Given you will have a security screen covering door, I would suggest just rendering the side section to match adjacent walls and either add a beautiful tall pot and plant or decorative sticks in front, you could match the door colour to the pot,
or a colorful motif to the wall. Whatever speaks to your taste and gives visitors a sense of you.

what is your house built with and photo of the front?

I would consider replacing the current door and side panel with 2 doors the right hand narrow door would be fixed top and bottom and only be opened when you want a larger opening for perhaps moving furniture, the larger door would open from the R/H side.

We have the same situation as you, with a west facing door and a street light opposite. There is a 2m verandah across the front. We had the set up that siriuskey mentioned above. The sidelight was actually a narrow door that we could open when required and the normal main door. The doors were part of the house when we bought it and are timber with horizontal opaque glass strips. Although not something I would have chosen, they are good because they let enough light into the entrance however they do let the hot sun and streetlight through.

The issue with the 2 door design is when you want to put a screen door on, which is essential in our part of Australia. We looked at a very big door to cover the whole opening but how do you access the handle? It is either on the opposite side of the solid door or you have to reach across the side door to get to it.

The other issue is, the doors lock into each other so there is a bit of rattling in the wind and we felt they were not secure eg one day the wind blew the whole thing open! Yes, they were probably not well installed in the first place but with all the gaps, the winter chill got through and made the front area of the house freezing.

We had a brilliant builder who came and looked at our situation with the screen door maker and together, we decided the only solution was to fix the smaller side door in place, build a new mull post (?) and then we were able to get a standard sized screen door and install a deadlock. Our builder also re-hung the door and worked on the frame so now it fits snugly and doesn't let any draughts in.

We are very happy with the setup we have now, apart from the light and heat entering. I have been thinking about it a lot and wonder if we need to put in a heavy curtain that we could pull across at night or on the extremely hot days. I'm just not sure how that would work aesthetically. I wouldn't replace the doors with solid as it would make for quite a dark entrance hall.

our double doors don't have any glass just plain timber, the smaller door is latched into the tile floor and into the top frame, you only see the flat fitting which secures the hole when open. We don't need of have screens but any screens would be the same set up as the doors only they would open out while the doors open in.

In this situation you could have a high panel of glass to let light into the passageway during day light hours, Your entrance porch/eaves might be enough to keep the hot sun out and the street light.

Other than that look into adding a small covered pergola. Another way if it suited your house is to use horizontal timber panels like timber houses which overlap, we did this when we wanted to cover in a panel next to a door, If you want to save on cost and not replacing the current door the side panel would remain covers on the exterior with the cladding and a flat piece of timber on the inside which is painted.

Sorry that your doors didn't work for you rocksfam, perhaps you could try this locking system that our builder used and add weather strips.

These doors are also excellent for any possible wheelchair access.

My immediate thought was similar to photo attached, but then reading on about the west sun etc, this may not work. But, you could have dark glass louvres and a solid door. My thought is regarding security. If you have a solid door and a solid side panel, how can you see who is at the front door? Unless you have a security camera, or a window facing the front door, in another part of the home.

A peep hole in the door is all you need to see who's at the door they are easy to purchase and fit

Hi Peggy,

Though I am not an interior designer, might I suggest using some of the colours, shapes and style from within you home and creating a lead light pattern: not an old fashioned flowery thing (tho I do love those on the right house) Lovely modern designs and colours can soften the light from west sun and street light, be used in the door too, be opaque or clear, arranged so you can be able to get a peek thru to see who is waiting outside and will enhance the fairly bland exterior, with our without a potted plant too. I have seen it done very nicely.

Yours is home pride!

Margot

Thanks @rocksfam. Do you both have photos of your entrance so I can have an image reference?

Hi Peggy,
Some ideas for you, a timber screen to cover side glass, frosted treatment for privacy , a narrow shutter could work or just leave it clear if you are happy to do so.

How has the wrong usage of opaque class crept in everywhere? Normal glass is transparent. Glass like in Peggy's sidelight is translucent (ie lets some light through but blurs the view). Opaque means that no light at all gets through - like a piece of wood.

Kath's comment prompted me to check my post and I incorrectly said our glass was opaque - of course, I meant translucent!

Here is a photo of our door with the screen. Please excuse all the dust but I have given up cleaning after each dust storm! It is the addition of the screen door that creates the problems, in our experience, not the design of the door/s as you need to be able to open the screen door easily and have an attractive facade. Ours was certainly a compromise but we need a security screen to allow our house to cool down at night in summer.

For reference, the narrow panel to the left of the photo was originally an opening door but we had it fixed. The builder charged around $700 however he also installed another door elsewhere in the house so it should cost you less than that.

Hi all, my comment about opaque wasn't a dig at anyone personally and I hope I haven't offended anyone. I've heard professionals say it on radio lately.

Personally I'd replace the screen door with a new one as you've noted - no diamond pattern.

The glass sidelight looks fine, perhaps just new obscure glass. New glass probably go for 6.38 mm laminated as this will cut down noise, vibration and some heat transfer.

The door I'd replace with a solid smooth door painted bright orange/green/yellow.

Even though its west facing I doubt its the major heat issue - compared to the other west facing windows at least....

I love Julie Herberts classy ideas !

I am budget , cheap , sorry value for money . Without seeing the rest of your house , and the fact you have some grey ( everyone who paints grey should be arrested IMO haha ! ) , you need to do something . And that something is pretty easy .

A couple of litres of the brightest Sunshine Yellow paint . Paint both sides of the screen door ( don't replace it -- it's budget we are looking at here ) ; paint the front door Sunshine Yellow ; paint all the white around the side-light windows in Sunshine yellow . Done .

Or if you really want to go classy , go yellow as above , get 5 or 6 lengths of 40mm x 40mm timber , plane or sand the sharp bits off the corners , stain them a nice rich light-to-mid-brown , and screw them vertically over the side glass ! Colour and class , for under $500 ! The problem is you will look at a few other ugly windows , and put those wooden uprights over them too , and even try and hide some of the grey and beige with them too !

We have the same scenario. We solved the heat transfer caused by the west facing sidelight with a plantation shutter. It blocks and insulates in summer but has the flexibility to let light in during other times of the year. I absolutely love Julie‘s pics, but unfortunately they‘d stand out as far too modern on our place (buggar!). The plantation shutter adds a modern touch without requiring structural changes. A coat of paint and a new screen door could be job done. :-)

I am so glad MB Design Drafting mentioned 6.38mm Laminated glass: I have been talking about it for ages. Apparently it is a float made to be cut and not made to size which makes it much (like a third) of double glazing but has very similar thermal, acoustic and safety properties. WHY it is not more often requested I cannot understand. I am happy to be informed about this if I am wrong but from my research.......Do yourselves a favour and go for it instead of double glazing $$$$ .