front door is solid or has obscure glass. A well-lit interior around the front door may call attention to a bland foyer or areas that may need repair that may not be in your budget in the foreseeable future.
Curtains and window coverings may or may not be a good option depending on design although this might be solved with obscure glass.
You might be wondering if adding extra glass to your entryway will affect your home’s energy efficiency.
Advancements such as Low-E glass and filler gases like Krypton, as well as other treatments used for replacement windows, help keep heat out during the hot Texas summers while letting in plenty of natural light. Image: Knowles Design, Jupiter Golf Course Project This entry door to this next home has a ¾ lite with colonial grids and sidelights to match.
Your home’s windows matter because they allow you to bring in more light and energy-efficient ones can reduce the cost of your electric bill. In the home pictured above and below, you can see the grids carried throughout all the exterior windows and doors as well as in one of the kitchen cabinets.
Image: @courtneyperkinsdesign via Instagram The home below has a door unit and windows with a matching black interior and exterior. Image: Jett Set Farmhouse The easiest way to create a perfectly matched look is to purchase your windows and doors from the same vendor. Image: Jett Set Farmhouse Details make all the difference when creating a really outstanding home. Even the center transom window was made with the door panels below in mind, the left and right sides of the sash are thicker creating perfect lines all the way down.
The off-center door and single left sidelight look perfect under the small eyebrow transom window above. This door has a classic and modern feel with wood tones, textured glass, and wide panels. In the image below you can see how the small grids flow perfectly from the door and down the sidelight, the pattern is picked up in the chandelier inside the entrance.
This next door has wide sidelights and transom windows that flood the large entrance with natural light.
These transom windows create the illusion of taller doors that look great just past the vertical columns of the front patios. Image: Isilanlari If you’re searching for a way to transform the look of your home while boosting its curb appeal, adding sidelights and or transom windows may be the perfect solution.
In addition to transforming the face of your home, you’ll create an entrance that is bright and welcoming for all your visitors. Image: 99 Decor Innovation We hope you’ve found this article inspiring and given you a better idea of what to think about in planning for the addition of sidelights and transoms. If you live in DFW and are ready to give your entryway a new look or are considering building your next dream home, Brennan is a full-service company in North Texas that specializes in windows and entry doors.
