Believe it or not, your front door speaks volumes. Visible for all to see, its color serves as a powerful introduction to the style and personality of the homeowner. Taking the time to choose the right shade of, say, black, yellow, or blue sets the tone for the rest of the house. Like all matters related to design, the best results are realized when homeowners take time to think through their options.
Whether it’s for the front door or the living room, selecting paint colors is a hurdle for most homeowners, which is why I decided to call decorative product specialist Jacqueline Shelton of Sherwin-Williams in Creve Coeur. She told me that before picking up a color swatch, she likes to ask clients a series of questions: Where do you live? What is the style of your home? Is it brick? Is it siding? What feeling do you want to impart when visitors come over?
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Most importantly, she’s wanting to elicit insights into how the client feels about color and its impact. “Is it going to make me feel good every time I see my front door? Is it going to represent me?’” she asks, “because that’s why we choose color.”
Whether it’s a navy blue or lime green door you desire, always take into account the orientation of your house, says Shelton. If the house faces south, it’s going to get a lot of sunlight throughout the day, so a cool tone is the best choice. Think of it as water and sun on the beach: A cool hue (water) will tone down the warmth (sun), she says. This doesn’t mean that homeowners are limited in their choice of color. Quite the contrary, color is a spectrum, so owners can still choose yellow if that’s their preference–it just needs to be on the cool end to avoid looking neon in the hot sun. On the other hand, because north-facing doors never get direct sunlight, they need to be warmed up. If you’re drawn to blue, select a shade of blue with yellow tones for warmth. “You don’t want the front door to be cold-looking when people come over,” says Shelton, who is also the founder of Jacqueline Shelton Interiors (314-479-2377).
Hardware finishes contribute to color selection, too, which is why bringing photos to the paint store or, better yet, asking a designer or consultant to go on a house site visit is often a key step toward nailing down the right shade. “Like on a mid-century modern, if you have a chrome door knocker and chrome door handles–the blacks, the grays–they look really good [on the door] because they pop the hardware,” says Shelton. Brick houses, from traditional red to soft yellow, are good candidates for many colors. “Red is a very neutral color,” says Shelton. “You can put almost any color with red and it looks good.” Sometimes, Shelton will suggest drawing out a color from the brick itself to splash onto the door. Other house styles, like a rambling Queen Anne, for example, are characterized by their whimsy and charm. They want the homeowner to have some fun with color. “It looks good with a pink door,” says Shelton.
Living in an old city like St. Louis comes with the benefit of historic architecture and beautiful wood doors. If that sounds like your home, consider a wood stain as an option to paint. “If you have a wooden door, re-stain it,” says our expert. “You can change the color of the stain, too. Those really dark blacks and chocolate browns, they look so good.”
A clear stain is going to show through the color of the wood grain itself, says Shelton, and it’s going to highlight that color, whether it’s walnut or maple. “Maple is very light, so it’d be a light door. But if the stain is dark chocolate, it would be dark chocolate. If it’s black, it would be black,” she says. In any case, the wood stain will show through no matter the color of the stain. “It’s not opaque, like when you use paint,” she says. Homeowners with newer construction can also get creative with color, especially when the front door features side lights, or window panels. “Are you going to paint the side lights? Or, do you want a contrasting color? What color are we going to paint the trim? Is it going to match the door? Is it going to match the trim to the house?” asks Shelton. When the door and the side lights are painted the same color, the end result is the appearance of one large front door. “Nothing is cookie cutter,” adds Shelton.
The good news about front doors is that changing their paint color isn’t too much trouble. Most people change the color of their front door because after you live in a house for a particular length of time, you change your style, your preferences change, says Shelton. “When you were younger, you might have liked red, and now that you’ve mellowed out and you’re older, in your 40s, 50s, you might want a navy blue door.”
In time, anywhere from two to five years depending on the color, the paint will begin to fade from exposure to the elements, giving homeowners an opportunity to re-consider the whole look. Shelton likens the idea to the change in seasons: “In the wintertime, I wear blacks and grays and some browns. I like that. But in the summertime, it’s all about color.” she says. “I come alive with color.”
