As part of the house fix-up, we’re having everything painted, inside and out. The house exterior has always been light greenish-gray with white trim, the interior varying shades of white on both walls and trim. I feel little urge for change. Except.
I want to paint my front door a completely different color. Right now it’s white. White, old, and all banged up. Shall we share a few ugly photos?
Ever so attractive. Don’t fret about that concrete. Potted plants to the eventual rescue.
All you lovers of mid-century, this is what a real 1954 doorknob looks like. Turns out some 1950s builders preferred Medieval Dungeon to Mies van der Rohe.
How to choose the new shade? I know my instinctual preferences. High WASPs believe, for reasons mysterious even to us, that our front doors should be painted black, white, red, or green. Or left unpainted in the original wood or metal. That’s it. Why we don’t like navy blue, our favorite and almost canonical color for clothing, I simply cannot parse out. And we’re not even going to talk about chartreuse. I guess we’ll let the Cotswolds keep on with aquamarine, if they must.
So, wood is out. My front door turns out to be dark and splotchy under its white paint, from previous staining. Black would be too severe with my particular gray, white’s out, green too matchy. Red then. All set? These pictures are pretty compelling.
Via Maria Killam, Ten Best Front Door Colours For Your House.
Via Love Your Room, Make Your Outdoor Entry Eye Candy.
Found here.
But I still doubt my house decor instincts, I want a constraining framework. High WASPs in California often follow the woo woo, as we call it, using irony in its time-honored role as a mask for anxiety. In this case, I thought, “Why not Feng Shui? What does the old Chinese real estate quasi-magic say?”
Feng shui recommends front door colors based on your entry’s orientation. My house looks Northeast. And the best feng shui colours for a Northeast-facing front door are (in order of their auspiciousness): earthy/sandy colors, yellow, burgundy red, purple, deep orange, and rich pink. I can do burgundy, which I will not call cabernet, despite my fealty to California.
Finally, there are some indications that, WASP and feng shui tradition aside, red is a very popular color, and probably good for resale.
Time to choose.
My painter says that although Kelly Moore hasn’t let him down in 30 years, as far as exteriors and standard interiors go, their saturated colors are substandard. OK then. He likes Home Depot’s Marquee line, with one coat coverage, or Benjamin Moore. So after lining up swatches on the doorway,
I’m considering the Marquee Reddest Red,
or Benjamin Moore’s Dinner Party.
What is the final compass reading for my decision? You, my inestimable and skilled readers, you. Do you have a favorite red? On the blueish side, but not too blue, nicely bright but not too-too, deep but not, well, you get the drill? Do tell.
(Of course, there’s a board for that.)
88 Responses
Just painted my front door (for resale!), and found most reds to be not red, but rather pink.
Rustoleum to the rescue.
An oil-based and shiny red, there’s no choice to be made. Just buy the can and enjoy the red red of Rustoleum ‘Gloss Regal Red’!! No tiny-paint-swatch-mind-fuckery required!! Perfect!!
@Cornelia, Nice idea. I think I actually need a pinkish red, however, because of the green tone in the gray. So for once I’m not swimming upstream.
Colors seem their most intense when placed next to their opposite on the color wheel. The slight green of your house color will somewhat intensify the red you choose. Of course, evaluating color on a computer monitor is difficult, but the “reddest red” reads a little too red to go well with the house on my monitor. Something deeper, more burgundy, bluer, may work better. Of course, all bets are off if my monitor isn’t an accurate representation of the actual colors.
@DocP, I think you’re right. That Reddest Red has a little too much orange to it, in my eye, so I’m looking to tone things bluer.
Will you have plants, esp flowers, near the front door? Any favorite colors that would clash with red?
I decided a few years ago to repaint our door and I was all settled on red until I realized it would look terrible in the summers (Canada) with some of my favorite flowers in pots by the door. In California I suppose this would be more of a year-round concern.
So I ended up picking eggplant purple, and I love it. Looks nice in the summer with the flower pots too!
@Rebecca, Hmm, not something I’d considered…
I hope this is an OK comment, but I’d rethink the red. I think with your door style, hardware, set back etc., the red may not work. I’d go with a French blue/gray.
