For many people living in suburban and rural areas, as well as those on large properties with high privacy fences, French doors on the patio or back entrance provide a bright, open and airy way to bring light into the house and a way to enjoy the great outdoors from the inside.

These families typically choose the clear-glass French patio doors because visibility is a priority for them and French doors achieve the goal of allowing visibility from the inside to the outdoors and vice versa. They are less concerned about others being able to see in.

Living in the city, or having French patio doors off an upstairs bedroom or living space to a balcony can open up the interior of the home and decrease privacy. Of course, you can choose to have a wide range of blinds, curtains or combinations of window treatments to provide privacy, but there are also other options to consider for privacy.

Change of Glass

If you don’t want to cover up your beautiful French doors with curtains or blinds, why not simply choose a different type of glass? At Nick’s Building Supply, we offer a range of glass options that can provide privacy while still allowing light in and allowing you to keep that open and airy look.

Chateau glass is a very unique look. It seems like a clear glass but has a significant amount of blurring to what can be seen. This is a glass that has a small diamond-shaped camming throughout and beveled edges. As result, only a very small area of the door is actually clear, but there is still the look of clear glass.

Other open types of glass choices include our Majestic and Iron classic styles. There is ornate camming combined with frosted or clear glass to create a pattern in the glass that is beautiful and increases your privacy. Sierra and Builder Zinc glass have a more of frosted look in all the glass combined with the camming designs.

Flemish and rain glass, as well as reed glass, will provide good levels of privacy with lots of light. These glass options have repeating patterns within the glass that makes them opaque enough to prevent anyone from seeing inside.

You can also choose different styles of French doors with smaller lites or larger wood panels in the doors. This also creates a more solid door, which is a perfect option for many traditional styles of homes.