Category: Ideas & Inspiration

Homes with French doors often spark bidding wars for good reason. French doors add a certain stylistic elegance to a home that pleases the eye while improving functionality, flow, and value. Moreover, French doors are favored for their versatility. These unique doors open wide, allowing sunlight, air, and easy entry into the home.

Long revered for their distinctive aesthetic, French doors are the ideal unison of function and form. Regardless of whether your house has a modern or traditional style, you’ll find the addition of French doors exterior infuse sophistication that makes your home look and feel more dignified. 

Plastpro helps homeowners like you find the best French door configuration for a truly seamless blend with your living space. Check out our wide variety of doors that can be added as French-style double doors and it won’t take long to find the right one for your unique living space. 

If you were to poll those looking for new doors or those in the market for a new home with spacious, stylistic doors, most would testify that they favor French doors for the following reasons:

• French doors are visually striking
• These wide doors are surprisingly energy-efficient
• French doors are incredibly durable

The result is a welcoming entranceway that makes a house look and feel more like a real home. 

 

The Timeless Elegance of French Doors

It is often said that the best designs are timeless, meaning they are visually appealing in all eras. French doors are as timeless as it gets. Whether you prefer a modern interpretation of these double doors or a more classic approach, their addition to your home will captivate you, your family, and all guests. 

 

Aesthetic Appeal

When it comes to entryway doors, form is just as important as function. Doors are meant to keep homes well-protected yet they also add a stylistic component that makes a living space more enjoyable while simultaneously increasing the value of the property. If you are even slightly interested in making your home more visually appealing, French doors are the way to go. 

Your new French doors exterior will captivate, drawing attention to their beauty and also allow the sunlight to pour inward for a more enjoyable living space. A bonus is the fact that French doors look immaculate from the outside, ramping up your property’s curb appeal all the more. 

 

Versatile Configurations

There is a common misconception that French doors are all the same. The truth is there are several different variations of these unique doors. However, French doors exterior aren’t exactly ubiquitous so most people understandably assume they are available in a single size and style. Do your due diligence and you’ll find there are various configurations of French doors with a litany of styles and sizes.

French doors are available in the following forms:

• Doubles for extra width and light
• Singles for an infusion of style
• Sliding for convenience
• Folding for that extra touch of sophistication that takes your home’s aesthetics to the next level

Folding and sliding doors are held in especially high regard as they save homeowners space that can be used to roam freely without restraint or limitation. The extra space can also be used for many other purposes such as additional storage.

Regardless of your home’s space and architectural style, you’ll be able to find French doors exterior that look amazing. French door exterior hues and styles can even be narrowly tailored to your home’s current architectural style for the optimal match. 

 

Exterior French Doors

Half the appeal of French doors is how they look from the outside. Exterior French doors available through Plastpro can be installed as visually stunning double doors that take your home’s beauty to the next level. 

Examples include our Onelite or Nova Series including additional options with glass. Check out our product reviews and you’ll quickly find our customers revere our fiberglass doors’ durability, beauty, and efficiency. Your French doors will look and function the same several years down the line as long as you perform minimal maintenance. 

 

French Door Accessories

There is a common misconception that French doors are standalone home additions without any niceties. In reality, French doors have the potential to be what you make of them. Check out Plastpro’s inventory and you’ll find our French doors are designed with flexibility in mind. As an example, if you desire the addition of door frame components or decorative doorlites, your French doors will accommodate them.

Sidelights are an especially popular French door accessory. Sidelights boost the amount of interior sunlight for optimal clarity and beauty. In particular, homeowners who lack space above their doors to accommodate a transom favor sidelights. Some homeowners go as far as installing complementing sidelights to their French doors to add that much more illumination. You can take your home’s style to the next level by repeating patterns with windows of a similar style for enhanced continuity.

Our PF frames for exterior doors refer to Plastpro’s Polyfiber frames. We use polyfiber frames as they are a breakthrough alternative material that quickly takes the place of conventional door jambs. Check out our uniquely formulated frame for yourself and you’ll be smitten by the wood’s beauty. 

Moreover, our PF frames do not require nearly as much maintenance as traditional door jambs. PF is resistant to thermal stimulation, proves durable, and can be installed similarly to conventional wood jambs. Add in the fact that our PF frames have a longer lifespan than conventional frames and there is even more reason to add them. 

Our decorative doorlites are glass inserts specifically designed for French doors and other Plastpro entryways. Give these decorative glass inserts a chance and you’ll be enamored by their elegance and beauty. Our inserts are highlighted by classic styles along with textured backdrops, providing your home with an idiosyncratic customized detail, thermal protection, safety, and privacy. 

Doorlite glass inserts provide the perfect aesthetic for homes like yours. The best part is our doorlites are available in a litany of sizes, one of which will fit just right with your French doors. Examples of our doorlite glass insert designs include but are not limited to the following:

• The artful and flowing Camelia
• The conventional Castile
• The upscale Brentwood Patina
• The all-natural Rain
• The energy-infused Spring

 

Installing French Doors

You have the agency necessary to install new French doors in your home. Even if you aren’t experienced with home renovations, a little bit of elbow grease will go a long way in enhancing your living space with the addition of new French doors. 

Grab your tools, watch a couple of YouTube French door installation videos and you’ll be on your way to adding lovely new French doors to your home.

 

What is The Difference Between French Doors and Double Doors?

Contrary to popular opinion, French doors and double doors are not the same. Though both are solid additions to homes, there are important differences between the two types of doors. French doors primarily differ from double doors in that they are made with different materials. Most French doors consist of glass panes that allow the sunlight inside for a priceless interior aesthetic. In contrast, most double doors tend to be made of wood. 

Doors made of wood tend to be less secure and durable than doors made with double-paned glass, aluminum, or UPVC. In short, French doors are almost always more secure and have more longevity than double doors. Furthermore, French doors are commonly favored as they tend to open outward to a deck, patio, or other exterior space, creating that much more room within the home. 

Some homeowners revere French doors as they serve as the perfect fixtures for comparatively smaller rooms that have minimal space. Such doors extend out from cramped areas, creating a pleasing walkway transition to outdoor parts of the property. 

 

An Elegant Entryway from Plastpro

Plastpro takes pride in making homes look and function their best. Our door experts insist on looking at French doors are more than mere entryways. French doors should be thought of as a homeowner’s statement that shows their home is a sophisticated place characterized by elegance and grace.

Check out Plastpro’s expansive collection of fiberglass doors and you’ll find improving your home’s aesthetic is easier than expected. The icing on the cake is that our French doors ramp up your home’s energy efficiency and durability. Moreover, our French doors make homes that are much more versatile, transforming plain entrances into walkways fit for royalty. 

Seize the opportunity to transform your home from a run-of-the-mill living space into a welcoming masterpiece and you won’t hesitate to recommend the addition of our French doors to neighbors, friends, family, and colleagues. 

Plastpro’s doors and related accessories are available at a dealer near you. We also sell hinges, sidelights, speakeasies, and more. We invite you to check out our Where to Buy page to find a dealer in your local zip code or a nearby zip code.

If fall is your favorite season, let us be the first to say you have good taste. However, you are not alone in your passion for autumn. There is plenty of love for the fall season as it is a welcomed transition away from the hot summer days, serving as a reprieve between extremes of heat and cool.

Homeowners especially revere autumn as it is an opportunity to add seasonal décor to the exterior of the home for everyone in the neighborhood to relish. Now that the crisp fall breezes are arriving, it is time to infuse the spirit of the season into your home’s front door. 

Whether you favor festive wreaths, seasonal door mats, carved pumpkins, or autumn foliage, there is no shortage of décor to add to your home’s front door. Take the fall season a step further with a creative DIY project and you’ll make your home’s exterior uniquely your own. 

Plastpro helps homeowners like you make their home exterior visually pleasing, fully functional, and a source of pride. Our stylish and durable front fiberglass doors serve as the optimal canvas for displaying charming fall front door décor. Here’s a quick look at a delightful array of front door décor ideas to celebrate the seasonal steppingstone of autumn. 

 

Embrace the Essence of Autumn with Fall Door Decor Ideas

The showcasing of your fall decorations has the potential to transform your home’s exterior. Sweat the small stuff of your home’s ornamentation and your front door will be the highlight of your property. 

The most impactful fall front porches are highlighted by unique seasonal niceties such as apple crate displays. A plain apple crate is the optimal platform for an engaging autumn display. Think of the apple crate as the canvas on which you present seasonal symbols to the neighborhood and all passers-by. Add a lantern, unlit candle, pumpkin and some fall leaves to your apple crate display and your front porch will symbolize the season to perfection.

Even the addition of a simple wood letter door sign that reads “Fall” or “Autumn” will express the seasonal spirit. Wooden letters spelling out the seasons or related words can be found in crafts shops, art supplies stores, and even some home improvement stores.

Let’s take a quick look at a couple of other ideas to help you and your family fully embrace the essence of the fall season through a captivating front porch.

