I opted for a full glass double doors for my too dark foyer. The style is unusual, but the sunlight streaming in is wonderful.

And here's a crude rendition of double doors on your very beautiful home:

I had some time so I whipped these up for you. I love your home and garden, it's very peaceful looking! These are BM colors. Some of the color differences are very subtle, there are a few shades of different grays but I also included some fun colors too.

Wetherfield Moss

Texas Leather

Stormy Sky

Sandy Hook Gray

Sage Mountain

Palisades Park - one of my personal favorites :c)

Nantucket Gray

Mountain Laurel

Kona - I saw something like this on a house the other day, it was stunning.

Kennibunkport Green

Gray Shower

Georgian Brick

Abys Blue

How do you tend to use your front door/foyer? Is it primarily for "company" or do you and family members use it daily? This reminds me of the front door issues we had at our old house. We had old double doors that were solid wood and had begun to crack and rot. I wanted light in the foyer! I also did not like the double doors, since we tended to use that door a great deal. The problem is that doubles are not as wide as a single door with the sidelights. When you open the door of a double, it can feel kinda tight if you are carrying stuff or dragging small kids with you. Also, coming and going for company is definitely a single-file affair. Also, before you decide on double doors, check the clearances in the foyer too. Our doubles (the one that opened normally) was catching on the coat closet knob and was generally a royal pain in the caboose!

We wound up changing to a single door with sidelights and loved it. The only time we missed those doubles was when it came time to move out--we had a hard time getting some stuff out, that had gone in easily, LOL!

Here's a shot of the "new" door:

I like the full sized glass that awm photoshopped for you! Personally, I would just do it with a single door/sidelights.

Here's my newish front door. I do have clear glass full storm doors over them - :-( -safer for the dogs, though. The house originally had solid wood doors and the foyer was always dark. With these doors, it was a compromise - some light and some privacy.

and forgot to mention that mine is a 'typical northeast center hall colonial' and we just put in windows with divided lights.

Helene

"The only time we missed those doubles was when it came time to move out--we had a hard time getting some stuff out, that had gone in easily,"

That's the main reason I went with a double door. We have no other "bulk item" portal. Thank goodness for the double doors when we removed an old sofa recently. Our sliding patio doors aren't wide enough.

Malhgold, here's the single door with sidelights:

Since your windows are one-over-one, and you want glass in the door, I would consider a double door with panels below and single panes above, to get the wide entry that is so convenient for moving things around, to keep the proportions similar to your window proportions, and to maintain that little extra bit of privacy that the closed lower half provides. Such a pair will look more substantial than ones with glass all the way down, I think. We have a pair like that in our 1893 town house, and they use the traditional element of paneled wood, but with a cleaner, more modern feeling.
And I love how lukkiirish's mock-up in Abys Blue looks on your house and in your landscape. Looks very stylish and elegant!

Thanks everyone! We rarely use our front door as our garage is at basement level. We walk in through there and even our friends and family walk in that way. It doesn't necessarily make for the nicest "entrance way", LOL, but it is what it is.

I do think the double door size will be nice for moving items in and out. At this point everything big in our house has come in thru the single front door, but a little extra wiggle room might be nice.

brownysmom - i'm thinking you're suggesting something like this, minus the rusticness of these doors?

Thanks lukkiirish and awm03 for all the photoshopping. Right now based on what I see on my monitor, I'm leaning towards Stormy Sky, Sandy Hook Gray and Sage Mountain, but obviously need to get to the paint store. I thought I wanted really dark, but the renderings above that are dark look sort of depressing to me. The color we had before this one was sort of like Sandy Hook Gray.

Yes, exactly, with single rather than double raised panels below, a square rather than an arched top, and no iron doodly bits. Beveled glass would look nice...and you can get them double paned for better R-value.

As pretty as an all glass door and sidelights are, from a practical standpoint, I think they'd be a huge mistake for you.

