Doors are an important part of a house, both inside doors and outside doors. Although doors seem like a simple thing, it's quite an important part of the house. Doors can include design, height of the door, colour of the door and of course how many doors in a designated place or room. 

Two most important doors are going to be the ones outside, one in the front of the house and the other at the back. At front of the house the owner has a few options in the number of doors needed. They can go for a single door, double doors, or a large single door. The height of these doors also impact how good the house looks from the front. 

For doors that serve the purpose of ingress and egress (going in and out of the home), you have the options of letting light in with a transparent glass door, or partial/translucent glass door. Below are examples of both and their strengths and weaknesses.

Transparent glass doors

Pros: 

• Looks amazing
• Allows the light into the house thus brightening up the front entrance
• Guests are in awe when they see such a design in place
• Owners can look outside their doors with ease should they wait for invited guests or perhaps see strangers step onto their property. 
• Lots of customization available for the doors

Cons

• Expensive
• Requires maintenance due to glass being covered with dusts or insects
• Can shatter or chip 
• Can also pose as a privacy and/or security risk

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Below is a picture of a transparent double glass door

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Partial/translucent glass door:

Pros

• Look nice
• Allow some light to enter into the house
• Translucent enough to avoid strangers from looking into the house from the house side thus giving privacy and some security. 
• Lots of customization options available for the doors 

Cons:

• Expensive
• Only some light is allowed in the house 
• Owner can't look out the door without opening it 
• Glass can shatter and chip which may require changing the full door. 
• Requires maintenance to upkeep the doors' beauty. 

Below is an example of a single translucent glass door 

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Pure solid wooden doors

So we have covered translucent and transparent doors, what about the old school doors made with wood, are they still in favour of today's home styles? The answer is yes! Infact, a lot of the luxurious houses opt for wooden doors rather than modern glass doors. The wooden doors have changed drastically in design compared to the previous era. Lets cover some strengths and weaknesses of the wooden door(s) and also give the reader an example of an older more traditional style wooden door and a modern style wooden door. 

Pros:

• Secured door which is able to give the owner 100% privacy
• The models of the wooden door vary from a wide range but overall is cheaper compared to transparent and translucent doors. 
• Has many customization opens including colour, wood used, shape of the wood/size of the wood, and height of the door
• Not much maintenance is required to upkeep the door
• Can look nice depending on the door design and age
• Guests are amazed with a good looking door 

Cons: 

• Does not pass light into the house thus making the front of the house look more darker from the inside
• Aged wood may start to crack which may require the whole door to change. This is also true if the door is damaged. 
• Full wooden doors are heavier to open and require stronger hinges to hold
• Owner can't look outside the door without opening the door 
• Lack of maintenance may cause wood rot (specially true if water touches it) 

Here are examples of modern, traditional, and luxurious wooden doors

Modern

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Traditional

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Luxurious 

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Outside from the design of the doors, their height and the height of the ingress and egress makes a difference in the front look of the house. Larger height for ingress and egress location can have its own strengths and weaknesses. 

Pros:

• Brighter front entrance in the house 
• Makes the house look bigger from the inside
• Designs for frontage can be unique and attractive to the eye
• Can still offer some security and privacy of the homeowner 

Cons:

• Can be more expensive to shape up the entrance as it may require structural changes 
• Unique design may not appeal to all audiences 
• Maintenance of glass maybe required, damaged glass must be replaced 

Here are examples of a heightened door ingress/egress 

Large glass doors

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tall wooden ingress/egress doors with some glass 

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Extended tall doors with translucent glass

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Large single door

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Now that we have covered door types, door heights, and styles, there is still one more topic about doors to cover. Single versus double door versus large single door, when to have which and when to change. 

Let's start off with the single door. A single door in the front of your home would mean the house itself is smaller in size or the ingress/egress is smaller in size (inside the house). If the front of the house is designed in a way that there is no space for the door to expand then a single door will continue to dominate the structure. By space we mean the sides of the door and they are so minimal that fitting another door will be a tall task. If the front entrance inside the house is a hallway that is small in size, then structurally, the house does not support the ingress/egress to be turned into a double door. 

