New Patio Door Design Options for Your Home and Lifestyle
Bringing nature into our homes through creative designs, like patio doors, can benefit your health and well-being. Natural daylight helps us focus, improves our circadian rhythms and in turn our sleep patterns, which can improve our mood and mental health.
Yet, during the winter months, it might be hard to think about the beneficial trend of indoor–outdoor living. But if you wait until spring arrives, contractors are often busy with projects of all sizes. By summer, finding competent craftspeople becomes next to impossible.
If you haven’t shopped for patio doors in the last decade, you may be surprised by the types of patio doors that are available now and which type might be best for your home.
Five Types of Patio Doors
Some people will tell you there are three basic styles of patio doors, other will say four, and we imagine a total of five.
Sliding Glass Doors
Most of us are familiar with the sliding glass door, where one door slides over another door that remains in place. They are space saving and long lasting. Several sources indicate that the sliding door was invented in the early 20th century. By the middle or end of World War II, they’d become so popular they seemed to be in almost every home in America. Architects like Le Corbusier, in France and Richard Neutra, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright in the US used large expanses of sliding glass doors in buildings to foster a constant connection to nature. Improvements over the years have made them more energy efficient and more secure, and they come with coatings that protect interiors from UV rays.
Swinging French Doors
You may not be surprised to discover that sources indicate the French door originated in 17th-century France, though influences for the design may have originated elsewhere. The point of the design was to allow more light into homes. At the time, there was no electric lighting, and a home with small windows and solid wooden doors could be quite dark inside. The top-to-bottom glass panels, often with decorative inner panes set in a pattern, within a wooden door frame, brought light into these spaces. Since the doors need to swing either in or out, space considerations come into play with this design. Today, you can also find sliding French doors that look like more traditional French doors but actually slide one in front of the other, rather than operating on hinges.
Bi-Fold or Stackable Doors
This type of patio door is also hinged. But rather than swinging in or out, these doors fold up on themselves like an accordion. The most common use of these folding or stackable doors is the lightweight wooden or composite doors you’ll find on bedroom closets. As glass patio doors, they can be quite impressive, cover a large expanse of wall and greatly diminish the feeling of separation between an indoor room and an outdoor patio. According to one source, this type of door was referenced in the Bible, and an example of the folding door was discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy.
Pocket Glass Walls
Pocket glass walls can make a spectacular impression when they are pushed open to recede into a wall or walls, leaving no trace of their presence – only an open space where a glass wall once stood. The total lack of any barrier between the interior and exterior of a home can create a greater connection to the outdoors. When these glass walls are high and wide, offering stunning views of the outside, the impact can feel immediate and exhilarating.
Pet Doors
Okay, we’ll admit that pet doors flip rather than slide. However, the concept of making the outdoors accessible for our furry friends seems a good enough reason to include them. These doors let our dogs, cats and even potbelly pigs make their way outside to bask in the sun, chase the squirrels and answer nature’s other calls, all without the aid of human intervention.
If you would like to discuss your design options, to foster a greater connection to the outdoors, we’d love to chat with you about what makes sense for your living space.