Today we are finally answering all your questions on How to Find Black Windows and Doors for Less!
Three years ago, when we built our personal home, Carissa came to me with the idea of black windows throughout our home. At the time the number of manufacturers offering black or bronze exterior AND interior windows was very limited and VERY EXPENSIVE.
Historically, steel windows and doors were the primary material used to achieve the high contrast look that black windows and doors provide. After Carissa came to me with the idea I began researching manufacturers from around the country to find a vendor that would work within our budget. After several weeks of scouring the internet and contacting manufacturers, we came to the conclusion that we would request a quote for steel doors and windows in just a few high impact areas of our home.
We decided to focus on our front door and a large 18′ door and window system in our living room. After all my hard work, the best quote I received was for $46,000 and that was just to get a truck to show up at the job site. I was going to have to arrange for a crew to install the steel door and also install the glass too. I never got further to price that out, but I’m certain it would have added $1,000’s more.
Remember, $46,000 was just for our front door and living room door! Before Carissa shared her idea for black doors and windows I had planned on a generous budget of $15,000 for doors and windows for the entire house! Obviously, my budget had to increase, but no way could we spend $50K on 2 areas so my quest for a new solution began.
We wound up using a combination of Aluminum Clad for our front door and 2 other large sliding door systems and Vinyl windows throughout. The Aluminum Clad came with a bronze exterior that will be virtually maintenance free and we were able to paint the interior wood portion of the window the rich black color that Carissa wanted. The vinyl windows came with a bronze exterior and white interior (bronze interior was not an option at the time with this manufacturer).
Our main living space is very open and we installed several vinyl windows in the same proximity as the Aluminum Clad windows in our entry and living space. To correct the white interior finish, I had my painter paint the inside of the white vinyl interior black. I’m pleased to report 3 years later things are holding up perfectly.
Fast forward to 2019. We just installed black windows on a new custom home project. The homeowner wanted a black exterior look and we were committed to finding a high-end high contrast look of black windows that didn’t break the bank.
We ultimately decided on Anderson 100 Series Windows. Anderson has developed an alternative to vinyl they call Fibrex. Fibrex has several benefits over vinyl windows and while many manufacturers now offer vinyl windows with a dark bronze interior and exterior finish, we found the Anderson 100 Series Windows to be the best combination of quality, price and the look we desired. They also offered a variety of colors, grille designs, window types, and even hardware. In order to work within our budget, we used a combination of Casement to maximize sight lines, Single Hung to minimize cost, and Gliding to achieve a combination of maximum sight line and minimum cost.
To Summarize How to Find Black Windows and Doors for Less
- Vinyl windows are the most cost-effective window and many manufacturers now offer color options in black.
- A step up in terms of quality, the Anderson 100 Series window made from Fibrex offers a great solution with many customizable options and are now available at Home Depot. This is what we are currently using on one of our new construction homes (pictured below in the construction phase as the last picture in this blog post).
- Aluminum Clad is still a fantastic solution with a tremendously durable exterior finish and the wood clad interior gives you the flexibility to finish in any color you would like. This is what we used on our house (pictured below) in our living room. On the inside of our house, we painted the wood black to match the dark exterior.
- When a budget isn’t a consideration, you can’t argue that Steel Windows and Doors offer an exceptional look that can’t be matched.
To Summarize Exactly What We Did in Our Home to Get the Look of Black Windows and Doors for Less:
We have three SEMCO sliding doors (living room, front door, and game room – see pictures) – they are all aluminum clad bronze exterior with wood interior that we painted black. In order to save money, we then switched to vinyl windows all over the rest of the house. The vinyl windows are bronze exterior then in our dining room and breakfast nook, we painted the interior vinyl black.
Throughout the rest of our house (guest bedrooms, kid rooms, etc…we left the vinyl white). However, if we were building our house now, we would use the Andersen 100 series windows and the Anderson 200 series doors from Home Depot to achieve this same look. To be specific, we would do the Andersen Narroline Gliding Patio Doors and the Anderson 100 series windows in the dark bronze or black. Again, this option was not available when we built our house but is now. We have two new construction projects going now that are using these windows (see construction phase photo at the end of this post) so we will be sure to update you guys when those homes are finished as they both use the Andersen series from Home Depot!
- Front Door – Semco Aluminum Clad exterior with a bronze finish and wood clad interior that we paint Black Satin by Benjamin Moore
- Living Room Sliding Door and Window Transom – Semco Aluminum Clad exterior with a bronze finish and wood clad interior that we paint Black Satin by Benjamin Moor
- Gameroom Sliding Door – Semco Aluminum Clad exterior with a bronze finish and wood clad interior that we paint Black Satin by Benjamin Moore
- Breakfast Nook and Dining Room – Vinyl Bronze Exterior and white interior. We painted them Black Satin by Benjamin Moore and they are holding up wonderfully (you can see pictures of our dining room and breakfast nook below).
