Whether you’re building from scratch or renovating, opening up the back of your home to the deck or garden is an unbeatable way to boost its value and lifestyle appeal. By maximising the light and air flow into the interior space and increasing the sense of continuity between inside and out you’ll not only make your rooms feel lighter and brighter, but you’ll effectively add an extra room to your usable space. There’s a vast choice of light-maximising doors and screens on the market, including folding, sliding, stacking, French and pivoting, each with their pros and cons. It’s a good idea to assess your needs and budget carefully first, and factor in things such as your home’s style, size, orientation, structural conditions and climate before making a decision.

Centor Architectural, an award-winning manufacturer of hardware for doors and windows, identifies the key trends in exterior doors, including:

What’s Trending In Exterior Doors

• Improved ergonomics – things must feel as good to use as they look
• Customers want a cleaner finish for exterior doors with discreet or concealed hinges and locks
• Bi-fold doors continue to be enormously popular, largely because they offer the maximum air flow to an interior space of all door styles. The latest bi-folds can be installed in both supersized and small openings
• The latest insect screens are fully retractable and discreet enough to allow for uninterrupted views
• Customers now recognise that good quality weather seals are essential for improving the energy efficiency of their homes

Award-Winning Door Hardware

Some of Centor Architectural’s latest innovations include:

• Bottom-Rolling Bi-Fold System that allows you to install bi-folding doors and windows in just about any sized opening without any overhead structural support
• Eco-Screen, a discreet, fully retractable insect screen with unbeatable solar control
• Award-winning Twinpoint lock, which secures doors with a dropbolt in the head and sill with a single twist of a central handle
  Smooth fingertip operation across all systems