 

Festive Wreaths

Use your mind’s eye to envision the ideal autumn home. If you are like most people, your thoughts immediately jump to festive fall wreaths, most likely adorning a front door. However, no two wreaths are the same. The traditional green Christmas wreaths added to front doors in the fall and winter seasons are only one option. Check out local stores’ inventories of wreaths and you’ll find a litany of materials, styles, and price points. 

Search the web for wreaths, click through the pages of DIY (do-it-yourself) ideas and you’ll find plenty that capture the true essence of the fall season. From traditional autumn wreaths to pinecone wreaths, dried leave wreaths, and more. The possibilities for your fall front door décor are endless.

In some cases, homes look fantastic with a basic twig and leaf wreath added to the front door as a symbol of welcome that greets all guests. If you are feeling especially festive, add a wreath featuring the colors of fall to make your front door and even your windows pop with eye-pleasing colors. Some homeowners add flowers, baby pumpkins, and pinecones to plain green wreaths for a fall infusion. 

Regardless of the type of wreath you choose, consider adding a colorful pumpkin arrangement along the door sides along with a grapevine garland for a true fall aesthetic. Even the addition of a seasonally-colored bow to adorn the arrangement will look amazing. 

Those who are feeling especially festive will consider the addition of a faux lamb ear wreath to their front door. Complement your wreath with a woven basket or two and you’ll take your front porch fall theme to new heights.

 

Seasonal Door Mats

Every home needs a lovely front doormat, especially when fall rolls around. The perfect seasonal doormat welcomes family, friends, and other guests to your humble home amidst the transition from summer to fall. A seasonal doormat sets the tone for your home’s front door décor. Match the hues of your front door wreath or other seasonal decorative niceties with the color of your welcome mat and the coordination will take your home’s curb appeal to the next level. 

If a fall-themed mat design doesn’t strike your fancy, consider a personalized welcome mat with a message of your own. When in doubt, opt for a front door mat with a festive single hue to match the season, be it orange, brown, tan, or beige.

 

Creative Pumpkin Displays

Take your home’s fall décor to the next level with the addition of pumpkins. If you take pride in your precision, carve a pumpkin of your own and proudly display it on the front porch for the entire neighborhood to see. Homeowners with kids are encouraged to help them carve pumpkins to prominently display on a festive fall front porch.

The combination of a front door wreath with an autumn-themed welcome mat and a carved pumpkin or two will elevate your home’s exterior to the next level. The icing on the cake is the addition of an accompanying floral arrangement with gourds. Gourds are hard shell fruits used for ornamentation, oftentimes on front porches. 

 

Vibrant Foliage Arrangements

Foliage is the symbol of the fall season. A collection of colorful leaves makes quite the vibrant front door display. The best foliage for fall décor consists of seasonal plants and flowers like:

• Coral bells
• Aster
• Black-eyed Susans
• Pansies
• Ornamental kale
• Calendula
• Sedum
• Nemesia

Grow at least a couple of these fall season plants in beds or containers on or near your porch and you’ll transform your home’s exterior into an epic seasonal showcase you are proud of.

 

Harvest-Themed Decor

Décor with a harvest theme signifies the transition from summer crop-growing to the fall bounty enjoyed by family, friends, and community alike. Even subtle harvest themes added to your front porch infuse a rustic charm that makes your house feel more like a true home. 

Examples of harvest-themed décor to add to your front door display include:

• The classic scarecrow
• Cornstalks
• Bales of hay

If you have kids and some time to spare, get them in on the decorating action by creating a DIY scarecrow. Create a semblance of a harvest scene and your home’s entrance will feel truly welcoming as we transition from the summer months into fall. 

 

Autumn Floral Arrangements

The right floral arrangement has the potential to bring out the best in your home’s exterior. Fall flowers are especially pleasing to the eye when presented artfully. Floral experts favor amethyst, emerald, ruby, gold, and sapphire shades for the fall season. 

Combine a floral arrangement with seasonal greenery and you’ll have a decorative home exterior that adds up to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

 

Plastpro’s Durable Front Doors

Take your home’s exterior to the next level with the addition of a Plastpro front door. Our doors are the perfect canvas for decorative fall ornamentation. Read up on the Plastpro brand and you’ll find our customers heap on the praise, highlighting our doors’ long-lasting durability, rigidity, and style. Our doors are one part function and one part form, keeping indoor air of our preferred temperature inside while keeping unwanted individuals, animals, and the hot or cold outdoor air outside. 

Plastpro doors are aesthetically pleasing yet they also provide homeowners with the opportunity to add their preferred seasonal décor for visual appeal. We invite you to check out some of our doors for yourself. Some of our customers’ favorite Plastpro doors include our fiberglass inventory including but not limited to the following:

• Craftsman Series
• Mahogany Series
• Rustic Series
• Oak Series

We also carry Trimmable Series custom doors, a Fire Rated Series door, an HVHZ Impact Series door, Knotty Alder and Teak doors, and more!

 

Celebrate the Season with Plastpro

Incorporate one or several of the fall front door décor suggestions above and your home’s exterior will be that much more festive and charming as we change seasons. A warm and inviting entrance represents the essence of the fall season. Even minor additions such as an artfully carved pumpkin or a festive wreath will transform an otherwise dull home exterior into one you are proud to present to the neighborhood.

You are invited to explore Plastpro’s durable front door options. Take your time when perusing our inventory and you’ll find the perfect backdrop for your autumn decorations.

Plastpro doors and door accessories are available at a dealer near you. Check out our Where to Buy page to find a local dealer in your zip code or a nearby zip code in mere seconds.

When it comes time to complete home renovations, it’s not uncommon to start with your front door. After all, you probably see it every day, and if it isn’t exactly the way you want it, odds are some features stick out like sore thumbs. Whether you know exactly how you’d like to refresh your front façade or you’re on the hunt for inspiration, there’s good news: breathing new life into your entryway can be as easy as you want it to be, depending on the type of project you choose to undertake. However, no matter what you choose, even something small could have a great impact on the aesthetic of your home’s exterior.

Why Front Door Makeovers Matter

A front door makeover isn’t just a fun project you can use to pass an afternoon, it’s a reliable way to upgrade the entire look of your home’s entryway. Since a homeowner sees their main entryway every day, they may not think a lot about the others who could also take critical looks at the space, including neighbors and passersby.

By taking special care to increase the main exterior entryway’s perceived appearance, you’ll be working to increase the entry’s curb appeal—and as the focal point of the main exterior entryway, changing up your front door is the fastest way to create the most effective impact.

This is important for the homeliness that should be felt by someone as they return to their place of residence, but it’s also an important factor in giving the outward appearance of a clean, tidy, and well-maintained home. This makes a great first impression on visitors, as well as those who may just be driving or walking by. All of that attention could help to keep uninvited visitors away, too, especially if your front door makeover includes additional outdoor lighting or the installation of an impact-resistant fiberglass door.

Finally, a change in your front door could change a lot about your home’s indoor atmosphere, including how much hot or cold air your home retains, how much natural light penetrates the home, and how much or little privacy your home maintains from the outside world. Door decisions and upgrades can have an immediately noticeable impact on your finances based on project cost, but the long-term effects on your energy bill should be taken into consideration, too.

Choosing the Right Styles

When choosing to rehabilitate or replace your front door, there should be a checklist to inform your decision. You’ll want to keep your home’s architectural style in mind when making important renovation decisions.

You can always look at trends to learn about your home’s architectural style and help ensure you’ll choose a door to match. This will help maximize curb appeal—a well-designed entryway naturally frames the door as the focal point.

Modern homes are growing in popularity due to their no-frills, practical, and contemporary approach to habitation. If your abode was built with modern sensibilities, it’s likely sporting a lot of flat, angular, and open walls on its exterior. Those walls were probably constructed using materials that don’t feature a lot of texture and their colors probably trend on the darker side of the spectrum.

A lack of decorative features sans non-intrusive recessed lighting rounds out the modern look. The correct door for this style would be reflective of it by featuring large subtle panels—or none at all—alongside a singular vertical glass insert all set on a darkly-colored door. Hardware would be kept to a minimum and be made from sleek-looking steel, such as a latch-style doorknob.

Traditional homes are one of the most prevalent styles of home architecture and are represented throughout the United States. At the top, they sport roofs that focus on function over form, helping keep traditional-style homes safe from the elements. On the walls, window placement is symmetrical, creating an eye-pleasing presentation and allowing for balanced interior lighting. Details on traditional style homes aren’t overly ornate or showy—function triumphs and any door that adorns a traditional home should embody this virtue.

Rustic-style homes take cues from the surrounding environment in the same way you should be taking cues from your home while planning your front door makeover. By taking stock of available local materials and using as many as possible during the building process, rustic homes become a reflection of available natural resources. Because of the rustic style’s approach to construction, a rustic home could include a range of different building materials. That’s why it’s best to look at the smaller defining features of the home’s exterior, like trim or accents around windows. Speaking of windows, utilize a door with glass inserts if you’d like to let light in and continue the theme of connecting with nature. On the other hand, a textured large slab door can hammer that cottage look home.

