Your Guide to Interior and Exterior Styles and Types of Doors

We'll help you find the perfect door for your home, whether it's a welcoming front entry or a primary suite door for privacy.

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At their core, doors serve one vital function—but that doesn't mean they can't be stylish. The right style and type of door can make or break a space. So we've broken them down into two categories: interior and exterior. Our tips will help you pick the perfect door for every threshold in your home, whether it's a hidden door to the basement or your home's main entrance.

Types of Doors for Interiors

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The single-hinged door is the most common of the interior types of doors. Room design must allow space for hinged doors to swing. Interior doors typically are lightweight and have two hinges; exterior doors are heavy and often use three hinges. Interior doors are usually 1-3/8 inches thick, and exterior doors are commonly 1-3/4 inches thick.

A panel door is a classic style. It usually has three or four horizontal rails and three vertical stiles. The spaces between them are filled with thinner panels. Decorative molding (or some representation) called "sticking" surrounds each panel. The result is a richly textured look at home in traditional and modern settings.

A flush door is a simple flat slab. It's usually the least expensive of all types of doors. A flush door can be stained if the surface is a hardwood veneer (usually birch or oak), but other materials generally look best painted. Flush doors blend well with contemporary settings but may look out of place in a traditional home. Interior flush doors are often hollow core, while exterior flush doors have a solid core. Exterior doors may have a metal or fiberglass face rather than wood veneer.

A pair of French doors add a charming touch, and an extra-wide doorway opening. These types of doors are almost always traditional in design. Often, they have glass panels. They're commonly used as exterior patio doors, but interior French doors can make a stunning passageway between rooms.

Many older homes have interior pocket doors, which slide into the wall when fully opened. They allow you to completely open the doorway without taking up any floor space. Pocket doors are now found in many newer homes; single and double styles are available. A pocket door requires wall space that doesn't have electrical or plumbing lines running through it.

A set of bifold doors is the most popular type of door for a 6-foot-wide or larger closet. Each door takes up about half the swinging space of a hinged door. Bifolds can be flush, paneled, or louvered.

A somewhat less common type of door is bypass doors. These operate much like sliding patio doors but are far lighter in weight. They are generally flush doors.

Types of Doors for Exteriors

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Entry doors can be made of wood, metal, or fiberglass. They range from straightforward panel doors to windowed doors (the windows are sometimes referred to as "lights"), with attractive muntins or removable grills. Increasingly, you can find decorative carved wood doors. These types of doors often have rails and stiles with a carved section in the middle. They're expensive but make a memorable impression.

Patio sliding doors are typically made of large panes of glass encased in wood, vinyl, or metal frames. They're the ideal type of door to maximize your view of the yard. Compared with French doors, they take up no floor space when open. A possible disadvantage is that they only open half as wide as the doorway.

Other Types of Doors

Even the most tightly sealed entry door can benefit from the addition of a storm door. These are usually metal or vinyl, but wood models are also available. A security storm door can be locked to keep out intruders and may be heavier than a standard door. Self-storing storm doors have a window and screen. Inexpensive storm doors are often plain in design and can detract from the appearance of an entry door. You can pay more for a storm door that makes a design statement, but perhaps the best choice is one that unobtrusively frames your entry door.

The popular farmhouse style introduced sliding barn doors to homeowners, which can now be found in many homes. Barn doors are like sliding doors but hung on exposed tracks for a more rustic look. They're usually built out of plank wood but can be made of other materials for a more contemporary aesthetic. Like pocket doors, they don't take up floor space, so they're suitable for small areas like bathrooms and pantries.

Dutch doors are a type of door that's split in the middle, with separate top and bottom panels. Originally built to allow fresh air to flow in while keeping children safe from wandering outside, Dutch doors add a cottage charm to homes.

In some contemporary homes, garage doors are installed on large walls to open the house to the back or front yard. For a really upscale look, folding glass doors allow for an utterly indoor-outdoor lifestyle by making a space where sliding glass doors would go into a disappearing wall of windows.

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