My turn to paint the front door!

11 years ago

The front door to our 1920's center-entrance colonial was replaced maybe 12 years ago. It is stained medium oak, and we have matching sidelights. Top 1/2 of door and sidelights are glass, bottom half wood. I am ready to paint the door and sidelights a COLOR.

I have not even started to pore through the paint chips yet, but figured I'd throw the question out here. What color(s) would you consider?

Here's what I have:

Siding is prefinished cedar shingles, closest color match is BM Tree Moss.

Trim is Linen White.

Shutters are basic black.

Bottom half of the house is brick. Regular old red brick.

I will try to post a picture within the next day or so, but meanwhile, any ideas? I could do black but... ho, hum. Maybe a dark red if it works with the brick. Or would a dark plummy color be too weird?

If it helps, our door is the second one shown below, the Bungalow #7216 (though our house isn't a bungalow).

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: door

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Comments (5)

les917
11 years ago
Are the shutters staying black? What color is the roof? Has there been any consideration of painting the brick? Not saying you should, just asking what all the possible scenarios might be.
Sueb20
Original Author
11 years ago
Nothing else is being painted.

Just went out and took a quick pic, which isn't the greatest but it will give you an idea, and excuse the appearance of our neglected landscaping. We have been away for most of the summer!

The roof is brownish but has some gray and black in it as well.

Looking at the pic, I'm thinking maybe a dark, brownish red? I need to spend some time standing by the brick with the paint chips!

I would love to do something a little more wild but I don't think this is the house for that approach.

Oh, and also -- the door hardware and mailbox are dark bronze metal. Totally forgot about those elements 'til I took the photo! I could change the mailbox but it was really hard to find one that worked within that space and was big enough for our typical amount of mail. But we are not changing the door hardware.
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rafor
11 years ago
First question: Do you want your door to blend in or stand out?

Right now it sort of blends in with the first levels brick.

Just an idea, but what about using the same color or a shade darker or lighter than the color of your siding on the upper level? Or black to match the shutters. In either of those cases you might have to paint the door trim too.
mtnrdredux_gw
11 years ago
Pretty house!

I would not add another color. I would try to pick up the tree moss color, or something on the same card, in a glossy finish. Your door is very pretty and we can't see it.

I might also go for light colored urns, i had to look twice to see them.

Are you wedded to the shutters? I think they should be bigger or you may even like them off.
Sueb20
Original Author
11 years ago
Good points, and obviously I posed my question before taking five minutes to think about it myself. I would like the door to stand out more, now that you mention it, so why did I even think a color close to the brick would be a good idea? I agree that maybe a darker version of the siding (Pine Grove is the darkest on that "strip") might work well, and be a good complement to the brick. Categorize under "why didn't I think of that?" Or, "I would have probably thought of that eventually."

Pretty sure DH would have my head if I suggested we remove the shutters. Let's just say that is not an option right now. They're the same size/scale as most other houses on our street -- I just looked.

Oh, I am sure this will be a typical project for me -- we'll repaint the door and then I will want new urns, new door wreath, new mailbox, new furniture in the entry... new stair runner from entry to second floor... then remodel the bathroom at the top of the stairs...

My idea with the black urns was to tie them to the shutters. (Um, not literally.) If I get rid of the black urns, I'll feel like I need Something black somewhere around the entry. Maybe a small wicker chair painted black. Again, another idea I have not thought through.

We do have a new light fixture sitting in the garage, BTW. It's a moravian star pendant, which does not exactly "go" with the house but I don't care. Hoping DH will install it this weekend. It's been in the garage since June.