The philosophy of the craftsman-style home is rustic-adjacent. When the British Industrial Revolution began to demonstrate the impact that large-scale manufacturing would have on various industries, the craftsman movement became a pushback against artisan products and items not made by hand using natural materials. The aesthetic these anti-revolution revolutionaries created hopped the pond to the United States, where early 20th-century home stylists were looking for the next new thing in homebuilding. The ethos central to the craftsman movement informed a new DIY craft-style look that’s best paired with a door that sticks to the script with natural materials and glass inserts.

Materials Matter

When it comes to front door makeovers, your desired look can probably be achieved using the full range of door materials. Steel and wood can be utilized in a variety of ways, and they can be painted, decorated, or outfitted with accessories to reflect the chosen aesthetic. Despite their adaptability, there’s one door material that outpaces both when it comes to customization, and that’s fiberglass.

No matter which architectural style your home is built in, there’s a fiberglass door to match. That’s because fiberglass can be crafted into doors that are full of texture or flat and ready to blend into your home’s front entryway. It can imitate a wide range of woods or reflect the best features of a metal door, and it can do it all while outperforming both materials in safety, durability, and energy efficiency. From modern to traditional, fiberglass doors have a look that matches your stylistic needs.

How Do I Make My Front Door Look Better?

The below helpful tips will work on a newly installed front door or a door that’s been hanging on your hinges for years and just needs a little attention.

First, consider repainting or refinishing the door. This can act as a reset for your existing door by adding some durability, protection from the elements, and extra energy efficiency effectiveness. It can also completely change up your entryway look by introducing a new color or stain to your outward presentation. When you’re making your color and finish suggestion, just remember not to go more than three shades away from the primary color found on your home’s exterior.

Next, consider updating the door’s hardware and accessories, mainly the knob and any door knockers or mail slots. Updating the color and material or modernizing these features with smart locks or cameras can go a long way toward a new home identity. Accessories can range from clavos, which simulate large nails, hinge straps, which are inspired by the appealing look of hinged doors, or decorative speakeasies that are usually non-functional since peepholes and doorbell cameras have replaced them.

Finally, decorative accents like plants, lighting, or a dentil shelf can help breathe new life into an entryway.

Front Door Makeover Unique Design Ideas

The addition of raised geometric patterns is a design idea that fell out of favor but is making a major comeback. These large, sometimes mountainous or cavernous additions to what’s usually a monochrome slab door can sometimes even resemble modern art.

Geometric patterns can also be used in glass inserts, along with other kinds of patterns made of black lines called caming lines. Glass inserts may also feature different levels of transparency and different kinds of textures.

Sidelights are additional vertical panes of glass that can be installed in such a way that they flank your front door. These sidelights extend the surface area of your door, giving it an even larger role in your entryway presentation, and letting more light into your home.

You can also look to current trends in exterior design for inspiration.

Front Door Makeovers on a Budget

One of the best ways to enhance your curb appeal on a budget is to focus on what’s surrounding your doors, like mats, furniture, plants, lighting, and other front porch mainstays. If you’d like to bring some budget-friendly changes to the door itself, you can add a sign or a wreath, clean the door and its hardware, including some of the low-cost accessories like clavos, and add trim or molding.

However, if you do find yourself in need of a new front door, fiberglass doors are cost-effective due to their energy efficiency and low repair needs.

Transform Your Home with Plastpro

Fiberglass doors aren’t just cost-effective—they’re also very customizable, making them a great match for any of the aforementioned architectural styles. A front door makeover is going to give your home a new identity, grab visitors’ attention, and leave a lasting impression. Fiberglass door manufacturer Plastpro offers a wide range of high-quality front doors that can act as the focal point of your makeover project. Find a dealer to explore your options and give your home a refresh!

Whether you’ve just purchased your fiberglass door or you’re a longtime owner of one, your choice in materials was a smart decision. Do you still like the way that fiberglass door looks? A quality fiberglass door manufacturer like Plastpro offers a wide range of colors, sizes, and accessory options during the initial purchasing process, but tastes change and it’s possible to change your door to match.

What if you wanted to switch things up by changing the color of your door, adding accessories, or taking another avenue toward entryway reinvention? Custom fiberglass doors can be a great way to make a striking statement and increase your home’s curb appeal, and the options for front door transformation range from easy and cheap to involved and expensive. 

 

Can You Modify a Fiberglass Door?

If your first feeling is trepidation when considering fiberglass door modifications, that’s understandable. You most likely have more experience interacting with or working with materials like metal and wood, so you have some idea of how doors made with each will react to projects that change their appearance. Luckily, fiberglass doors are just as customizable and can be tailored to suit your tastes through DIY home improvement projects, as well as any customization options provided by your door manufacturer.

In addition to their fully-featured lineup of fiberglass doors that touch on different design styles, textured looks, and popular colors, Plastpro offers both trimmable options and doors that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. These options allow homeowners to fit fiberglass doors into unorthodox entryways, making non-traditional door sizes a non-issue. 

 

Can I Paint My Fiberglass Front Door?

Adding a new coat of paint is one of the most common customized front door projects. Completely changing the color scheme of a large chunk of your home’s front façade is a great way to make a big impact with a single job. It’s an established way of breathing new life into steel or wood doors, but homeowners with fiberglass doors can enjoy the benefits of a new paint job, too.

Something like a freshly painted fiberglass front door can help tie an entryway into an already established theme—or help establish a new theme from which the rest of the house can be reshaped. Either way, there’s a high chance you’ll experience a bump in curb appeal from the project, as well as other important benefits that come from a door refresh.

Changing a door’s appearance is an extremely useful motivation for undergoing a repainting project, and if all you care about is that the newly customized front door matches your personal preference, it’s reason enough to begin the process. However, adding paint doesn’t just give the door’s aesthetic properties a new lease on life. The new coat on a door is like a new winter coat for us, reinforcing the door against the elements and helping to fill in spaces where coverage may not be as strong as it was before the coating was applied.

Speaking of coating, color isn’t the only way to switch up your door’s look. If you have a fiberglass door that’s textured to appear as wood, you can stain the fiberglass just as you would a wooden slab door. Staining can make a door lighter or darker, give the appearance of more or less woodgrain, and extend the life of your door by offering added protection and a bump in integrity just like adding a coat of paint can.  

To prepare a fiberglass front door for painting or staining, you’ll want to first remove any paint or staining currently on the door. To do this—and to eventually paint the door itself—it’s easiest to take it off its hinges and move it to a safe area away from the home where you can work with chemicals. 

Needless to say, that means the family and any pets should be prepared to be without a front door for several hours. After you’ve removed any paint or stain, sand the door. Be sure to wear gloves, goggles, and a mask, as you’re working with fiberglass. Be sure to check out this how-to guide for tips on applying your new paint or stain!

 

1. Adding Glass Inserts

A classic way to give an entry door more personality is to outfit it with glass inserts. Glass acts as a juxtaposition to whichever material your front door is made of—unless it’s predominantly glass, then that’d be kind of redundant. Designers often use decorative glass to create a more unique customized front door look, and Plastpro offers a wide range of decorative glass options for use in their custom fiberglass doors.

Plastpro’s choices for glass inserts include several patterns that feature caming—those black lines that create shapes and designs in decorative glass. The design elements on Plastpro’s glass insert options create welcoming geometric patterns, fancy upscaled designs, and intricately modern takes on the idea of decoration.

In addition to caming, Plastpro’s decorative glass features can be textured and clouded to resemble something more tactile than a regular window pane-style glass door insert. If you choose to outfit your fiberglass door with glass inserts, there is a wide breadth of options available that service your chosen architectural style. 

 

2. Changing the Hardware

In today’s world, there are a ton of ways to ascertain the time—your computer, your phone, the tickers at the bottom of various television stations—but despite the relative accessibility we have to an accurate depiction of the day’s current progress, a lot of us still choose to wear watches. It’s just as important to outfit your door with fashionable, functional accessories as it is to outfit yourself with them, and it can be just as fun to use them to express your household’s personality as it is to express your own.

You could use large, ornate door knockers, knobs, handles, and hinges, or you could go for a more subdued, subtle look. You could choose to use metal that looks dark or shiny, smooth or textured, refined or raw. Whatever your decision, it should complement the door and not clash with it. That way, none of your efforts are wasted and you’re presenting a uniform look that takes full advantage of your chosen hardware. A solid accessory-to-door pairing will do wonders for your curb appeal and allow you to expand that aesthetic to the rest of your entryway and, if you choose, the remainder of your home’s exterior. 

 

3. Selecting Unique Panel Designs

Choosing an option with paneling is a great way to add depth, texture, shadow, and dimension to your front door. Almost every Plastpro series offers doors with paneling, and whether it’s the classically clean one-panel door, a two-panel door with the divide either even or off-center, or one of the more elaborate designs, doors with panels look like they belong on homes styled in most architectural aesthetics. If you want to mix it up, you can even choose door designs where panels are further sectioned off, creating decorative doors that feature three panels, six panels, or more! These options can be further expanded with the addition of glass panels that are usually swapped out for paneled sections of a door. The sizes on glass panels can be incredibly customizable, too. 

