Mpls Door Ideas: Adding Sidelights to Your Front Door Can Make Your Front Entry Fantastic

As an exterior door installation contractor serving the Minneapolis area, we strive to help our customers choose just the right products for their homes. Of course, there are lots of choices to be made: door type and style, manufacturer, finish, and more.  But there’s an often-overlooked add-on that can take that front door from just good-looking to extremely inviting. Adding sidelights can do that.

What are sidelights (also spelled sidelites by some door companies)?  They are vertical glass panels installed on one or both sides of an entry door.They should not be confused with transom windows, the horizontal glass panels you might see over the top of an exterior door.  Sometimes the two elements are combined to surround a door on all three sides with glass.  The photo shown below (courtesy of Marvin) is an example of this combination.

 

Adding sidelights can do a number of things for the look and function of your entry area, but these are the three main benefits:

• Adding more natural light.  How much light depends on the type of sidelight you choose.  There are full glass models, or their are partial glass, like the 3/4 style shown here.
• Expanding the overall perceived size of your front entry door.  This is particularly important if you have a large home.  You want your entry area to be proportionate to the surrounding exterior structure, so a single door might look out of place.  Some people opt for double or French doors to enlarge their entry space, but those type of doors have their drawbacks.  (More in a future post.)
• Improving the view. Some things homeowners like about the additional glass area is that it lets them keep an eye out for a package delivery as well as guests.

There are so many different ways to make use of sidelights when combining them with an entry door.  Did you know that they can also be used with patio doors to provide the same benefits?  And while most sidelights are fixed and do not open, there are models that can be opened to add extra ventilation.  And if privacy is an issue, art glass or obscuring glass can be chosen.

Let us help you transform the entry on your Minneapolis home by adding sidelights to the new exterior door you choose.  We are a licensed Minnesota home improvement door, and exterior door installation is one of our services.  You can find our completed projects throughout the Minneapolis area. We are also a Marvin Authorized Replacement Contractor for their windows and exterior doors.

Window Outfitters is a premier Window Replacement, doors, siding contractor and installer. As Contractor in the St Paul, Minneapolis, (Twin Cities) Minnesota (MN) metro, we proudly serve, but are not limited to, the following areas: Minneapolis Energy Efficient Vinyl Windows, Replacement Window Contractors Minnesota, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Lakeville, Savage, Bloomington, Edina, Richfield, Eagan, St Paul, Hastings, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Maple Grove, Eden Prairie, Farmington MN, Chaska, Shakopee, Chanhassen, Victoria, Mendota Heights Anderson Windows Minneapolis, Marvin Windows Minneapolis.