Renovating
Architecture: Add a Little Gallic Charm With French Windows
For clean lines and classic styling, forget fancy bifolds and go back to basics
There’s something about the allure of elegant French doors – or French windows as they should be called – that conjures up images of a crumbling villa in Brittany, even if in reality they’re on a red-brick semi in the British ’burbs. While bifold doors and Crittall-style metal windows may be all the rage, I’m still hankering after the clean lines and classic styling of a pair of simple wooden doors. Useful for myriad different applications, French windows can add a certain je ne sais quoi to an otherwise plain room, or provide a beautifully proportioned exit to the garden.
Take a look at these 10 immaculate examples and see if I can’t persuade you to add some double doors to your property.
Take a look at these 10 immaculate examples and see if I can’t persuade you to add some double doors to your property.
Use them to add colour
If your French windows provide the entrance/exit to an extension, you may feel less bound to the tradition of painting all external window frames the same shade. Here, the doors between the exterior and the lovely, pared-back kitchen give an unexpected flash of colour.
If your French windows provide the entrance/exit to an extension, you may feel less bound to the tradition of painting all external window frames the same shade. Here, the doors between the exterior and the lovely, pared-back kitchen give an unexpected flash of colour.
Nail a new layout
Swap an awkward u-shaped kitchen for a bright galley by adding double doors. The owners of this Victorian house extended into the footprint of an existing outside toilet and used a French window to create a new opening to their garden.
Employing this method in a dingy kitchen with only a left-side north-facing window will mean you get the morning sun through your new doors!
Swap an awkward u-shaped kitchen for a bright galley by adding double doors. The owners of this Victorian house extended into the footprint of an existing outside toilet and used a French window to create a new opening to their garden.
Employing this method in a dingy kitchen with only a left-side north-facing window will mean you get the morning sun through your new doors!
Add opening windows
White may conjure up the elegance of a period Parisian apartment, but wood can add warmth. And the owners of this Edwardian home have also cleverly added opening windows to the tops of their French doors; it isn’t always the right weather to fling everything wide open, and this provides the option for getting just a little bit of air circulating.
White may conjure up the elegance of a period Parisian apartment, but wood can add warmth. And the owners of this Edwardian home have also cleverly added opening windows to the tops of their French doors; it isn’t always the right weather to fling everything wide open, and this provides the option for getting just a little bit of air circulating.
Get into the fold
When installing double doors to the garden, consider using parliament hinges, which allow them to fold flat against the outside wall. This will give you the fashionable flow of an inside-outside space, while maintaining the look of a traditional French window.
See more ways to create an amazing indoor/outdoor space
When installing double doors to the garden, consider using parliament hinges, which allow them to fold flat against the outside wall. This will give you the fashionable flow of an inside-outside space, while maintaining the look of a traditional French window.
See more ways to create an amazing indoor/outdoor space
Bring in a balcony
Give your bedroom a brightening boost by swapping a window for doors. Add a railing to create an almost-balcony – a Juliette balcony – from which to gaze over the rooftops.
Give your bedroom a brightening boost by swapping a window for doors. Add a railing to create an almost-balcony – a Juliette balcony – from which to gaze over the rooftops.
More height, more light
For rooms with extra-high ceilings, add a ‘top-light’ above your French windows (a fixed panel of glazing) to fill the space. A panel like this ensures a well-lit room but the extra glass means you should be prepared to get friendly with your preferred window cleaning product…
For rooms with extra-high ceilings, add a ‘top-light’ above your French windows (a fixed panel of glazing) to fill the space. A panel like this ensures a well-lit room but the extra glass means you should be prepared to get friendly with your preferred window cleaning product…
Triple the charm
If you’re extending towards the garden but want to avoid using bifold doors, consider adding several pairs of French windows side-by-side as an elegant alternative. Choosing standard sizes may save you money, and by retaining more of the back wall, you’ll give your scheme classic country-house appeal.
If you’re extending towards the garden but want to avoid using bifold doors, consider adding several pairs of French windows side-by-side as an elegant alternative. Choosing standard sizes may save you money, and by retaining more of the back wall, you’ll give your scheme classic country-house appeal.
Gain a garden room
Pass on the uPVC conservatory and instead use wooden windows and double doors to make the perfect garden room. Paint the frames in a subtle heritage hue and add masses of potted plants for an orangery-style oasis you’ll enjoy all year round.
Discover more ideas for good-looking conservatories
Pass on the uPVC conservatory and instead use wooden windows and double doors to make the perfect garden room. Paint the frames in a subtle heritage hue and add masses of potted plants for an orangery-style oasis you’ll enjoy all year round.
Discover more ideas for good-looking conservatories
Enhance an elegant extension
When planning a new addition to your home, try combining French windows with a sloping glass roof for a traditional-looking alternative to modern glass-box extensions. This light-filled living room features wide central double doors, with narrower French windows on either side.
When planning a new addition to your home, try combining French windows with a sloping glass roof for a traditional-looking alternative to modern glass-box extensions. This light-filled living room features wide central double doors, with narrower French windows on either side.
Highlight a blissful bathroom
Double door don’t always have to lead outside – for the ultimate in luxury en suite bathing, add a pair from your master bedroom to the bathroom. This layout is often possible in loft conversations or extensions, where the space is being created from scratch.
Double door don’t always have to lead outside – for the ultimate in luxury en suite bathing, add a pair from your master bedroom to the bathroom. This layout is often possible in loft conversations or extensions, where the space is being created from scratch.
Install adjoining doors
Technically, if your Gallic-effect doors are internal, they aren’t French windows. However, not everyone has a garden or balcony.
If you’re thinking about knocking through from one reception room to another, but aren’t sure about having a permanently open-plan space, double doors could give you the best of both worlds, allowing you to close up the space when necessary – for instance if you are putting a home-office space at one end of the room. Go for a glazed set of doors if either side of your house lacks light.
Technically, if your Gallic-effect doors are internal, they aren’t French windows. However, not everyone has a garden or balcony.
If you’re thinking about knocking through from one reception room to another, but aren’t sure about having a permanently open-plan space, double doors could give you the best of both worlds, allowing you to close up the space when necessary – for instance if you are putting a home-office space at one end of the room. Go for a glazed set of doors if either side of your house lacks light.
Hire a professional
Based on personal experience, if you’re knocking through a wall and installing new doors from scratch – pay a professional! Off-the-shelf options may appear irresistibly cheap in comparison to their custom-made counterparts but if it will take you a week to fix the frame, battle to make them fit and then paint them, consider employing a local joiner and saving yourself a lot of hassle.
TELL US…
Do you yearn for French windows – if so, where in your home would you like to put them? Let us know in the Comments below.
Based on personal experience, if you’re knocking through a wall and installing new doors from scratch – pay a professional! Off-the-shelf options may appear irresistibly cheap in comparison to their custom-made counterparts but if it will take you a week to fix the frame, battle to make them fit and then paint them, consider employing a local joiner and saving yourself a lot of hassle.
TELL US…
Do you yearn for French windows – if so, where in your home would you like to put them? Let us know in the Comments below.
In a Victorian home, use double doors to transform an underused side return into a sheltered courtyard. By replacing the dining room window and exterior kitchen door with French windows, this garden area becomes a calm retreat, and the perfect spot for a morning coffee.