@kathy, Totally OK. As long as no one will desert me if I make unapproved choices in the end:).
Try C2 paints. They are made with 16 pigments v. the usual 5 or 6. They are very saturated and heavy paints. My painters raved over them.
C2 is very good paint.
My parents always have a red door. It’s almost exactly the Talbot’s door red:
Benjamin Moore
Regal Select- Soft Gloss Finish N402 Base 4x Ultra
Color formula for a gallon = 7 x 0 MI; 6 x 30 OI, 2 BI
@Patsy, I will go to the Benjamin Moore paint store today. It would seem fitting to have the same color as your parents, somehow:).
Oh I love that the feng shui even said that burgundy is a good color for your door! I love the Benjamin Moore Dinner Party red the most – maybe add a gloss coat to it for it to really pop a bit with more personality?
@WorthyStyle, Yes. I’d like to be shiny.
All your samples are on formal colonial-type homes.
You have those woodsy cedar shakes and a low profile home that, if memory of your addition with the corner window holds true, runs modern to cottage.
I love red doors but I wonder if without any shutters to pair it with, your red door will look stranded. I don’t get the feeling you’re going to extend the red to the window trim.
Maybe looking into Kathy’s idea about a deep-colored door with a killer knob/doorplate that keeps the informal naturalistic vibe going is good.
@RoseAG, No extended trim:). And yes, my house is exactly cottage to modernistic. If I don’t paint the door red, I will have to do get a whole new door, I think.
Our front door used to be red as the painter that we hired to do the house thought it appropriate several years ago but since we had our front door rebuilt we kept it in the natural wood shade…
I like a front door to be different from the rest of the house…I would actually stick my neck out and suggest/vote for a black door with some seriously swanky statement hardware…and use black pots filled with cheery yellow blooms by the front door. Just my humble opinion for what it’s worth…
@hostessofthehumblebungalow, That would look very nice, on its own, but yellow won’t go with my front yard in bloom, which is lavender and pinks and occasionally periwinkle blue, and apricot accent!
At first I liked the Benjamin Moore red, but after reading RoseAg’s comment, I think the matter deserves more study. Also, since your door is recessed, a dark shade like that might read as black or colorless.
The oddest detail in these photos that I noticed was the mismatched and completely inappropriate Phillips screws on the Victorian-style doorknob. Attention to details like that makes all the difference in the final impression.
–Jim
@Parnassus, I clearly need Reggie and Boy Darling to come out and make me more period-appropriate!
@Parnassus, I just need Reggie and Boy Darling. Waaaaaa!!!! Come home, Reggie, come home!
I’m always in favor of red. If I had to choose between the two samples you’ve given, I’d go with the second. My house is sort of a brownish green (the color is called “buckthorn brown”), and our red door is called “colonial red”, but is much more like a red brick color. We originally tried a pinker red, but it didn’t work with the green.
I love Rebecca’s idea about an eggplant-colored door. Purple, but almost black? That would be beautiful and go well with the blue/white flowers you seem to be drawn to.
@Kristina, I think pinkish red will work on this house. But I’ve got to get some samples!
My front door was painted aubergine (like Rebecca’s door) and ended up being in a magazine, it was unusual paired with our brick house but quite fetching with the sage-green trim. Then I painted it a coral colour and it has not been in a magazine… still, I really like an orange front door, a dark orange in particular.
Honestly it’s a very tough decision because the front door is such a focal point of your home! Let us know what you do.
@DaniBP, I am sure your house looks amazing.
I love a red door but have never lived in a house with one. The door on my husband’s house in the Hudson Valley was blue, and much as I love blues, I hated that but door. We replaced it with a custom made wooden door and kept the natural wood shade. My current door is also wood, but on a different house I might love red, or aubergine, which I had never considered until I read the comments here.
@Mardel, The only other color I think I could be happy with requires buying a new door and leaving it light wood!
I am a huge fan of Ben Moore paints for quality. I think a less carbernet-ish color would suit your house and the native light that you have. Benjamin Moore’s Heritage red looks lovely with gray that I think is the color of your house. Best of luck!