 

4. Adding Decorative Accessories

Now that we’ve discussed functional door accessories, let’s take a closer look at door decorations. While these accessories aren’t meant to perform a specific task, they can go just as far in establishing a look or garnering more curb appeal for your customized fiberglass doors. Each of the below decorative options are available at Plastpro.

Speakeasies were named after the secretive Prohibition-era gathering places they were meant to protect. Today, congregating to responsibly share a drink or two isn’t illegal, but that doesn’t mean the speakeasy has lost its cool factor. Most speakeasies that can be purchased and installed aren’t functional because they don’t need to be—after all, cutting a rather large hole to make one operational can hurt the integrity of the door and its ability to keep out cold or heat. 

Hinge straps can be installed on a door to give it a regal or rustic look, depending on other contributing factors. They originate from doors where self-closing hinges brought moving parts to a halt—think saloon doors. Installable hinge straps give a homeowner the desired hinge look without actually putting the mechanism into place. 

Clavos give the appearance of large nails being hammered into the door, which is a great way to add to a country-style door as much as it is a door meant to resemble that of an expensive castle or other large estate.

  

5. Try a New Color

As previously mentioned, if homeowners want to make the biggest impact with one project, trying a new color or stain on their fiberglass door is the answer. Now that we’ve also discussed accessories and glass inserts, utilize all customized front door options to create something unique to your liking!

 

The Best Custom Fiberglass Doors from Plastpro

When it comes to customization both pre- and post-delivery, fiberglass doors offer a huge range of options that can cater to almost any size, style, and aesthetic demand. Don’t just stop with installation, though—there are always new customization options to explore, so keep an open mind while remaining true to your vision! 

Find a dealer today to take advantage of Plastpro’s door options and door accessories.

In today’s world, it seems like there just isn’t enough time in the day to give everything in your life the attention it so rightfully deserves. This feeling often stems from two different schools of thought: there’s either too much on the to-do list, or there’s never enough energy left to complete that list to the best of your ability. Luckily, smart home devices have advanced to address both of these concerns.

There’s technology on the market that’ll help you address that to-do list and take care of certain tasks in a concise way that provides peace of mind. Some of the best pieces of smart technology for this purpose include smart home security systems and smart locks for home exterior doors. 

 

Overview of Smart Home Technologies

A piece of technology is considered a smart device if it’s able to connect to the Internet and be controlled through the use of a tablet, phone, or other connected device. Sometimes, smart technology can all be controlled through the same hub, making it even easier to dictate the behavior of your devices. 

Individual pieces of tech with this sort of interconnectivity built into them are part of an ecosystem sometimes referred to as the “Internet of Things,” (IOT) which also includes wearable devices and more advanced machinery. The “smart” moniker they take on has more to do with their ability to be precisely controlled by an everyday user than their competency completing tasks with little-to-no instruction.

The technologies that can be provided in a smart home are increasing as the retail category gets more attention from homeowners. Readily available smart devices that can be purchased by consumers at most relevant retail locations include smart thermostats, robotic vacuums, smart locks, home security systems, and more. 

 

Affordable Smart Home Devices

Adding smart home devices to your property may sound like an expensive endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be. Years of commercial availability created a competitive market, so having a smart home for relatively cheap isn’t outside the realm of possibility—especially if you prioritize your purchases and pay attention to your most-desired features in each product category. 

 

Smart Locks

A smart lock may be the most important aspect of a smart home—installing smart locks for home security will help give you more control over your family’s safety and the hint that your home is utilizing an unknown suite of devices for protection can deter would-be burglars. As an added bonus, any smart devices encountered while entering the home can impress visitors and add to your property’s curb appeal. 

The most affordable smart locks mostly integrate some sort of keyless entry by way of a numerical pad. The code for that pad can be changed via a smartphone app. In fact, in most situations, you’ll find that the one device you really need for a smart home is a smartphone that can download and operate each required app. Integrating a smart home hub is convenient for smart home owners, but it isn’t necessarily required hardware.

 

Other Smart Home Devices

Today’s consumer electronics market features a number of low-cost smart devices. Whether that’s because companies want to grow the user base for smart products or because they want you to buy into their smart ecosystem before you try a competitor doesn’t matter—what matters is that you enjoy a quality product for a low price.

Smart assistants are a relatively cheap way to dive into the smart home movement and improve your quality of life. For example, you may notice you’re running low on laundry detergent, dish soap, or one of the many other common household items that always seem like they’re on the brink of needing replaced. You can place an order over a smart device and avoid making a special trip—you may even be able to place your whole grocery order for delivery, saving a ton of time! 

Smart assistants can also answer a wide range of questions, help you keep a calendar, act as an alarm, and help control any other smart devices that can be paired with them. As an added bonus, they double as a speaker for music and podcasts!

While smart assistants seem to be one of the more popular options for adding a cost-effective smart device to your home, they aren’t the only way to affordably lean into modernization. Smart bulbs allow you to dim or brighten your lights with a smartphone app, allowing you to find the perfect ambiance for any situation. Smart plugs are kind of like cheating—they turn anything you utilize with them into a de facto smart device, including appliances, fans, lamps, and other things powered by cords, all without the use of a smart home hub. Both of these options can be used to control electronics near an entryway or door.

Smart tags can be placed on a keyring, inside a purse, or nearly anywhere they can be securely held, and be tracked via an app in case you lose that important item. This can be extremely helpful if you have a habit of losing your keys around the house. Lastly, an indoor smart camera is relatively cheap and is a great way to keep an eye on pets when you aren’t home.

 

Mid-Range Options

If you’re looking for a little more control over your environment and home safety, the price of admission is going to be a little higher for these sorts of devices. However, you’ll notice the difference these higher-end devices make to your quality of life almost immediately, and they’ll soon become an everyday part of your homeowner experience.

Before getting into smart home security options, it’s worth noting one of the most popular mid-range smart devices: the smart thermostat. It’s one of the most useful, cost-effective smart devices available today since it can help you save money on utilities by improving the energy efficiency of your home. 

An in-house smart Wi-Fi network is another great option that’ll improve your home’s connectivity across the board. Yes, it’s true that this is a necessary step if you have smart devices spread across your home because they all need to reside on the same network in order to talk to each other. However, as an added bonus, upgrading your Wi-Fi network will probably grant you and your family access to the fastest Wi-Fi speeds.

 

Advanced Smart Locks

If you’d like to get more advanced than the aforementioned keypad locks, why not attune your home’s security to each member of your household? There are smart locks on the market that’ll respond to voice, locks that can be opened with use of a cell phone, or locks that can be attuned to a fob that each family member carries with them. Each option can entirely eliminate the traditional lock-and-key mechanism from a doorway, significantly increasing the integrity of a door against possible breach.

 

Enhanced Home Security Systems

One of the most popular consumer products in the smart device space has become the residential smart security system. These require a more substantial investment because they’re usually weather resistant, consist of multiple cameras, have features like motion detection or night vision, and boast advanced connectivity options like the ability to receive short clips via smartphone any time a camera is triggered.

When used in tandem with a smart security system, a smart doorbell can provide a superior level of safety for your front main exterior entryway. Smart doorbells often include their own small cameras that can grab images of visitors who set off its motion detection sensor, as well as two-way microphones that allow you to speak to visitors without opening your door. 

 

High-End Options

Right now, the highest price points for smart devices tend to fall into the entertainment category. Smart televisions can provide access to lifetimes of entertainment from the comfort of your living room, while smart speakers can create a theater-adjacent experience for family movie night. 

The majority of other top-tier smart experiences serve to expand some of the cheaper options. For example, converting a home’s entire lighting system as well as adding light arrays in outdoor spaces, or implementing a smart hub that’s capable of handling control of large-scale installations like multiple secured and monitored entry points.

 

High-Tech Smart Locks

The highest end of the smart lock market takes individual entry one step farther by more accurately pinpointing authorized entrants through the use of biometric data—usually, this is done with fingerprints. Since this kind of technology is still fairly new for the residential security market, it isn’t cheap. Also, like most advanced smart home technology that’s used outdoors, some effort should be put into keeping it safe and dry. 

 

Should I Put a Smart Lock on My Front Door?

The first question you should ask yourself when considering a smart lock is if you’re comfortable enough with technology to interact with it on such a critical level. If you feel like you’ll be able to properly set up, utilize and—if necessary—troubleshoot your lock, you should consider one. There’s a reason technology is heading in this direction, and it isn’t just for convenience. The removal of a traditional physical lock-and-key setup increases the integrity of the door when faced with physical attempts to compromise it, while the removal of a key from the equation lowers the possibility that the means of entry will fall into undesirable hands. 

You may not want to make the shift away from traditional security methods, though. Maybe you’re averse to new technology or you don’t have access to reliable smartphone or Internet service. You could also be skeptical of such a large investment that replaces a system you’ve had in place for a long period of time. Whatever the case, there are ways you can increase the security level of your home without opting for an entirely new locking mechanism.

