There's no two ways about it — your patio doors are an expensive part of your remodel project. However, whatever your budget is, it doesn't necessarily limit you to having to go basic with your choice of doors.
Yes, this inspiration edit isn't made up of your run-of-the-mill patio door ideas — this is Livingetc, after all. These are the sorts of projects where design limits are pushed, materials and forms innovated, and doors made as beautiful as they are practical. It's a lot to ask from your patio door, but if you — and your designer, architect, and fabricator — have the imagination, there's a lot more you can do with your glazing than you'd initially think.
Realistically, your patio doors are one of the make or break moments of your kitchen extension project. So, what's it going to be — everyday or extraordinary?
1. Introduce Color to Your Patio Doors
Some of the most eye-catching extensions we're seeing right now all have one thing in common — their use of color. Gone are the days when your only patio door ideas were black, white, or anthracite. Now there's a whole world of color you can choose from to make your home feel bright and fun.
But, how do you make a colorful patio door choice feel purposeful, not just a novelty? "We are firm believers in establishing a consistent material and color palette for a project," says Simon Graham, founder of YARD Architects, who designed this extension with bright green sliding doors. "On the glazed brick extension, we started out with the idea of using green grout with the white glazed bricks, which was intended to soften the white brickwork and act as the driver for a bold design aesthetic for the whole scheme. The rest of the green detail followed — in the same way as people might be used to seeing grey copings, doors, mortar, etc, we have taken the same consistent approach but with the color green."
Inside, the patio doors tie in with the darker green kitchen inside, helping the whole kitchen extension to feel cohesive.
2. Create a Corner Opening
Confining your patio door ideas to one plane might not always be the best way to foster a connection to your outdoor spaces. In some instances, a corner door can open up your extension to your patio in a more dynamic way.
In this project by London firm MWAI, sliding doors open up the corner to the garden that wraps around the extension. "Corner doors are very directional in a sense," Alessia Mosci, director of MWAI, tells me. "We have used them in this project to reinforce a specific connection between indoor and outdoor living to create an element of surprise — not the usual straight-on door onto the garden steps — inviting you to circulate via the patio and to pause."
3. Bring Drama to Your Extension With an Arched Door
Introducing curves into the architecture of an extension itself isn't easy, but an arched doorway can be an effective way to stop your design from feeling too straight-lined.
Arches can feel like a really modern introduction as a patio door, however, they can be captured with a sense of classicism, too, as with this London extension project which took inspiration from the existing architecture. "The key design language stemmed from the arch form, originally seen in the two glass framed arches above the existing front door and in the brickwork detailing to the front elevation," explains architect Chantal Michelin, founder of Flower Michelin. "The ground floor rear facade was re-built in red brick to match the front facade."
4. Try This 'Barn Door' Idea
When you're comparing the likes of sliding doors vs bifold doors, the former has a drawback that makes it somewhat of a less attractive option. Generally, sliding doors need to have one fixed panel, so you can't open the doors entirely to your patio.
However, architect Adam Draper, founder of Draper Studio, created this unique sliding patio door idea that works with the L-shaped extension to open up the rear entirely. "The client wanted a door that could sail across the facade to open up the kitchen to the patio for entertaining," Adam explains. "In this timber framed instance, the frames are completely concealed from inside when closed as they are in line with the structure and posts."
Think of it this way, instead of a classic sliding door, it's more of a barn door idea in some ways.
5. Innovate With a Curved Glass Patio Door
Talk about innovative — this 'curved' glass patio door by architects Nash Baker was one of the very first designed into a home in the UK, though as Design Director Ahmed Shawky explains: "The structural engineer played a crucial role, and he was just as excited as we were to bring this concept to life."
"The curved form enabled us to push the boundaries of indoor-outdoor living, seamlessly opening up the dining area to the garden in a way that a conventional rectilinear extension could not achieve," Ahmed adds. "The patio door itself was an engineering challenge — it had to function effortlessly despite its curved track while maintaining high thermal performance and a sleek, minimal profile. Every element, from the track system to the bespoke glazing, was carefully designed to balance technical precision with aesthetic impact."
