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Design Options For Glass Panels In Entrance Doors

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A beautiful glass-panelled front door provides a welcoming entryway into your home. Constructed in various styles from traditional to minimalist, these entrance doors allow daylight to flow inside, lightening up the hallway while adding a decorative touch. Several different types of glass typically form the panel sections. 

Frosted Glass

Frosted glass makes perfect front door material as it allows soft diffused light to flow through, all the while providing privacy. Its characteristic cloudy look results from either acid-etching or sandblasting techniques. Both methods erode one side of the glass surface to render it translucent. Acid-etching achieves this through the application of hydrochloric acid, which reacts with the glass. A mask over the surface protects some sections and not others, creating, at times intricate, designs. Sandblasting involves abrasive materials, such as sand, blasting at the glass, pitting and corroding one side. This treatment often produces less intricate designs than acid etching. 

Both processes create diverse patterns, like overall evenly textured misty appearances, organic-like wave and swirl patterns, and intricate geometric designs. Sometimes tints are combined with frosted patterns, adding extra interest. Levels of transparency vary with different frosting effects; some panels gently obscure minimal light while others only allow very basic shadows to filter through.

Leadlight and Stained Glass

Another design option for the glass panels within an entrance door is leadlight or stained glass. This type of feature allows interesting light and shadow patterns to form through the front door, depending on the light angles from outside. Stained glass consists of differently sized and textured glass pieces that fit within a frame made of strips of lead. Think of this much like fitting pieces of jigsaw pieces into a puzzle. 

The glass pieces often vary regarding texture, some geometrically etched, some swirly, and also concerning size, with larger and smaller pieces being inset. Additionally, they might be irregularly shaped or rectangular, square, or round. Colour is instilled into the glass either during the manufacturing process by the addition of metallic salts in the molten mix or else by being painted on and then kiln baked, which fuses the paint to the surface. For a different look, clear frosted and patterned glass can be worked into the lead framing instead. While leadlight glass may bring traditional period styles to mind, these types of glass panels can also impart simple, modern schemas.

Clear Bevelled Glass

For less detailed entrance doors, you could go for a beautifully clear bevelled glass fitted within a simply carved and moulded door. The bevels, the angled-cut edges of the perimeter, highlight the glass work and create interesting light diffractions. So long as your front door is not facing a busy public road or else shrubbery or fences provide a shield, this door style is particularly practical, letting maximum light flow through your home while providing an outside view.


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