Smart home security systems and smart doorbells can be great gateway technology to the smart home world, and they can help keep your home safe independently of any smart lock. Fiberglass doors are also a strong candidate for homeowners looking to improve their home’s resistance to intrusion. Fiberglass entry doors maintain their integrity longer than doors made with wood or metal, and they’re more resistant to direct impact. Regardless of your opinions on the smart home movement, fiberglass doors are an easy way to use modern tech to improve your front door’s overall safety factor.

 

Plastpro Home Upgrades

At one time, every feature of your home was a new idea or piece of technology that had to be accepted and adopted before it was put into regular use. Technology’s role in our everyday lives is steadily increasing, and the implementation of smart home tech can make your life easier, safer and more intuitive. 

While working to update your home and possibly improve your home security with smart devices, consider how important a door upgrade could be to your overall project. A new fiberglass door could improve safety, but it can also work in tandem with a smart thermostat to greatly impact your overall energy bill. Reach out to a Plastpro dealer today to explore your options.

 It isn’t surprising that the front yard is usually seen as a space for landscaping and outdoor decorations—along with a home’s front porch and front door, the yard is a great way to instill your property with eye-catching curb appeal. However, the front yard doesn’t just have to be for show. So often, homeowners relegate leisure activities to the backyard of a home when they could be utilizing the space on the other side of their house to create something beautiful yet functional. If the goal of a front façade is to have an entryway that catches the eye while maintaining functionality, why can’t the same philosophy be applied to a front yard?

In order to turn a yard into a space that draws attention and demands to be lived in, it must be well planned. This post will address that planning phase, as well as the different front yard ideas that’ll make the area beautiful and useful.

 

Assessing Your Space

When upgrading your front yard, the planning phase asks that you take stock of what you’re working with, what you don’t yet have, and what you should choose to do without. 

The first feature to consider is the house itself. If your home isn’t very tall, use landscaping that features plants that grow low to the ground, such as some shrubbery, trees like dwarf trees, and other low-growing plants. When you’re purchasing plants, their tags should say how tall you can expect them to grow. 

Cape Cod style homes will encourage more verticality, with the opportunity to grow garden flowers, incorporate plants into fencing, and more, while modern homes encourage a minimalistic approach that showcases thin, sculpture-like plant life. Last but not least, traditional style homes have striking features that borrow the statement pieces of a bunch of other architectural styles. Use landscaping to accentuate those features and take some liberties where you feel comfortable getting creative. 

Existing Front Yard Features

A general version of these rules should be followed when choosing your front yard’s decorations, features and furniture, too—you’ll obviously want to stay away from something that’s comically large compared to your home or something that clashes with your front entryway and exterior door. You could also match your exterior door to your front yard if it’s due for a refresh.

For features that already exist in your front yard, consider if they’re adhering to the above suggestions or if they still match your vision for the yard. If trees aren’t the right size, don’t gel with your other chosen plant life, get in the way of livable space, or you simply don’t like them anymore, they need to be transplanted to another part of your property or removed entirely. 

When it comes to walkways and paths, be sure they aren’t discolored or cracked, they match the intended aesthetic of your outdoor remodel, and they don’t get in the way of spaces you plan to create in the front yard. You’ll also want to check if these existing paths already reach the spots you need them to, or if you’ll have to add on to or alter the already placed walkways. Luckily, most existing walkways create short, logical paths between a home’s entryway and the sidewalk or driveway. If you choose to keep this path, you’ll just need to add another to reach your new front yard spaces.

Lighting on the front of the house and on existing pathways should be reassessed to ensure it’s still in working condition and adequately lights the intended spaces. Then, new options should be explored that’ll light your new front yard spaces. Outdoor lighting technology has become more advanced and more affordable, so you may want to upgrade outdated lighting to match the new fixtures and features that’ll help light the new space. 

Finally, if there are circumstances that’ll impact your front yard refresh but have nothing to do with your home’s design or your existing front yard, don’t forget to take those into consideration. If there’s a particular sightline that allows you to get a good view of the street from inside your home, preserve it. 

If there’s a busy or noisy feature on one side of your front yard, like a street or business, consider placing living spaces towards the other end of your property. Proper planning can keep away future trepidation and regret, so take your neighborhood and existing property into account before deciding on your new layout. And, if you aren’t a particular fan of that layout or this process has you wishing your home looked more than a little different, now may be a good time to explore a possible whole home remodel.  

 

Creating a Functional Social Space in Your Front Yard

You probably have friends or family who create backyard areas that are relaxing and can host guests comfortably for hours at a time. There’s no reason why you can’t make your front yard look nice by replicating that same inviting look, just in a different spot that’s closer to the front door.

When choosing a spot, think about how you’re going to arrange your front yard for landscaping. Try to place any communal area far enough away from the home or walkways that any decorations or lighting you add doesn’t make the yard look too crowded. While deciding the proximity of your outdoor leisure space to your home, also keep your power and lighting needs in mind—especially if you intend for this space to be utilized during sundown. After settling on a location, it’s time to outfit your space.

Start by finding the right kind of seating for outdoor relaxation—no matter what sort of configuration you’re going for, seating will be an important feature. One of the hottest outdoor living options today is the Adirondak chair, which features an elongated bottom that acts as a sort of built-in ottoman. These chairs should be easy to find at any retailer that carries outdoor furniture and they come in a variety of different colors. 

If you’re looking to serve meals in the area, you should probably go with one of the many viable table-and-chairs patio sets built for outdoor use. If you plan on using the space for anything other than eating, Adirondak chairs are the way to go. 

 

Upgrade Your Curb Appeal

The front door and the entryway surrounding it is as much a feature of your yard as it is a feature of the home itself. That’s why when you’re talking about the curb appeal of your front yard, it’s logical to begin at the front of your home.

Begin by evaluating the condition of your front door and porch, as well as the walkways and driveway. If the driveway is cracked or has potholes, consider filling it in or replacing it with a new-look driveway that better meshes with your intended aesthetic. The same can be said for your walkway, too. When it comes to the porch, be sure it’s safe to use, looks newly finished and any decorations or lighting are unbroken or working. The door itself should be free of cracks, any glass should be unbroken, the door should shut and open without issue and shouldn’t let in a draft. 

Repair your door if needed, but if the door needs to be replaced, consider a fiberglass door from Plastpro. If your porch is large enough to act as a social space, be sure it’s clean and any furniture is in working order.

 

Front Yard Ideas for Improving Your Spaces

If you already have spaces in your front yard that you use for leisure, improve them by upgrading furniture, improving lighting or choosing an option to put down as outdoor flooring. You may also add a canopy, an archway or another kind of decorative feature that also provides some privacy for the space.

When it comes to landscaping, consider adding depth and dimension to your front yard with raised garden beds and other kinds of tiered planters. This is also a great way to make your yard look expensive, as it’ll add the appearance of interesting topography to your property. 

The importance of lighting in a space can’t be understated. Whether it’s highlighting unique architectural features of a home, making paths safe to walk on, or providing functional ambiance to a gathering, lighting is its own feature and can elevate a good space into something great.

 

Let Your Front Yard and Entryway Shine with Plastpro

Plastpro’s fiberglass doors can be purchased in a variety of sizes, architectural styles and colorways, making them the perfectly customizable door replacement option for your next home remodel or front yard redo. Plastpro also carries a variety of door accessories that add further personality to your front door, as well as doorlites that allow natural light into your home, while lending a touch of decorative flare.

Explore Plastpro options with a dealer near you and gain the curb appeal you’ve always wanted with a complementary welcoming entryway and beautiful front yard. With all of Plastpro’s customizable options, the only limit is your chosen project scope.  

 

When it comes to game-changing renovations that instantly alter the state of your entryway, front door replacements are a relatively easy way to create an impact. If you’re looking to remain current with the most popular front door trends, 2023 is making that easy by showcasing a variety of different styles—one or more of which should pique your interest as a possible option for your home! 

If you don’t have the add-ons and accessories to take full advantage of your chosen trend’s inherent personality, that just means it’s time to update your home’s front façade—and your curb appeal along with it. So, if you’re looking for a front door refresh, it’s time to choose the right door and accessory combination to make you fall in love with your home all over again.

 

Glass Front Doors

Near the end of the 20th century, the idea that human beings are inherently drawn to nature started to gain a foothold in the home design space. Today, that tenant manifests itself in the form of natural materials, integrated indoor and outdoor plant life, and an expert use of natural light to illuminate indoor spaces. Glass front doors can play a big part in establishing this sort of connection with the outside world by providing ample light to indoor entryways and unobstructed viewing from inside a house to its front porch and beyond. 

Glass doors can come in a variety of configurations that switch up the ratio between glass and other components. This lets a homeowner adjust the amount of natural light that’ll enter the home while also adding some customization to their front door. Plastpro’s Onelite Series presents different glass placement options that either add subtle wood style paneling for a touch of classic door design or give the glass room to breathe and turn the door into a true statement piece. The other glass-centric line of products from Plastpro, the Nova Series of doors, positions glass as the center of attention.