@Kerry Steele, Thank you! Off to try some samples. If I don’t spend all day with the roofers:(
If you are keeping the same color Trim and Exterior and have been looking at Reds, then I might go with the deepest of them, such as a Burgundy…Quite TRADITIONAL however…I live in New England and there is plenty of that around :-)
On the other hand…You have such a Lovely Garden and so I might think about bringing some of those colors into your decision making…Perhaps a Rose, Gold, Deep Purple or Lime Green to compliment the Greenish Gray Exterior…I’ve lived in SF and it certainly is a City of Wondrous Color…Get inspired and Good Luck!
@Maude, San Francisco colors are the stuff of legend. Thanks!
Our house is gray wood shingles with white trim (think of a Cape Cod house, although ours is not that style), and when we had it repainted some years ago we assumed the front door should be white. The painter suggested a medium blue, perhaps in part because we live near water. We love it. Your greenish tinge in your shingles might rule that out, however. If I were going red, I think I’d either pick one with lots of brown in it or an American flag red. I look forward to seeing your final choice.
@MJ, I think many of the readers here agree with your painter! And I will absolutely show the final color, everyone just has to promise not to egg me or boo or run away if they don’t like it!
Hmm… fun stuff, choosing colours! The nice thing is that it’s comparatively cheap and easy to change if you really hate it.
I quite fancy brightly coloured glossy doors. In the UK they’re just brightly coloured with no reference to anything else on the house. It would be considered a bit tacky to paint the trim the same colour.
@Eleanorjane, I won’t paint the trim a color – I like it white:). And I will aim for as glossy as possible.
I’d avoid barn red given the greenish tone in the siding. How about eggplant/very dark purple?
@Cathy, How about pink red:)? Cannot bring myself to go so far as eggplant. I’m listening, but my cultural makeup just can’t go there…:)
Very deep blue-green, almost black. I like Hostess’s idea but would want to have a more ridescent effect. But you surely will choose what you love!
As for reds, I love red doors. Mine is Ben Moore’s (older version then the present one)called Georgian Brick. But our house is a white 1780 cape with a slate roof, so the bricky red goes with the (almost)black (green) shutters and the brick courtyard.
@Swissy, Your house sounds gorgeous. And yes, I hope to love what I choose. It’s really nice to have all these ideas and a group to share them with.
I would replace the door altogether and get rid of the sidelight by incorporating a newer wider glass framed door in the space. If you went with a wood door, I’d stain the wood a blue/grey colour (as Kathy suggests). Hydrangea colours!
@Elizabeth, I am considering putting in a wood door. Several new remodels in the area have done the same, and it looks very right with these houses. But, budget, so may only consider and then have to make do.
I went looking for a red door color for my last house and ended up with a coral-y pink from BM (sorry, I can’t remember the name) that made me smile every time I came home. It reminded me of flamingos or lobsters (very WASP-y, yes?) or a particularly flattering shade of lipstick. Our realtor made us paint the door black when we tried to sell the home just at the start of the recession. When the house wouldn’t sell we took it off the market, repainted the door coral and happily lived with it for three more years. When we relisted the house, it sold almost immediately. I’m sure the door color had something to do with that ;)
Best of luck!
@Kathryn, Thank you! That’s a very sweet story about your door and house sale.
Not going to vote, although I do like a red door (the interior of our front door in our city condo is a deep brick, Benjamin Moore, a colour whose precise name I can’t remember, but that I still like very much 6or 7 years later. At our island home, the door is still its original, generic white, 17 years later, despite our having said many times we were going to choose a colour and paint a statement. So kudos to you for moving forward with yours. I look forward to the After photos.
@Frances/Materfamilias, Perhaps your true island door color awaits your retirements. After photos will come, in a few weeks, I promise.
Once again, you read my mind! My guy and I are remodeling our house, and I’ve been musing about the color of the front door. We are months away from completion, but I have been thinking about it nonetheless. Our front door faces east. I will investigate the best feng shui colors for an east-facing entrance. We have lived in Montana for 30+ years, but he is from Atherton and I am from Lafayette, so we cannot completely shake our high-WASP California tastes.
@Kate McIvor, Atherton! Lafayette! Peninsula meets the East Bay::). Do check back in, if you have a moment, and report on Eastern doors in Montana?
What’s in the foyer?