- The entire rest of the house – vinyl windows (bronze exterior) with white interior – to save money
YOU CAN SHOP OUR LIVING ROOM LOOK HERE (Scroll and tap at the bottom of the picture to shop):
Below you can see the interior look of the Aluminum Clad sliding door system we installed in our Living Room.
Below you can see the combination of the Aluminum Clad sliding door from our Living Room next to a Vinyl window. We were very pleased with how well the exterior Bronze color from 2 different manufactures matched. Make sure to verify for yourself!
SHOP OUR FAVORITE POOL AND OUTDOOR PRODUCTS: Including our chaise loungers from Target and our Black and White beach umbrellas which are Wal Mart!
Next up, we are welcoming you into one of our remodels from last year – The Rebsamen Remodel – to show you How to Find Black Windows and Doors for Less! We also used Anderson Aluminum Clad Windows on this house. This same look can be achieved by using Home Depot‘s Anderson 100 Series window .
SHOP THIS REMODEL LOOK HERE: Some of our best sellers from this remodel are the Stone Tile rug from West Elm, black round coffee table from cb2, and of course that cute gold mirror from Target and the swivel chairs
Below is an Anderson Aluminum Clad sliding door system. The wood clad interior was painted black to give the high contrast look the clients wanted.
Here’s another look at our front door and entryway looking into our big black window unit and sliding doors in our living room.
YOU CAN SHOP OUR ENTRYWAY LOOK HERE:
Below is another look of our front door and entryway looking into our big black window unit and sliding doors in our living room. This is a Semco Aluminum exterior with Wood Clad interior. We painted the Wood Clad interior a high sheen black.
Below is a look at another Aluminum Clad sliding door system in our game room and you can shop our game room look here:
Also, soon we will be showing you a never before seen reveal of our teen room which is just up the stairs from this room. It will be a little hangout space that our kiddos (and us) are so excited about because the highlight of the space will be these hanging chairs from Hayneedle and a comfy new sofa and leather ottoman from Joybird!!
Below is another look from our kitchen at the Aluminum Clad slider on the left where we painted the Wood Clad interior Black. We also painted the vinyl windows on the right-hand side of the screen black (they were white and black was not an option at the time with this manufacturer). When ordering from 2 manufacturers, we were careful to ensure the window grill pattern and overall design blended well together.
To clarify, in our breakfast nook (below) and dining room (above – the dark green room), we switch to vinyl windows to be more cost-effective. These vinyl windows were carefully matched to the SEMCO sliding doors grill pattern. However, they were much more affordable. The vinyl windows we chose are bronze exterior and white on the interior but we painted them Satin Black by Benjamin Moore so that all are main areas (entryway, dining room, kitchen, breakfast nook, and living room) all have the look of black exterior and black interior windows. We have been in our house three years and the black paint on the interior windows is holding up nicely.
SHOP OUR BREAKFAST NOOK HERE:
SHOP OUR KITCHEN: Including our best selling, affordable gold bar stools from Wayfair!
SHOP OUR DINING ROOM:
I know we’ve been talking about How to Find Black Windows and Doors for Less today and have let you guys in on the secret about Home Depot Andersen 100 series windows, but Home Depot also has amazing furniture and home decor as well. I recently wrote this post sharing some of my affordable favorites from Home Depot for furniture and home decor, including this amazing slipcovered chair (pictured below) and these adjustable height wood top bar stools, as well as some amazing rugs.
YOU CAN SHOP OUR FAVORITE FURNITURE AND HOME DECOR ITEMS FROM HOME DEPOT HERE:
Addilyn Jute Arm Chair | Antique Gray Round Table | Adjustable Bar Stool | Aldridge Rectangle Table | Canopy Bed | Campaign Dresser | Linen Chesterfield Sofa | Tv Stand | Cane Back Chair | Meloni Leather Chair | Adjustable Bar Stool with Back | Mayfield Sectional | Henley leather bench/ottoman | Navy Velvet Club Chair | Braided Area Rug | Conrad Area Rug | Tribal Area Rug | Laurine Rug |
Thank you so much for stopping by to check out How to Find Black Windows and Doors for Less! Here is another project we have going right now that is using black windows and doors and we are about to start another custom, new construction that will also have black windows and doors. If you want to always know what is going on with CC and Mike, you can:
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