Doorlites are another great way to incorporate the glass trend into your new or existing front door. Doorlites are decorative glass pieces that’ll each allow varying amounts of natural light into your indoor living space thanks to their various artistic features. Some doorlites include glass pieces that differ in tints and hues, while others are treated and textured to create a specific uniform look.

In addition to its place inside a door, glass can be used around the exterior entryway to allow for even more visibility and sunlight. This objective overuse of a building material to create over-the-top statements in home design can be referred to as maximalism—this aesthetic approach is picking up its share of supporters who believe there are no limits other than the amount of space you have to work with. 

The first option, sidelights, are thin horizontal runs of glass that flank either side of a door. The second, a transom window, is named after the specific name for a support beam that runs above a door or window. This is a large, normally ornate window fixture that’s placed directly above a doorway. 

Even if you choose to include glass in and around your door, you have options that help regulate the impact the outside has on your indoor light and temperature. Low-E Glass, or low emissivity glass, will allow less light in and protect the indoors from some of the heat brought inside by high sunlight. The tradeoff is that this glass features a subtle yet noticeable blue tint, possibly impacting the clean, colorless look homeowners are usually looking for when they incorporate glass into their entryway. 

 

Rustic, Earthy Tones

The utilization of rustic and craftsman home design isn’t unlike the appeal of utilizing our own space to establish a closer relationship with nature. The rustic approach applies rich hues and the appearance of raw, untreated natural materials to create a lived in and welcoming look, while the craftsman philosophy states that building materials and décor be derived from what nature provides in the immediate area surrounding a home. 

Rustic doors will often come in deep, earthy wooden tones that make an immediate statement and provide a number of other ideal options for your outdoor refresh. If you install one of these doors, you may want to consider darkening the color of the paint or siding around your exterior entryway to make this new addition to your home really stand out. 

Adding wooden accessories or design features that match the stain of the door is also a great way to turn a doorway into a welcoming gesture that invites guests to not just visit your living space—they’re also there to experience it.

While craftsman doors are adjacent to rustic doors in their focus on form derived from specific materials, the form taken by a craftsman door is cleaner cut and tidier than the rustic look. This matches the natural-yet-refined look of the craftsman home itself. 

Craftsman doors usually feature panels, where rustic doors usually get their visual variance from planking. Craftsman doors can feature glass inserts, but rustic doors usually don’t. However, despite their differences, craftsman doors can carry those same earthy tones while supplying a more manmade look for when rustic just doesn’t fit the established look of a home.

 

Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design

Today’s homeowner is more conscious of their home’s impact on the environment. Whether that’s due to a green mindset or the monthly utility bill, both motivating factors end with the same result: each door that acts as an entryway into the home will become more energy efficient and sustainable. Green isn’t just one of the latest front door trends or a hot new door trend for 2023—it’s a lifestyle choice that’s been on people’s minds for a while and it means doors that make your home greener are and will always be in style.

Plastpro’s fiberglass doors offer prolonged sustainability with a long-lasting life cycle compared to doors made with other materials. They’re also better at retaining heat than wood or metal, don’t contain volatile compounds and require less resources for manufacturing. 

 

Door Moulding

Moulding is essentially trim for your door—an outline or exaggerated frame that adds color and definition to the door and allows you to further customize your exterior and interior entryways. 

Certain types of moulding are made to specifically match certain kinds of building materials, with a moulding’s stylized accents, shapes, and colors tailored to properly accentuate everything from brick to storm doors. Plastpro’s moulding options are broken down online, with each’s specified purpose listed clearly on its product page. However, always remember that it’s your home and you always have the final say on what looks good enough to be part of your overall vision.

 

Metal Accents

Another great way to add some personality to a door is with iron accessories. Iron’s unique, raw-looking texture gives it a natural appearance that pairs perfectly with rustic doors, and Plastpro’s door accessories include a few different options that can be mixed and matched to meet any desired look. 

Hinge straps usually feature on doors that are equipped with self-closing hinges, but the look of these straps is so popular with homeowners that decorative hinge straps can be purchased and affixed to any door. Speakeasies carry a name derived from the clandestine nightlife joints of the Prohibition era, but a century later, these door accessories add personality whether they’re functional or not. Finally, clavos are essentially decorative nails featuring heads that are formed into a number of shapes and sizes. 

These metal accessories aren’t just useful on exterior doors, either. One of the newest trends for indoor living brings nature inside with repurposed furniture and decorations made from sustainably sourced wood and other natural materials. A new trend for interior doors sees those doorways becoming larger to add to a home’s natural flow, so equipping those doors with natural-looking accessories like iron hinge straps and clavos will help tie them into the latest styles.

 

Fiberglass Doors

As far as trends go, fiberglass doors are beginning to become an evergreen option for modern homeowners. Plastpro’s door offerings are largely customizable, so they can fit a number of pre-existing door frames. They also come in a number of different textures, stains, and aesthetics, allowing homeowners with dwellings of any style or age to opt for this newer material option. That’s a good thing, too, because while many fiberglass doors are styled to resemble wooden doors, they’re longer lasting, cheaper to maintain and more energy efficient than doors made of wood. 

 

What to Consider When Choosing or Replacing a Front Door

If you’re taking front door trends into consideration, fiberglass is probably still an option for you. As previously stated, one of the strongest features of Plastpro’s fiberglass door catalog is its versatility. Add that to the sustainability perks brought into your home with fiberglass door installation and this door material can help you stay in line with multiple trends at once. 

Trend isn’t the only thing you should take into account when picking a new front door though. The impact of a sustainable door on your wallet over time can’t be understated, while a door’s ability to keep you and your family safe is also probably high on your new door wish list. Luckily, fiberglass doors are impact resistant and aren’t usually prone to the warping or peeling that will compromise the integrity of a wooden door.

 

On-Trend Front Doors and Accessories with Plastpro

With door styles, materials and accessories that’ll keep you on trend while giving you confidence that you’re making smart decisions for your family and your home, Plastpro is positioned to help keep you happy with your home’s exterior entryway. Find a dealer to get started on your remodel or replacement.

 

Homeowners far and wide have fairly plain, standard entry doors without much visual appeal. This often-neglected part of the home is overlooked as most home improvement and remodeling experts focus on the kitchen and bathroom. Take a look at homes with transom windows added above the front entry door and you’ll be smitten at first glance. 

The addition of a glass transom above the front door transforms this important part of the home. Plastpro is here to help with adding the perfect new glass transom that brings out the best in your unique living space. Combine a glass transom with a fiberglass door or an accessory such as a sidelight or speakeasy and you’ll be ecstatic with the look of your home’s entryway. 

Our products, available from local distributors, are perfect for DIY homeowners looking to upgrade their home exteriors for both aesthetics and functionality. Continue reading and you’ll find a door transom window perfectly positioned above the entry door boosts provides more than natural light. Glass transoms provide architectural beauty and also enhance ventilation. 

Without further ado, let’s explore the merits of door transom installation and why Plastpro’s offerings are second to none. We even provide some helpful tips for choosing the optimal transom window style and size for your home’s idiosyncrasies. 

 

Why Add a Transom Window?

A transom window might seem like a minor addition yet it makes a major impact. Here’s a quick look at the top reasons to add a transom window to your home.

 

A Visually Striking Architectural Element

Transom windows are intentionally positioned high, ensuring the door below remains shut. Though such an addition certainly provides a multitude of functions as detailed below, form matters just as much as function. 

Today’s transom windows tend to be stylistic additions that let the light flow inside, be it in the morning, afternoon or early evening. Lean on our expertise to help you choose the right new decorative glass transom for your home and your house will have that much more aesthetic appeal.

 

Better Ventilation

Transom windows date all the way back to the pre-air conditioning era. Rewind time back more than a century and transom windows served the purpose of opening and closing for ventilation purposes, allowing air to move inward from outside and spread across the entirety of the home or business. 

 

Let There be Light!

Transom windows are one part style, one part function. Though some entryway doors are partially made of glass, allowing sunlight to enter at a low level, glass transoms bring in the light from a higher elevation. The infusion of light into your home will lift your spirit, improve interior visibility and ultimately make your living space that much more appealing to yourself, family, friends and visitors.

Those with a completely solid front entryway door greatly benefit from the addition of glass transom as it provides much-needed illumination. You simply cannot get enough light at the entry point of your home.

 

Home Enhancement Beyond Doors

Glass transom windows are added to parts of the home aside from entryway doors. These unique windows can also be positioned above other windows, adding aesthetic pizzazz along with lovely sunlight. 

Transom windows can even be used to separate open rooms, creating two separate spaces. So don’t assume transom glass is limited to external walls. This stylish window has extensive versatility.

 

What Type of Home Styles Can Accommodate Transom Windows?

While most often used in farmhouse style homes, Transom windows have nearly unparalleled flexibility. Whether you live in a ranch or craftsman style home, a classic home with a Victorian stylistic bent or any other type of house, you’ll be able to add a transom window above your door or in another part of your living space without a problem. 

If you have a solid door, a partial glass door or another variety of door, rest easy. You can find the right glass transom for your home with Plastpro, infusing natural light that takes the interior of your living space to the next level. 

