How To Design Your Own Window And Door Openings

The most common reasons for ordering customized windows are filling a non-standard window opening and creating a window that suits your design needs better than off-the-shelf solutions. There can be many things to consider when it comes to customizing your own windows and doors. We will walk through the different aspects to help you make the best choice.

Deciding on a Type of Door

The type of door affects the appearance of your home as well as how it functions:

Hinged doors swing open on one side, which is how most standard doors work.
French doors are two hinged doors that swing open to create a larger opening from one space to the other.
Bi-fold doors run along a track, allowing you to stack the doors on top of each other.
Dutch doors are also called stable doors because the top half of the door can open while the bottom stays shut.
Sliding doors are mostly used between the patio and the back of the home.

Choosing the Right Material for your Door

Doors are usually made from strong materials such as steel, Fiberglas, or wood which can be painted over using a color of your choice. Some doors will also have a glass inset which has a variety of features to choose from:

The size can range from a small inset to nearly the entire area of the door.
Different shades of glass will change the color of light it lets into your home.
If you don’t prefer a smooth pane of glass, there are other textures to choose from as well.
The glass can be cut into interesting geometric shapes.

Sidelights and transoms are commonly used next to the front entrance for decoration. The most common transoms are arched, box-shaped, or elliptical.

Window Types

There are just as many modifications that can be made to windows in order to make them unique:

Casement windows swing open from one side and open using a hand operated crank.
Double hung windows are made of two panes: the top one is fixed while the bottom one slides open vertically.
Fixed window installation can come in shapes that aren’t rectangular and exist to let light in.
The hinge of an awning is at the top of the frame and opens with a slight push to activate an internal spring mechanism.
A gilding is a smaller version of a sliding door.
Some skylights are fixed while others can open slightly to let hot air escape.
A bay window takes up much more room than the windows described above and it’s so structurally imposing that it’s often used to form a ledge or nook.

Moulding and Trim

Moulding and trims are mostly decorative with little functional value. Simple mouldings cover seams between edges, but they can be incredibly ornate to suit your tastes or the general design of your home. Though they seem delicate, mouldings and trims are made from wood, polyurethane, and MDF.

Featured images:

Mark Clair was born in Ontario in 1986. Born and brought up in Toronto, he was graduated from the University of Western Ontario. He has been working as an interior designer in a private company in Toronto. He has had splendid experience working in the field of home improvement. He is very much passionate about designing interiors and he is a good writer too. He could create fabulous designs for many clients and he loves helping people bring their dream from inspiration to realization! For more information, catch him on twitter.

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