So what can the owner do to allow at least some light or make the front of the house look bigger? Can’t expand sideways because there is no space. The answer then is increasing the length or the height of the door. This can be done by adding a window of glass on top of the door and removing the stone work and the walls over the door. However, if the door cannot support expansion of a door in any dimension, the owner is advised to get a translucent/transparent door or create a small lengthed gap on the side of the door to slightly expand the doorway. This will at least get some light inside the door making the house look slightly bigger.  

Next runner up is double doors. Double doors are the preferred choice by homeowners and home buyers because the double doors indicate a larger front entrance and a larger house. The other reason is having options, people naturally prefer objects and things that provide various other options that affect the function of the object. Example of people liking more options is when people go out to buy a phone. Many people like having more options available to them despite not knowing what they do or how they work. Some may never even use those options for the useful life of the phone. If this were the case, why wont they opt for phones that do the simple stuff like text, call, watch videos, have an app store, and call? Why would people want to buy a phone for any other reason? The answer is options. The only other reasoning is because it looks more luxurious. 

With options available, the owner can opt for double doors of various kinds with one door being glass and other being normal wooden, or perhaps a large door that covers the same space as the double doors. Homeowners who have the space to support double doors, should opt for it. Especially when their house is a detached house with enough space to support ingress/egress inside the house at the front. The owner when doing such expansions is also encouraged to create a small window atop of the door to make it look more luxurious, and spacious. 

The choice of the double doors is up to the home owners, a pro tip to consider would be to look at the size of the house from the outside and pick a door accordingly. Usually,  If the house is priced past $2 Million, then a luxurious double door or single door is highly advised. Anything under should go for translucent or transparent glass doors. The reason for this is because houses that go past 2 Million in value are often larger from the inside and do not require much light to make it look bigger. Houses under the value are mid-large detached houses which require light to make it look bigger. If the owner is interested in selling the house quicker, then glass doors are advised. 

And finally the use of the tall large single door. This is starting to become trendy for some homeowners for its modernized look. Doors such as this, go well with detached houses that are mid to small sized. The owner is advised to use a door with some translucent glass to make light enter the house, otherwise the house may look dark from the inside of the entrance thus making it look smaller. Large doors however, are acceptable if the house of the homeowner is extra large detached, usually over $2 Million. 

Here are some ideas by other people to give you an insight on different door designs and types, it should help you envision how you would like to approach the frontal design of your home. https://www.pinterest.ca/bayerbuilt/exterior-doors/ 

Backyard doors; there are two types of backyard doors hinged and sliding. Both types of  backyard doors provide different benefits to your home. 

Hinged doors

Pros:

• Both doors open together instead of one like sliding doors
• Hinged doors are better for a property that lies in warm and spring-like weather 
• Makes objects and things easier to transfer in and out from the house 
• Considered traditional optional and has wide variety of options to choose from in design
• Allows light to enter the doors brighten up the room

Cons:

• Hinged backyard doors requires more space than sliding doors
• Heat/Cool-air loss is a potential issue with hinged door in the colder/higher temps
• Due to the nature of doors, high wind can potentially damage the doors or the wall when it swings 
• Can become a safety hazard when left ajar
• Less aesthetic 

Here’s an example of a hinged backyard door

Sliding doors

Pros:

• Easy to use, no handles needed to operate
• Not affected by wind status
• Does not occupy much space, thus making it more easier to put furniture in the house 
• Safer and more aesthetically pleasing 
• Comes in with a net or a screen panel to keep insects away 
• Locks in heat or cold-air in different temperatures
• Easier to ventilate air 
• Allows light to enter the doors and brighten up the room

Cons:

• Harder to install
• More expensive
• Less options
• Need more maintenance
• Less locking options
• Easier to break due to glass 
• Can only open in one dimension (side to side)
• Less styling options
• Only one door can be shifted side to side, leaving minimal size of opening. Unless the house has room to store the doors inside the walls (luxury). 

Here’s an example of a sliding backyard door