Our Onelite Series incorporates flush glazed glass that makes the most of natural light, serving as a fully removable stoop for glass switching sans full door replacement. The icing on the cake is the potential for highly efficient and stunning private glass options ranging from the Grid Between Glass option to low-emissivity glass.

Our selections also include the Nova Series. This series is highlighted by glass glazed to the door for a seamless door-glass connection. The expansive glass pane gives you a clear look at the exterior of your property while letting natural light flood inside. Choose between smooth grain and fir grain, select between square sticking profile and craftsman sticking profile and your new glass door will look exactly as desired.

 

Installing Transom Windows

Nearly every type of home can accommodate a transom window. The installation process of a glass transom isn’t nearly as intimidating as most assume. Though the optimal time to add any window is when the home is being constructed, it is still possible to artfully implement glass into an existing home. 

Choose the right licensed contractor to alter the area atop your entryway door or other part of your home and you’ll rest easy knowing the space in question is cut to perfection. 

Some homeowners opt for matching framesets and doors complete with pre-mounted transom glass, guaranteeing the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The end result of a front door transom is a truly artful revamp of your home’s entrance. 

If you’re thinking about undertaking this project, we’ve got your exterior door frame needs covered as well. Select our PF frame, short for poly fiber, and you’ll enjoy the benefits of a fresh new alternative to the conventional door jamb. Our material requires minimal maintenance yet outlasts other options on the market, maximizing value to the fullest.

 

Door Transom Alternatives

There are several ways to transform the interior of your home, especially if your primary focus is the entryway and surrounding area. If your aim is to inject light into the entryway, consider installing a new front door that is partially made of glass. A new door with glass features looks elegant and also allows light to move indoors.

Plastpro Doorlites are also an option worth considering in addition to a lovely new front door transom. Doorlites are glass inserts specifically designed for doors. This ornamental glass adds elegance and an aristocratic feel to the front part of any home or business. 

Choose between our wide array of unique glass insert styles and backdrop textures, install the one that suits your fancy and your home’s privacy and style will be taken to the next level. Plastpro Doorlites also provide thermal protection and safety to boot.

We provide a wide selection of glass inserts as we understand the front entryway is the focal point of every house and business. Each of our glass inserts has a distinct texture and style. Whether you are on the prowl for a modern glass insert or one of a more classic variety, we have the optimal fit for your unique living or working space. Each Plastpro Doorlite glass insert is composed of the industry’s best materials, guaranteeing visual appeal and sturdiness that stands the test of time.

Look through our glass insert selection for yourself and you’ll find all sorts of sizes and styles. There is even the option of customizing the glass’s aesthetic to your specific desires that heightens the appeal of your door, regardless of its material. From comparably small geometric styles to comprehensive coverage, we’ve got the right decorative glass insert for your home or business.

Examples of Plastpro Doorlites include:

• Our balanced and traditional Castile glass insert
• The sophisticated Brentwood Zinc
• The Latticed Kensington
• Elegant Priscilla, fit for royalty

 

Upgrade Your Exterior with Plastpro

Plastpro is here to bring out the best in your home, and entryway. Choose a new glass transom window and you’ll be taken aback by how this seemingly subtle addition transforms both the exterior and interior. Whether you are looking for an infusion of style or light, you’ll get both with the addition of a new glass transom.

We invite you to Find a Dealer to purchase Transom Sill, Doorlites or anything else from the Plastpro catalog!  

There’s a reason ranch-style homes are so readily represented in communities across the United States. This classic home style blends traditional sensibilities with adaptable versatility, creating an opportunity for homeowners to reinforce and accentuate well-liked features while taking liberties with the aspects of the ranch-style home they may not find as appealing. 

So, how did this established-yet-malleable home type come to be, what makes it special, what are some potential detriments you should know about, and what can you do to change up the look of your ranch-style home?

 

What is a Ranch-Style Home?

Ranch-style homes come in a variety of shapes and sizes—and, considering the architectural style’s long history, they also come in a number of different variations that expand upon the parameters of what a ranch-style home is expected to be. The traditional ranch-style home is defined by its low-to-the-ground construction and a design that favors width over depth, creating a long front profile for the dwelling. This lengthy front-facing end and an aversion to heights are near-constants across all ranch-style structures, even if other factors tend to differ. 

 

The History of Ranch-Homes and Architecture Style

As Americans headed west and sought a new kind of architectural style that allowed them to take advantage of the region’s more agreeable climate and increase in natural light, ranch-style homes proved to be an appealing way to fill that need. Though it was heavily influenced by the colonial architecture of Spain, the ranch-style home was named as such due to its close resemblance to the homes of cattle ranchers. Given that the main advantage of a ranch-style home is the ease at which residents can transition from indoor to outdoor living, this agrarian, warm climate inspiration combination makes sense.  

In the 1920s, the style became a noticeable trend as it experienced a distinct rise in popularity, particularly in the southwest region of the country. However, due to the Great Depression’s adverse impact on the economy and people of the United States, migration slowed and with it the propagation of ranch-style homes. This proved to be merely a lapse in popularity, though, as the country’s post-war economy would come to the rescue of this waning architectural movement.

The ranch-style home became trendier than ever in the post-war 1950’s and 1960’s, as it was in the midst of a resurgence and its finer points were lauded and sought after. Hollywood’s glorification of the old west during this time period may have also played into the popularity of the ranch house, as the style’s simple design reflected its classic roots. 

This perfect storm of opportunity—a buyer’s market, a cheap and desirable product, and an increased need for new housing—created a suburban boom, with communities of similarly-styled ranch homes springing up to meet demand. For many families, these homes became an integral part of their American dream. However, critics of ranch-style homes were quick to point out the architectural style’s disadvantages. As trends come and go and styles shift, the ranch-style home has seen somewhat of a decline in popularity, giving way to other architectural styles. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t still find characteristics of these homes all across the U.S. 

 

Features that Define Ranch-Style Homes

There’s a reason ranch-style homes became popular in the first place, though. These houses contain a number of features that not only help define the architectural movement, but helped to define American lifestyles during one of the most prosperous boom periods in the country’s history. 

Firstly, the style focused on open living—floorplans often reflected this, with doors only concealing the most private parts of the home like bathrooms and bedrooms. This allowed for a great natural flow of activity, especially when homeowners welcomed guests. 

There were also built-in options that encouraged outdoor living, like yards, patios, and multiple exits. This floorplan is also stretched along a home with a wide front façade and follows either an L- or U-shape. The depth this creates is used to define spaces, like a kitchen, dining room and living room perfect for hosting or a cluster of bedrooms around a bathroom.

Other hallmarks of this style include single-floor living with furnished basements, large windows that take advantage of natural light and allow for a picturesque view of the outside, along with sliding glass doors that open onto outdoor living spaces. On the home’s exterior, roofs are gabled roofs or hipped roofs, both allowing for that low-profile look ranch-style homes are known for. Gabled roofs create a triangle that requires triangular shaped tops to walls on the front and back of the home. This option is great for areas that receive high winds. Hipped roofs are more angular and add a geometric look to the home. 

 

Types of Ranch Style Homes

Given America’s nationwide use of ranch-style homes and the differing needs of families across the country, it stands to reason that variations on the idea would exist to meet those shifting expectations. At the most basic core of the ranch-style home’s architectural style lies an adherence to open floor plans and a rectangular shape that’s long, deep and short on verticality. However, the aforementioned variations may not adhere to stated parameters.

A split-level ranch throws the single-floor expectation out the window, with three stories of space to work with. In these homes, visitors will usually be greeted by a dining room and kitchen that’ll sit on the main floor. A small staircase leads to upstairs and downstairs living spaces. In a raised ranch home, the front door opens into that staircase, with both options leading to various rooms.

 

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Ranch-style Homes

Ranch-style homes are truly an example of quality over quantity, with each room serving its own purpose and meticulously crafted floorplans maximizing efficiency. Disadvantages are few when it comes to this style of home, but they do exist. 

This is an extremely common home type, and while some may see that as a testament to its quality, others may see it as an undesirable trait that hinders their ability to express their personality through their home. Other downsides include difficulty finding privacy in a home limited by its one-floor construction and an expensive bill if owners choose to expand the home due to the probability of building a second floor.

It isn’t all bad, though. Not only does a ranch-style home lend itself well to hosting guests, it’s also great for anyone with mobility issues or those who like to avoid stairs. It’s also safer in an emergency that requires evacuation and easier to clean and maintenance than a home with multiple stories. 

 

Ranch Homes Design and Remodeling Ideas

How do you update a 1970s ranch-style house, or one even older than that? Since the front of the home creates such a large footprint, changing up the front door can breathe new life into the home.

Achieve a rustic look with various takes on a rustic front door that are made to add a touch of natural beauty to your exterior entry area. Fiberglass doors made to look like oak doors can add the benefits of modern materials while keeping that classic aesthetic. If neither of those options sound appealing, there are other door style options for ranch-style homes.