I think I get your “constraining framework” concept. For me the constraining framework is color in context and what’s your goal. The door needs to balance what we see from the street, your garden, and what we see when we open the door. Then we add into the mix the colors you love and what is your goal. Are we painting for resale or for you.
With no context other than the photo, I’d do a yellow.
Also, when the painters arrive have them get up on the roof and paint the vent stacks black. Non-negotiable.
Good luck!
@Linda Pakravan, Such a good question. Right now, nothing. A 6-7 foot stretch of floor, that Ts in a hallway, and some art. According to feng shui I have to get paintings of water up, because I just don’t think I can do one of those table fountains;).
This is a topic near and dear to my heart – I have a similarly colored house and our front door is an orangey red that I have not been in love with for far too long. I am nearly settled on B Moore Heritage Red for myself but I’m liking the Dinner Party swatch a great deal.
@Anne, Ah, glad to know that red with gray has life elsewhere:).
I love red doors and painted ours a brick red 10+ years ago, using a spray on rust oleum enamel. It still looks perfect. As I recall, I used some sort of feng shui at the time, but don’t recall what it was. It was green before, and I love looking at it now. I like strong colors outdoors, and especially for front doors, it really sets them apart as THE entrance.
@Susie, Yes, I feel like my front door has languished for decades.
Sounds like you’re in good hands picking the paint color. As I’m one of those lovers of Mid-Century, I love the back plate behind your doorknob! Your post reminded me of the Bay Area ranch/rambler home I grew up in. My antique-loving parents scoured the salvage yards & replaced the standard tract-house front door with a Victorian door with oval beveled-glass window & an ornate bronze doorknob & back plate. I always loved that door & I’m happy that although several owners have done quite a bit of remodeling & have replaced many things over the years, the door is still there.
@Megan, That’s lovely. So many houses razed to the ground here, or made over so substantially, it’s always fascinating to see what endures.
The Benjamin Moore Dinner Party red would make me
smile every time I came home just like @Kathryn wrote.
I might even find reasons to go out just so I could look
at the front of my house with that gorgeous door – so
charming and inviting! Which color would make you smile?
@Candace, Candy apple red, and thanks for asking:).
Had to get the Benjamin Moore paint deck out. Best investment of $35 or so dollars. You can sit and muse over the small chips and then go and buy the sample cans and try them out. I am definitely favoring a sort of soft blue-green, or green-blue, such as HC 137 Mill Springs Blue, or CC Jack Pine a lovely dark blue green660. Waiting to see which way you go on this one. I must say, the burgundies aren’t speaking to me in terms of your architecture and garden.
@barbara, I have a Benjamin Moore paint store in the next town up:). I should note, two other houses on my cul-de-sac have burgundy/deep red doors. It’s possible that I am not portraying the atmosphere accurately.
Hi,
As someone on my 4th front door color in 10 years, I should not weigh in, but I did like Maud’s comment about going with a rose color. We have neighbors with a recessed front door, too, and when it was painted a dark color, the entryway looked like a cavern.
Also, when you narrow the spectrum down to 2 or 3 colors, paint a bigger swatch, tack it up, and see what it looks like (especially from a distance) before committing. What about stripping and staining a color so the wood grain can be seen? (sorry – couldn’t resist after all:)
Lisa
@Lisa Ann, The door is too mottled to stain it. I guess it too has been painted a lot of times:).
My house is pale gray and we considered a nice red (cardinal red, as in the Virginia state bird) door. We ultimately went with cobalt blue — not too bright, not too dark. Five years in, we’re so pleased with it that when I repainted the front door this week, I used the same color.
@Jen on the Edge, Total front door success story!
Farrow and Ball have some nice paint colours.
http://us.farrow-ball.com/farrow-and-ball-heritage/content/fcp-content
@Suz, I’ll stop by the supplier in San Francisco this week. Thanks.
Given that your door faces North and given that your door is deeply set in an alcove and given that Feng Shui says yellow and golden colours, that’s what I’d choose for maximum light effect. I’d try out an untarnished brass colour, like that very tiny rim surrounding the lock on the plate.
