Interior Glass Doors Shine as Stars of the Flow
If your rooms are cast in a dreary light or the setting is uninspired, give glass doors a more prominent role
Interior glass doors — whether clear, frosted, multipaned, pocketed or French — will bring sunlight streaming through your home. And even if light were of no concern (but really, who doesn't want more light?), glass doors inside the house can provide the perfect solution to some very common problems with flow. These nine great examples show how interior glass doors can change a home for the better.
Borrow light from the garden. In this gracious home, interior glass pocket doors subtly define the space while still allowing the homeowners to take in the views of the lush courtyard.
Keep a favorite feature visible. Not only do the glass doors in this prewar Brooklyn, New York, home let in more light, but they allow the brick wall to be seen from the whole space.
Give your home office an interior view. Working from home can be a bit dreary if you're tucked away in a plain box of a room. French doors and an interior window let the sun shine in and give you a different scene to rest your eyes on. If you want to be able to look outside, line up your interior door or window with a window in the next room.
Pull a disappearing act with pocket doors. Interior glass pocket doors visually divide rooms when needed but slide open when one large space is desired. And in a home with young kids, pocket doors are great for keeping grown-up dinner parties from waking the little ones.
Hide in plain sight with frosted glass doors. Replacing a laundry room, pantry or kitchen door with a frosted-glass version will increase natural light but (most important) keep those laundry piles and dirty dishes hidden.
Flex it up with translucent pocket doors. When shut, these semitransparent doors give someone enough privacy to work in peace while still letting in ample light; when open, they disappear, creating the feeling of one big room.
Open up a small house. If you live in truly tight quarters, consider swapping out as many solid doors as you can with glass — visually opening up the space will make your home feel much larger than its square footage. Shades or curtains can be used on glass bedroom doors; just pull them open when privacy is not needed.
Use French doors to open up a dark entryway. Formal vestibules can be very dark — open yours up by replacing the solid interior door with a glass-paned door or French doors. Add transom windows above your exterior door or swap out your entry door for a glass model as well, and the light will really pour in.
Double your French door dose for better flow. Many older Victorian and colonial homes are made up of lots of small rooms, which can be less than ideal for the flow of our modern lifestyle. One way to improve flow is by moving the doorways, creating an enfilade with facing French doors. Just be sure to get professional advice before beginning work if your plan includes demolishing parts of existing walls.