If you’re looking for front porch ideas for ranch-style homes before and after door replacement, try adding potted plants, light fixtures, an awning, or other features that can be added on a porch or around a doorframe.

If you’d like to remodel inside the home, try converting carpeted surfaces to hardwood throughout the main floor to further contribute to the flow of the space. You can also try creating a theme or impactful centerpiece for each room that helps set it apart from all the others. 

 

Get Inspired with Plastpro

If you’re undergoing a remodel or personalization of a ranch-style home, a new front door is a relatively cheap choice that’ll have a particularly noticeable impact on how you view your home. When choosing a new front door, be sure to go with fiberglass as a material—fiberglass doors hold heat in better than wood or steel doors, cutting down on utilities while maintaining a more comfortable controlled temperature. They’re also built to withstand impacts and last longer than counterparts made with other materials.

Find a dealer to begin the process of changing or updating the door on your ranch-style home—or any other kind of house!

 

When it comes to projects that create a big impact without breaking the bank, lighting may be one of the best results-costs ratios available for homeowners looking to make an immediate change to their homes.

If you’ve ever been to an indoor event that utilized uplighting to create a sense of atmosphere, you know how strategically-placed lights can transform a space and turn it into an attraction. The same can be done with your home, too—using lights to accentuate the finer points of your dwelling’s architecture can increase your curb appeal and draw the eyes of passersby, making your home the must-see property on the block. Lighting can also be used to accentuate paths and highlight decorations like plants or signage. 

Last—but certainly not least—lighting makes a great theft deterrent. Angling light onto easily accessible entryways or otherwise obscured windows adds a layer of protection to those otherwise potentially vulnerable locations around the home.  

Pathways, driveways, walls, front doors, and outdoor lighting options come with multiple benefits, and utilizing them in fun, unique ways can help you show off your home, as well as your own individuality. This can be achieved through the use of different lighting fixtures, including bollard lights, wall lights, flood lights and lights made to be fixed into paths.  

 

Choose the Right Light for the Job

To start, any light you’re considering for your porch needs to be rated for such a location. UL Solutions, a global independent safety science company provides a UL rating for lights sold in the United States. This rating can be found on the light’s label and tells the buyer what kind of environment the light is suited to operate in. 

Exterior house lights rated for dry use must be used indoors or in another area safe from precipitation or secured against dampness. Damp happens to be the next rating, too, and those lights can be used in areas protected from precipitation but still subject to residual dampness—think covered, but still exposed to open air. 

If you want to use lights in damp areas, the fixtures rated for such an environment feature their own moisture mitigation methods, like gaskets, holes and seals that keep water from lying stagnant on live wires. This water can originate from a number of different sources, including air, fog, rain or snow—in other words, if a light source is going to be outside and won’t be buffered by substantial covering, it’ll need to be rated for wet areas by UL. Due to their ability to defend themselves against water, lights rated for damp environments are probably the best ones to consider when shopping for exterior house lights.

 

Exterior House Lights: Door and Front Porch Ideas

If you’re one to believe that people’s first impressions upon meeting define the way they look at one another from that moment forward, you’re going to want to focus on your main exterior front door and porch areas. Often, your home’s first impression will be made based on this area—it’s usually the first visitors see up close and, because it’s probably the most visually busy area of your front façade, it’s what the eyes of most passersby are drawn to, too. 

The front porch and main entry door are also what you and your family will see when you return home from a day of work, school, chores or other tasks that take you away from the house. You want it to remind you why you love your home, and well-placed lighting can make a porch’s finer points pop. It can also make doing things like finding your keys and safely carrying a lot of items safer than if lighting was poor near your front door. 

Adding lighting in the form of wall sconces is a classic move that harkens back to the art deco aesthetic, but sconces can be designed to look sleek as part of any type of architectural style. Any sconces placed around a door should be hung at a height of approximately 5-to-6 feet. As a general design rule, sconces should be hung in pairs. However, if a door is asymmetrical, one may not look out of place by itself.

Flushmount lighting is made to be functional and stay out of the way. Choose this option if you want your porch or door to be the focal point and don’t want any interference from ornate lights. These are also great options if you don’t have a lot of space to work with or you’re worried a wet porch will cause problems with more elaborate fixtures. Place flushmount lighting at approximately 6-to-7 feet.

Pendant lighting hangs from a porch’s ceiling and can be as simple or elaborate as the space calls for. Choose this option if you want lighting to be a focal point of the entryway and your porch is safe from wind. Hang approximately 7-8 feet from the porch floor.

Sometimes, adding in fixtures may not be the best way to add more light or more flare to your front porch. Doorlites are pieces of glass that can be installed around your front door that allow for light from the inside to be seen on the outside and, in some cases, light to be reflected off the doorlite’s glass. In the daytime, these doorlites can allow more natural light to enter the home than a door could alone. 

Glass inserts for an entry door function in a similar way—they add unique design features to the door itself while improving the overall look of an entryway, they allow natural light to enter a space while doing the same for any indoor light that may make its way outside, and they’re functionally adaptable to a number of different door styles. All types of doors can accommodate glass inserts, including modern designs as well as doors like those from Plastpro’s Nova Series that feature glass directly and seamlessly glazed into the door. 

 

Driveway and Pathway Lighting Ideas

You should be able to safely and efficiently move about your property, even while outdoors at night. Providing proper lighting for yourself and your visitors is as much a question of style as it is functionality, but when it comes to each important point, modern technology offers options for outdoor lighting ideas that serve both.

Pathways can be lit by artificial stones with built-in lighting, in-ground LED lights, or easy-to-install lamps that feature long-lasting LED technology. If you don’t want your paths illuminated all night, timers and motion detection allow for these options to turn on or off when needed.

In addition to pathways, these options can also be used to shine some light on outdoor features you’re proud of, like gardens, landscaping and topiary features, installed art, and more. 

Driveway lighting can also take advantage of the same motion technology, with lights on the border of the driveway and the yard turning on to give drivers a better visual while parking. Built-in lights above a garage can help drivers navigate their vehicles into the space, while a more powerful lighting option can keep work or play going in the driveway after it becomes dark outside.

 

Wall Lighting Ideas

In addition to the safety that comes with lighting up the walls of your home during dark nights, wall lighting can be used to achieve an air of ambiance, complement outdoor house lighting ideas already put into action, and more.

Use string lighting—particularly over fences near outdoor living spaces—to both set a mood and provide complementary lighting to any fixtures already in use. 

Around the outside of a home, sconces can also be a great option for any lighting that needs to be affixed to a wall. The ability to direct light both up and down from a sconce can help you light paths, provide uplighting for roof eaves, or bring light into other outdoor areas. 

 It’s a good idea to utilize a home’s existing outdoor features as a guide to place lighting, and wall lighting on columns, in recesses or attached to other distinct architectural features will serve double duty as accompaniment to the feature and lighting for the home. 

If you don’t want your wall lighting to be physically located on the wall, flood lights may be the most efficient exterior lighting option since they distribute a lot of light with one source. However, they cover such a large space that they’re usually only functional in certain situations: if signs need to be illuminated, if large and open areas require light, or if anti-theft measures are being taken.

 

Backyard and Lawn Outdoor Lighting Ideas

Lighting a dark backyard or lawn can be simple and functional or complex and ornate—it depends on the space and its available features.

Using LED lanterns or in-ground lighting here is certainly an option, too, but with spaces like this, it’s possible to get creative and do something really special. String solar-powered lighting through backyard trees to create a dreamy atmosphere, or hang a statement lantern off a particularly strong tree branch. This string lighting can be hung across any tall structures that are already there or features can be installed for this purpose. 

Faux fireplaces give off a rustic feel without the smoke and space commitment of a true fire pit. Other, cheaper options include large candles or lights inside mason jars that can be placed upon tables.

On the more functional side, bollard lights are the heavy-duty version of pathway lighting and are great for enhancing nighttime visibility from the darker corners of your backyard. Flood lights can also be of use here, especially if you have large, open spaces you’d like to light. 

 

Outdoor Lighting Ideas and Tips

The best outdoor lighting options either accentuate your home’s already impressive features or blend seamlessly into what’s already there. Use lighting strategically to create focal points or raise the safety factor of your home, but be sure to consult professionals if you feel a lighting fixture’s location—new or already installed—may cause issues down the road.

 

Exterior and Curb Appeal Upgrades with Plastpro

Entryway lighting needs something to illuminate, and Plastpro’s fiberglass doors are a great option for your future focal point. They can be customized to fit a wide range of sizes or architectural styles, and with the durable nature of fiberglass, they’ll remain eye-catching longer than their wooden or steel counterparts. 

Plus, with a wide range of options when it comes to doorlite decorative glass as well as door models that incorporate natural lighting, there’s no shortage of solutions for creating a light and sun-soaked entryway. 

Find a Plastpro dealer near you to begin your door replacement process. Installing a fiberglass door is a home improvement project that requires a relatively small budget and can achieve a number of different homeowner-friendly goals at once. Add the usually low cost of outdoor lighting to the mix and a new illuminated entryway is an easy addition to your summer project list.