Your front door is more than just the slab of wood that lets you in and out of your house. It’s also what creates the first impression visitors have of your home. When selecting a wood front door, you're making a choice that impacts both curb appeal and long-term durability. This guide walks through the most popular styles for entry doors, so you can find the perfect match for your home.
Traditional Solid Wood Front Doors
Traditional solid wood exterior doors will never go out of style because of their timelessness. They work beautifully on Colonial, Craftsman, and Victorian homes. Traditional designs feature the following signatures:
Panels and Rail and Stile Joinery
Rail-and-stile joinery is the name for a kind of door that has vertical and horizontal framing pieces with panels set inside the frame. Our rail and stile doors use mortise and tenon joinery, which is one of the strongest wood joint types available. It requires special expertise and precision, so it’s not as common as other joints. But that precision is also what makes it one of the most reliable.
Symmetrical Layouts
Bilateral symmetry is a cornerstone of traditional design. This is the term for a design that, when split in half, would have two symmetrical halves like the wings of a butterfly. This has the effect of encouraging the eye to linger and is instinctively pleasant to look at.
Timeless Proportions
Traditional door designs emphasize balance. Vertical and horizontal elements remain harmonious. Solid wood entry doors in traditional styles often include small glass panels near the top, letting natural light into your entryway without sacrificing privacy.
Our bestselling traditional design is the Savona Craftsman Triple Light Front Door.
Rustic Wood Front Doors
If you're drawn to a more relaxed aesthetic, rustic wood front doors bring warmth and character. The primary design detail that separates rustic from traditional is the use of farm-style diagonal wood braces, like in an X or a Z brace. But a traditional design also easily becomes more rustic when rendered in a wood with a lot of knots. Knotty Alder and Tight Knot Cedar are popular rustic wood species options. Rustic designs pair well with farmhouse, cottage, and mountain home styles.
Our bestselling rustic door design is the Telluride Shaker High Z Entry Door.
Contemporary and Modern Wood Front Doors
Modern and contemporary wood front door designs emphasize clean lines and minimal ornamentation. Here are their most common design features:
Plank Designs
Several of our modern doors feature wide planks in a frameless construction. This design style has become more and more popular in recent years, and really showcases the beauty of solid wood. We bury metal reinforcements in some of these designs to add more stability.
Flush Surfaces
Whether it’s found in plank style doors (as described above) or paneled doors, one hallmark of a modern entry door is a flush surface. For paneled doors, this means the panels are built to the same thickness as the door frame. In more traditional constructions, the panels may be flat or raised, but they are still designed to accentuate the contrast between themselves and the framing pieces. In a flush panel construction, the emphasis is instead on the luxurious thickness of the door itself. Uniformity, rather than contrast, is the focus here.
Geometric Glass Patterns
Glass panels in diagonal or grid motifs are another signature feature for modern exterior wood doors. Unlike traditional Craftsman style doors, modern entry doors often feature more surface area of glass than wood.
These doors suit mid-century modern, minimalist, and contemporary homes. Our bestselling entry doors in this design category are the True Plank Entry Door, the Carmel Mid-Century-Modern Side Window Door, and the Zuma Diagonal Glass Door.
Choosing the Right Softwood or Hardwood Front Doors
There’s an expectation that ‘hardwood’ is the best for entry doors. After all, isn’t a ‘hardwood’ automatically better than a soft wood? The truth is more nuanced than that. Despite having lower hardness ratings, softwoods like Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir are suitable for entry doors. In fact, Western Red Cedar has superb weathering and durability because it contains natural compounds that resist rot and insect attack. Wood density, hardness, and durability aren't always intuitive, which is why we're here to help.
Ultimately what matters the most when it comes to wood species is the overall look you’re going for. That’s why we offer over twenty wood species options and can source several more upon request. For a rustic look, you can’t go wrong with Knotty Alder, Tight Knot Cedar, or Knotty White Oak. Modern doors look ideal when rendered in Sapele or Black Walnut. And White Oak or Cherry are both perfect for traditional designs. Oak front doors offer excellent durability and a prominent grain pattern.
Comparing White Oak vs. Dark Wood Front Doors
Our customers often end up choosing between White Oak or Black Walnut. White Oak entrance doors are as classic as it gets, and among the most versatile wood species available. We often recommend White Oak because it has good strength and hardness properties, and because it has a high degree of natural water resistance. You can have the oak stained darker for a more luxurious look, or keep with clear finish to highlight the natural tawny honey-brown tones.
Dark wood front doors have one important consideration: exposure to direct sunlight. We recommend that any entry door has an overhang, and that’s even part of our warranty. But it’s especially important if your front door faces South or West and you’ve chosen a darker wood or stain color. Darker surfaces absorb heat from the sun, which can impact dimensional stability or the longevity of your chosen wood finish. So a dark entry door should have adequate protection from prolonged sunlight. You will also want to be more vigilant with maintenance on darker-finished doors because of their potential to show scuffs and scratches.
Still, there’s no denying that dark entry doors are a bold design statement, projecting authority and poise. Our most popular wood species for entry doors is Black Walnut.
Features and Accessories: Glass Inserts for Wood Front Doors
Exterior wood doors with glass sidelights balance natural light with privacy. Our customers love full-length sidelights because they flood the entryway with sunshine. Single wood front doors with glass can be paired with one or two sidelights, or a glass transom above. If you’re interested in wood entry doors with glass, know that you can choose clear, frosted, or decorative panels depending on your preference. Sidelights come with clear glass as standard, but frosted or specialty glass can be substituted upon request.
Hardware Options for Exterior Wood Doors
Finally, hardware selection completes the look of your door and entryway, including handles and locksets. Traditional designs look best with brass or oil-rubbed bronze finishes. Contemporary doors pair well with matte black or brushed nickel, though brass is also becoming very popular on modern styles. Beyond how the finish looks with your door, you should also consider quality and longevity of your hardware. Smart locks, mortise locksets, or even specialty multipoint locksets are worth investing in for enhanced security.
Your front door hinges also make an impact. Standard ball-bearing hinges are the most versatile, but concealed hinges are a sleek upgrade well-suited to modern door designs. If you live in a marine environment very close to the sea, we'll always recommend stainless steel hinges to prevent corrosion. Whichever variety you choose, be sure to match yours with the finish of your lockset.
More Help Selecting the Perfect Wooden Front Door
Sometimes you need a little guidance during the design ideation period. Our team of custom design consultants is always here to help talk you through any ideas or design challenges you have. Email sales@realcraft.com or call (253)-853-3815.
You can also take our design quiz below to get matched with one of our most best-selling door designs.
Leave a comment (all fields required)