Is a transom window above the door an option?

Is your house a Craftsman style home? (If it's not Craftsman, that eliminates the Craftsman door for me, lol.)

I've never heard of frosted glass having a discernible difference in light penetration -- doesn't necessarily mean anything, just that I haven't heard of it before -- I imagine it's similar to using sheer curtains, allowing light but maintaining privacy.

No, we can't do a transom - that is to say, we've got the masonry walls of the original house and I'm not willing to spend the money to start cutting into them.

The house isn't a Craftsman, no. But so far I love the craftsman partly because they're the only ones I can find flush glazed for under $3K! I hate the ones with the inserts where you can see the frame around the glass.

We replaced our entry door many years ago. I'm showing two doors that have similar windows to mine, not the exact same doors.

The first door looked similar to this, and provided a lot of light to the foyer:
Half window door

The new door is more like this, though the glass is beveled, not frosted. The smaller window size, combined with the privacy glass, cuts the light in the foyer by at least half.

Privacy glass

One of these days I'm going to add a window to the foyer, on the wall adjacent to the door.

If you have no other windows in your entry I would go with the 3/4 lite etched/frosted (or even 1/2 lite). I agree with One Devoted Dame, Craftsman door would be out for me as well, unless I was adding it to a Craftsman home - in my unsolicited opinion. One thing if you go with etched glass make sure you discuss with whatever company you are getting it from that both sides of the glass are smooth surface and the etched part is in the glass not on the surface so-to-speak, it will get grease stains and finger prints on it that will be impossible to get out. We have an etched 1/2 lite front door - We got our door from http://www.simpsondoor.com/find-a-door/?intro=exterior and we are happy with it.

I have seeded glass in my craftsman style front door, it provides privacy and light

Suzy...can you post a picture please?

What does the house look like? I think that needs to be taken into account when deciding the style of door. Nothing worse than a door that looks out of place with the house style as your front door is what greets you.

Pictures of the house from the street and from indoors would help, if you can share. Many factors affect any choice. You would, by the way, find varying degrees of opacity among glass.

Also, you can consider one-way treatments, that would mean you'd need a window covering for nights, but you could see clearly out and get light with privacy

Here's the front elevation:

(sorry for all the dotted lines - but this is all I've got.

@Najeebah - there are no pics of inside yet, really. It's just the rough framing right now.

I have a 3/4 lite door with leaded glass, some of which is etched. It does a nice job of diffusing images but lets an adequate amount of light into the foyer. Best of luck with your decision.

I think if you simplify the windows to the right of the front door, you could actually get away with a simplified craftsman door. However the windows with all those panes doesn't work with craftsman but on the other hand, those windows don't work with the upper windows.

@cpartist - yeah, I know. Those windows are existing and can't change (they were purchased by our insurance to replace our leaded glass windows which were damaged in a storm. $12,000 wood windows - we won't be replacing them. The panes are divided with faux leading (dark), not SDLs that look like wood.

Lots of good suggestions above. Here's a different concept: a door with less expensive clear lights (even a fully glazed door), plus an added interior adjustable wood louver screen, which may be left open, partially closed or completely closed, depending on the situation. Lets light in and lets you see who's at the door!

I'd probably go for a 3/4 lite were I you. It's not only about the glass itself. You also need to consider the amount of natural light that the front of the house gets, how that would be reduced with a porch. How far to the street? Will passerbys be able to see in significantly? A windo covering is a great balance of the options

i agree :)