To prep and paint that door beautifully will require a very skilled trades person and will cost some real money so you don’t want to do it more than once. I agree with one of the other commenters who suggested painting big swatches of colours on boards so you really have an idea of how it will look in changing light.
I also love the last red but think yellow/gold would be a better choice.
Any chance of painting the floor of the alcove black for some delicious contrast?
@Vancouver Barbara, I absolutely plan to work with the big swatches method. I hadn’t even considered painting the cement front steps!
Hi Lisa,
Long time follower (LOVE your blog), but first time commenter.
I live in Calgary Alberta. Climate can be harsh at times. Our house faces North and is painted white with a nice slate gray trim – also the front porch is done in that slate colour. Anyway, we repainted our front door last summer in Benjamin Moore’s “Salsa”, a wonderful warm red colour. We’ve had many compliments on it. Our Salsa door has really warmed up what would otherwise be a very drab and cold looking exterior (that north, windswept look, especially during the winter!!!).
Barb
@Barb, Very nice to meet you! Thank you so much for joining the discussion. I bet Salsa looks great with slate gray – especially in your climate. Warm toned red and a dark, blued gray, right?
I love a red front door. I think it always feels welcoming. I think I’m leaning toward that “Dinner Party” with your house color.
Someday we’ll paint our dirty white door red–first we need to paint the rest of the exterior, though, and find the shade that works with whatever that color is and the brick that fronts the house below the windows.
@Tragic Sandwich, Thanks! I hadn’t painted this house in 22 years. It’s really a pleasure to see it reemerge, even without any changes to the color.
I’ve enjoyed all those suggestions- but you alone know how the light plays in your particular patch of home, how you relate emotionally to the shade, and how it looks with your landscaping. Crowdsourcing a colour choice: fun but not very reliable.
Hey, it’s only a can of paint. Since you aren’t doing shutters or trim you can repaint the door you live with it for awhile and then change your minds.
I like any door that is not the standard neutral; the hell with feng shui beige!
@Duchesse, Thank you. You are right, there are so many factors in play that I can’t communicate in a blog post. The red doors of my neighbors, the blue/pink/green/white palette of my front garden – with its one apricot rose accent, my cultural biases, and the changing light. It’s been so good to see so many suggestions, though, as it has really brought home that several people with aesthetic sensibilities I respect can all have a different opinion. Which means, in the end, it is up to me.
You may consider a butter yellow.It will bring your door forward,and be a great color to do gray planters with any color flowers. also cheerful and very ‘now’ modern accent color. be traditional,but with a twist.
@Lori Edwards, It would be very “now,” I agree.
Find that candy apple red-your smiles are worth more than “perfection”.
Trust yourself-you create such beauty all thru this blog.
No matter what that door shall be lovely.
Because you are behind it. :)
@Sarah, Oh, you are so sweet. I learn so much from my readers. Thank you.
Well, I’ve just read this post. A week late. I was busy with grandkids and birthdays and San Francisco. But I got so excited when I read this post. I LOVE our red door. We used to have a battleship grey door but then when we did a little remodeling we decided or I decided that red was the perfect color. If you would like I will give you the precise color. It’s not blue, it’s not orange it[s a perfect red and we love it. In fact people have asked the name of the color because it’s just so perfect red. It will make you happy to just walk into your home.
@Sandra Sallin, Yes! Precise color, please! xoxox.
I love a red door. I’m sorry I don’t have advice on the shade, but I think you should agonize over it for as long as you feel you must, and then just go for the one that makes you smile. After all, it’s only paint.
@Claire, Yes. This post has been quite helpful in coming to that exact sentiment:).
I think a lemony yellow would look pretty.
@Margaret, Yes, I think it might.
I’ll find out tomorrow and let you know. It’s perfection!
I’ve had bright red doors for probably going on twenty years. I could never give them up. Good feng shui or at least that’s what my twenty plus books say. Go for it!
I know how you feel with the struggle to find the right color. My neighbor has nearly the same home color scheme as you on the exterior, and we have been browsing Pinterest for a couple of weeks to try and find a color she likes. She may go for a bright blue, along with some high contrast planters (she’s thinking black-and-white stripes) to really brighten up her porch. Another option her husband keeps suggesting is to buy a new front door with those pretty oval shaped stained glass windows in them.
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