First of all, your privacy would be compromised, as you'd be visible to anyone at your door . . . or from the looks of it, even walking or driving past your home. I live in the country/mountains and my home isn't close to a public street like yours is. I have a solid wood front door but it's flanked by full-length sidelights, and I've been caught a number of times walking past the door in my pj's, in hot rollers or just looking really bad, just as someone (the UPS guy, etc) is about to ring the bell.

It's also hard to check out who's at the door, to decide whether to answer it or not, if you're entirely visible to anyone standing on your front porch.

It could also give a potential burglar an easy way to check out who and what's in your house. From a security standpoint, it just seems too open in my opinion.
Lynn

We live on a busy-ish street near Washington, DC. When we remodeled our house, we put in a 3/4 glass door with sidelight in our foyer. We were concerned about privacy (as lynn mentions above), but were desperate for more light. So we put in the mostly-glass door and sidelight.

Interestingly, even with all that glass, it's never really easy to see inside. The reflective quality of the glass in the daytime prevents people from seeing inside, and at nighttime, if we have the porch light on, or don't have the foyer light on, it's hard to see inside. We're awfully glad that we did it, and I never feel like we're too exposed.

Your welcome! You have a beautiful home, I'm sure any of the colors you like will look wonderful, but I have to agree, the gray is pretty but does look subdued. Anyways, I've saved the masking in my program so if you find another color and need to see what it looks like just let me know. :c)

We live right smack in the middle of the city (albeit with a half-story beneath our first floor and entry), and have sheer panels on the glass of the doors...it gives us plenty of privacy while letting the light in, and lets us see who is at the door.

Have you priced doors yet? We've been pricing them for the past two years since we desperately need ours replaced. More glass = more expense. If expense isn't an issue, my point is moot. Also, if you are doing doubles versus the single with sidelites, you will be talking a custom size which may cost even more. On top of that, unless you go with a very well made door, the glass may not be warrantied for as long and the insulating levels will be less. In shopping for doors, Provia has an excellent warranty on their door AND glass, most others like Therma-Tru have very limited warranties on their glass; it's a read the fine print type of thing. The downside is Provia is a higher priced than Therma-Tru and only sold through dealers who install the doors themselves.

I live in a center hall colonial in New England, I don't think double doors fit my house style or my neighborhood. I've lived in homes with them in the past and when they are full sized, double doors, they are indeed quite nice to have. Do you have a standard 36" door with 12" sidelites? Your double doors would be two 30" doors. Privacy would be a concern unless you covered the windows or opted for designer glass.

With the expense, be sure you truly want what you think you want, consider all the changes, before going that route.

Sandra - thanks for your thoughts. We have priced the double and the single with the sidelights. I didn't think it was outrageously priced, but then again, I didn't price out a solid door either. We did price them with Therma Tru with the Low E glass, so the tax credit would be available. I have someone coming out to quote siding for my house and they are a Provia dealer, so maybe I should ask them about doors. I've read some good things about Provia.

We live in NJ, so I can't say that the double doors would be completely out of place. They would be two 30" doors. I don't really think the size is that much of an issue. As I said, we rarely use the front doors, but it is something to think about.

I'm not quite so concerned with the privacy issue, although it is a thought. Our house is pretty much elevated above the rest of the neighborhood and we are in the corner of a "U", so we don't get that many cars driving by our house. But, we are considering whether we want the "full exposure". I think brownysmom had a valid point that the "all glass" might not look substantial enough for the rest of the house.

Thanks everyone. Taking everything into consideration.

Mahlgold,

The doors in the picture I posted above are Provia doors, installed by a siding/door place in NJ, too. We had them installed about 1 1/2 years ago and we've been very happy with them and would recommend both the doors and the installers highly. What part of NJ are you in? The place we dealt with is in central NJ.

Helene

How about something like this . . . it keeps the traditional 6-panel look for your colonial, but brings in some light. These are very popular in our area for those who don't want to keep the solid 6-panel door with a full glass storm door.

Here is a link that might be useful: Beveled glass 6-panel entry door

blubird - I live in Morristown and I have someone from NJ Siding and Window coming out next weekend for a quote.

jakabedy - that's a possibility. I think I need to look at some other options.