Ugly Door Help

[soapyjeans]

I have a 36" steel entry door with a left-sided 3" block glass sidelight that is dreadful.  For two long decades, we've lived with it, but it is time to go.   Husband isn't home so I'm posting for any ideas because we have a bunch of projects on the table.  As you walk in the front door, the door swings in to the right and towards our steps leading upstairs and just barely misses them.  I would like to take the old frame out and install a new 36" door, but with the door moved over 7" to where the small, ugly sidelight was.  That way, there will be little more space between the door and the steps.  It will also center the door to where I think the contractor planned for it.  As it is now, it is off center from the foyer.  Does anybody see a problem with this?  And if it can be done without problems, any suggestions on what to tell the person who we hire as far as how to fill in the 7" space?  Thanks so much.

[pbkmaine]

Photos, please!

[Miss Piggy]

Can you fill in the 7" with another small, but prettier sidelight?

[soapyjeans]

Thank you, Miss Piggy.  I too thought that having a custom door made would be the easiest, but it is my least favorite option.  I don't care for sidelights at all, even if they are nicely designed or symmetrical in that there is one on each side.  It seems like any door salesperson stares in the sidelight to see if anybody is walking to the door instead of knocking and waiting by the peep hole, and at night, I don't like it either.

Another problem with it is that the glass is only 3" wide even if there would be app. a 7" gap because of the trim, etc.  I don't even know where the previous owner bought it because it's not a standard sidelight width.  It must have been custom.   Imagine that.

pbkmaine, I don't have access to a digital camera and I don't own a cell phone.  I can find one online and label what ours would be like.  If you can't help because of lack of a picture, I understand.  It's okay, but thank you for trying.

[soapyjeans]

Okay, hopefully this will be okay.  This is like our door as far as a sidelight on one side.  In red are the measurements for our door.  Thank you for trying.

PS  I would like to take out the sidelight and move the door over to the right as far as it will go and fill in the space it will leave on the left with drywall I guess.

[pbkmaine]

Or you could replace with another door plus a less-objectionable sidelight on the other side, perhaps this one?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/JELD-WEN-50-125-in-x-81-75-in-1-2-Lite-Blakely-Primed-Steel-Prehung-Left-Hand-Inswing-Front-Door-with-Right-Hand-Sidelite-B67071/202576071

[MasterStache]

Or you could replace with another door plus a less-objectionable sidelight on the other side, perhaps this one?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/JELD-WEN-50-125-in-x-81-75-in-1-2-Lite-Blakely-Primed-Steel-Prehung-Left-Hand-Inswing-Front-Door-with-Right-Hand-Sidelite-B67071/202576071

That's exactly what we did. Even purchased a very similar single sidelite model from HD. We kept the inswing the same. If you replace the entire unit with a same size one, you can special order the type of inswing. Took about half a door to remove the old door/frame and put the new one in.

[HipGnosis]

You don't say why you're (thinking of) replacing the steel door.  They can be painted.  You can add faux panels.
Why not just take out the sidelight and have the door moved to the center? 
Why not put curtain(s) over the sidelight?  Or put 'frosted glass' film on it?

It won't be cheap to move the door to the full left without a sidelight on the right.

[Drifterrider]

I hate a single sidelight door.  It looks so unbalanced.

Take your measurements to a box store and see if someone makes an all in one unit that will work for you.  With more people being bigger and some in wheelchairs being more mobile than they used to be, who says you have to stick with a 36" door?

Looking is free.  It is when you start touching things they seem to cost money.

[Spork]

PS  I would like to take out the sidelight and move the door over to the right as far as it will go and fill in the space it will leave on the left with drywall I guess.

I bet if you do that and the door is off center, it will bug you to death.  I think I'd center it and patch both left and right.

It looks odd now with a single sidelight.  Pushing it all the way right is likely to look just as odd.

[BlueHouse]

Is there room for a double-door (standard sized door on one side and mini-size, usually closed side on the other?

[Miss Piggy]

Are you sure you want the door to open in the opposite direction? It's hard to tell, but in your photo, it appears that the right side of the entryway opens up to a room...or re-reading your original post, perhaps it's stairs. Regardless, having the door open in the opposite direction would put people in the closet. That feels worse to me than your current situation. And truth be told, I really like your current door because it has a lot of glass and looks very "open." You might be the current door's worst critic...but I get it...there are things I despise about my current house that nobody else even notices.

[sisto]

I would just buy a 42" door and center it. You should be able to get a wider trim to fix the extra inch you have left over if necessary.

[BlueHouse]

http://blog.innovatebuildingsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Sidelight-Staggered-Pattern-Wave-blocks1.jpg

Does it look like this?