Far and away the biggest contributor to 2021 window and door trends is the pandemic. For many of us, our lifestyles significantly changed in 2020, prompting homeowners to renovate to accommodate these changes. With more people working from home, children learning at home and families staying home, three window and door remodeling trends emerge to reflect this reality. Homeowners are renovating with a desire for, more natural light and ventilation, indoor to outdoor accessibility and noise reduction.
Trend #1. Large windows and more ventilation
By increasing the size of your windows combined with proper positioning, your windows can add adequate natural light and more ventilation to your home.
Size and scale. Windows are trending toward spanning entire walls by combining windows to create floor to ceiling glass. The trend is toward taller, wider windows and broader expanses of glass. With today’s energy efficient insulated windows these glass walls are a popular option. Homeowners can renovate a room by replacing windows with sliding doors or simply increasing the size of the window opening to accommodate a larger replacement window.
Ventilation Awnings. Awnings which are essentially horizontal casements can be placed at floor or ceiling level to provide ventilation in a room. They are becoming a popular choice, combined with picture windows as an affordable way to design a larger expanse of glass with ventilation. Another variation of a venting window are casements paired with doors. Traditionally, sidelights are fixed within frames flanking a door, but today’s trends call for more functional offerings such as a casement or awning single sidelight that can let in the fresh air. Your entry door can be closed and secured, while the sidelights are open catch the breeze.
Open Views. Today’s large selection of contemporary window styles deliver narrow stiles and rails that serve to minimize sight lines and enhance the views from these larger window expanses. Stiles and rails refer to the horizontal and vertical material structure of the window sash. Contemporary window styles like Marvin Signature Contemporary Studio also offer the option of ‘direct glaze’ windows, which means a window with no sash. Instead, the glass is glazed directly into the frame in a stationary or “picture” window creating larger opening and view.
Trend #2. Indoor-outdoor seamless access. For several years now connecting the indoors to the outdoors has been a building and remodeling trend. During the pandemic it’s become a priority! Confined to home, homeowners have made improvements to their outdoor spaces, they now want easy access to these sanctuaries and safe gathering spaces.
How can you create gorgeous expansive openings and views with a wide selection of different styles and configurations?
Lift and Slide, Multi-Slide and Folding Patio Doors. These doors create expansive openings while remaining easy to open. Lift and slide doors work by turning the handle to allow the unit to move, lifting the door and removing the pressure on the track for easy operation. Unlike a traditional multi-track sliding door, once the panels are in their new location, you turn the handle again and the doors lock creating an incredibly tight seal. These doors come with a flush or recessed sill option, which makes a seamless transition from the indoors to the outdoors. Multi-slide, folding or bi-fold doors also use a unique track system that allows the doors to stack or fold smoothly to one side when opened. If you want expansive views, consider the Marvin Ultimate Lift & Slide, this door can open up to 48 feet wide and when opened it can stack or disappear completely into a wall. Be sure to properly plan for your oversized door.
Sliding Patio and Sliding French Doors. Modern sliding glass doors, often called a French slider, expand the traditional two-panel configuration to four panels. The two outer panels are fixed in place; the two inner panels operate. A traditional slider can be up to 10-foot-wide, while these doors can be up to 16 feet wide. The design significantly opens the view and allows for natural ventilation. By adding fixed panels to operable panels such as configuration options from the Marvin Signature Sliding French Door you can get a seamless transition from inside to outside.
Hinged Patio Doors. Do you like the look of an elegant French doors, single or double? Now you can add panels to the classic traditional French door and create an expansive window wall without compromising on style. Go further by adding sidelights and transoms to expand the views. Although these hinged doors require less wall space than sliding doors, if they are in-swing doors you’ll need to plan your furniture arrangement accordingly. Also note that these doors are typically no wider than about six feet, although you can pair the doors with sidelights to increase the view.
Skycove. One of the newest additions to the Marvin product line, the ‘Skycove’ window, is an innovative approach to bringing the outdoors in. The pre-engineered, pop-out, cantilevered structure will flood any interior with natural light during the day and moon lighting at night. The three-dimensional glass nook with a window seat adds square footage to a room.
Trend #3 Noise control. As more people work from home, the industry is seeing an increase in requests for windows and doors that provide noise reduction. Noise level plays a key part in our overall wellness and performance, making acoustic windows and sound-proofing options an important element in the growing trend of working from home. It’s a given that replacing your old windows with today’s high-performance windows will contribute toward creating quieter indoor spaces, but there maybe things you can do to further dampen unwanted sounds.
A good place to start is to evaluate the acoustic performance of a window by understanding its Sound Transmission Class (STC). If a standard dual-pane window carries an STC rating of around 27, by requesting the appropriate options it’s possible to boost that value up to around STC 34.
Many windows are promoted as reducing noise, but the key is to learn as much as possible about each of the different types of windows and their sound reduction properties before selecting an acoustic window.
What are the window options that affect acoustic performance?
Laminated glass. Laminated is made up of two panes of the same thickness with a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) layer between. It is highly effective in reducing sound transmission. A thinner laminated glass pane eliminates as much sound as a much thicker, unlaminated pane.
Dissimilar panes. Dissimilar panes have two panes of different thickness which disrupt different frequencies and improve sound control.
Window material and construction. Wider airspace between the glass panels. Aspects of acoustic window frames should also be considered. Such as Wider airspace between the glass panels or the further the glass surface area extends into the frame, the better. Whether the window is made from wood, composite, vinyl or aluminum, can all contribute to noise reduction. Ideally, the frames should have the same surface weight as the glass and sealing all glazing components and frame joints is crucial for eliminating sound leakage.
Our home’s purpose shifted in 2020 and homeowners are turning to new windows and doors to make their homes brighter with more natural sunlight, healthier with more fresh air ventilation, connected to the outdoors and hopefully quieter. These are the trends for 2021! To see a Marvin oversized door stop by our showroom.