It's a big, bold patio door idea — but now that you know it can be done, what's to stop you from pursuing your own curved extension?
6. 'Raise' Your Patio Door
A lot of the patio door ideas you'll see are all about creating that indoor-outdoor connection and making it as seamless as possible. However, sometimes, that's not what an architect wants to achieve, as with Vinyl House by architect Benjamin Wilkes, who created a bi-folding window-cum-door for the rear of this extension.
"The raised bi-fold window was conceived to create a seamless but playful transition between the kitchen and garden," Benjamin explains. "Instead of a conventional threshold, the design incorporates a back-to-back window seat, allowing for a strong visual and spatial connection between inside and out."
Inside, this creates banquette seating that provides a cozy nook with a framed garden view. "The external seat — set into a deep recess beneath an overhanging roof — offers natural shading, making it a comfortable, sheltered outdoor spot," Benjamin adds.
7. Choose Steel Framed Doors
Steel-framed doors have a clever quality that makes them brilliant patio door ideas. "The key driver is the design-intent and flexibility to work with several exterior and interior design ideas, whether traditional, deco, or contemporary," explains Tim Randolph, director of steel frame door manufacturers Fabco.
As well as sitting pretty in all kinds of styles, they lend themselves to being used as part of a larger glazed window, meaning you can go large, wide, and tall with your extension glazing, with a sensible-sized door that's easy to use. On the other hand, you could try an idea like this one by Mel.Architect and have a patio door incorporated handsomely into a sloped side return extension.
8. Elevate the Everyday French Door
When you hear French doors, you may think of the basic uPVC ones — but in fact, they can still be a brilliant design feature when specified in a considered way. As Simon Graham of YARD Architects explains: "We use French doors to allow for large opening areas if the scale and general aesthetic of the project is compatible."
Steel-framed doors are often French doors by default, for example, while the project above allowed for a more decorative, Art Deco moment that made the doors feel like a more exciting statement.
9. Try the 'Pivot' Door
Some of the main problems you'll encounter when searching for good patio door ideas come down to how large you can have glass doors before they become unwieldy to use. We might all dream of those uninterrupted sight lines, but it's easier said than done.
The two largest formats you can have for individual doors are sliding and pivot doors, but while sliding doors require that fixed panel, as outlined above, pivot doors "can achieve greater widths compared to hinged doors whilst retaining slim frames," explains MWAI Architects Alessia Mosci. They are also easy to open, and they have a slightly smaller swing radius than the door's actual size, which can make all the difference when you're dealing with a narrow margin of space.
10. Recess Pocket Doors
If you want the same effect as classic bifolding doors, but without having to look at your doors piled to one side when they're open, Simon Graham from YARD Architects has a suggestion. "We use pocket sliding doors which disappear into the wall and allow the same sort of uninterrupted opening you get with bifold; these are great if they can be integrated in the design," he says.
Pocket doors have to be planned into your extension from the outset, as they require special inserts into the walls for the doors to recess into.
11. Color Drench Your Patio
We started off this list of patio door ideas with a look at using color in a statement way, so it makes sense to finish it off with another look at this big trend in architecture right now. However, instead of using a bright pop of color for the extension to this home in the Netherlands, architecture studio Atlas color-matched the patio doors to the beautiful pink concrete used for the facade and the flooring.
It's a bold look, but a little more subtle than some of the other patio doors featured here, in using this soft, earth-toned pink to color drench the exterior of the property.
FAQs
Where Do You Buy Patio Doors?
Patio doors can be bought off-the-shelf in more standard forms, however, for something like the ideas brought to life in this feature, you'll be looking at a more bespoke offering from a luxury firm.
Here are just a few you should know of:
• Express Bifolding Doors
• Fabco
• IDSystems
• IQ Glass
• Made for Trade
• Schüco
If I haven't convinced you to be more creative with your patio door when planning an extension at this point, there's no hope. However, even if you go for something a little simpler than these for your own project, there's still some scope to add interesting features through your home's glazing. How about some clever kitchen window ideas, or kitchen extensions with skylights to bring the drama instead?
