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Like a bright tie with a dark gray suit or a patterned scarf with a plain dress, a home’s front door can make a statement that the rest of the exterior isn’t free to express.
With a simple choice of color, the front door can say a lot about the people who live there and what to expect in the rooms behind it. The house may be locked into a traditional natural color palette of white, black, gray or muted blues and greens, but the door offers a small but prominent opportunity to let our true colors shine.
“A home’s front door needs to set the stage for what people will see when they open it. The color sets up an expectation,” interior designer Sara Hillery says.
With so much at stake, understanding what colors say and how they relate to interior design is critical.
John Crosby Freeman, a Richmond-based color specialist known as “The Color Doctor” who helped create Sherwin Williams Preservation Palettes in the early 1980s, explains that choosing colors for a front door has been an evolving concept.
“For a long time, exterior paint colors were imitations of traditional building materials,” he explains. “It’s hard to go wrong with a neutral entry door color like gray, brown or black.”
Most professionals agree that there are three factors to consider when deciding on front door treatments: color, paint sheen and exterior building materials. There are cool colors and warm colors. On the full spectrum, yellows to reds are warm and yellows to deep blues and purples are cool. Both warm and cool colors can evoke moods and even memories, which can inform a homeowner’s choice. But before you buy a can of shiny hot pink paint for your front door, be warned: It may be your favorite color, but if you’ve chosen traditional design and a palette dominated by soft natural colors for your interior spaces, that front door will create confusion, especially as it swings into the contrasting interior decor.
Freeman also notes it’s essential that the front door color differs from the color of the shutters. “Their function is not the same. It’s important to stay focused on the entry door as the portal between domestic order inside and relative chaos outside. Its structural relationship to surrounding architectural features is not the same as shutters.”
Selecting a high-sheen paint, no matter the color, suggests the house has sparkle. “Visitors will expect chic interior design,” Hillery says. “If the homeowner is fun and jazzy, I would never suggest a front door painted in a muted, matte color.”
Natural, unpainted red brick exteriors can also influence front door color choices. “There are only a handful of color choices, and they depend on mortar color, which can be various shades of white or yellow,” according to Hillery. “A yellow paint will clash with yellowish mortar,” she says.
Color is a universal language, according to Stephanie Casey of Stephanie Casey Interiors. The Richmond-based interior decorator shares that “behind every color and shade or hue is a meaning and an emotional message. That message can be positive or negative, calming or invigorating.”
Things to keep in mind when picking a front door color include the period of your property, the design surroundings of the home, and whether it will reduce the property value and make the home difficult to sell.
Currently popular colors include uplifting greens (synonymous with nature and calm), tranquil blues (associated with comfort and serenity) and light pinks (offering a sense of warmth and softness).
Whatever the choice, front door color can be a great way to add personality to your home.
