Ready for a front door refresh but not sure where to get ? Look to these expert tips to learn how to pick the right front threshold colors .

Your front door is likely the first affair people see when they visit your home . Ideally , it should set a welcoming quality , enhance the curb appeal of your home , and show off a bit of your personal style . " Think about what you want the door to say about you , " order PPG colouring material expert Dee Schlotter . " Is it a happy and receive yellow-bellied or a classic and sophisticated blue?“You also demand to take into thoughtfulness the color andarchitectural style of your mansion . But that does n’t necessarily mean your door has to coalesce in with those constituent , unless that ’s your destination . A lot of citizenry choose to use a front doorway to add a hitting ofplayful , statement - make colorto the front of the house .

Although there are grand of front threshold colors to choose from , you ’ll want to pick the color for this big touch cautiously , and we ’ve got the advice and visual inspiration that will help you do just that .

Blue front door with white trim

Credit: Werner Straube

Do Embrace the Classics

You ca n’t go wrong with a inert front doorway color , but choose for one with ocular comportment . A basic butstrong and dark colorlike blackened , dark grayish , or dark brown will always work and never go out of style . If you ’re looking for a picayune more color , reckon about a deepred front dooror adark blue . Both are versatile , classical colors that act like neutrals . That signify they work with many dissimilar menage colors and materials . And if you change the colour of your home , any of these neutral hues will adapt .

Don’t Be Afraid of Bold Color

Most houses have exteriors that featureearth tones , whether they ’re clad in brick , stone , or turnout . These indifferent house colours can profit afront door paint a showstopping people of color . Plus , put a bluff colour on a front door is less of a committedness than paint an entire room , so why not try out ? A splash of orangish , yellow , or lime unripened reach a argument against a neutral house . If brights are too much for you , essay a color that ’s darker and more subdued , such as such as burgundy , forest green , or eggplant .

Do Purchase the Right Paint

Since your threshold is expose to the outdoors , it ’s imperative to choose key that will stand up up to the chemical element . Opt for mellow - quality exterior - grade paints . They are less prone to strip and grime buildup than interior paints and have ultraviolet illumination ohmic resistance to prevent attenuation , so you wo n’t have to repaint for nearly a decade . Some even have antimicrobial properties to ward off mold , which is important if your region gets a lot of rain or coke .

The eccentric of doorway you have determinesthe type of exterior paintyou want . Water - based latex paint are practiced for most woodwind instrument species and fibreglass . rock oil - based enamel paints prevent rust fungus on alloy door . Use a corresponding primer and prefer for a gloss or semi - gloss finish ; they are the hard - wearing .

Don’t Forget About the Screen Door

Lots of house have a violent storm doorway or screen door , but it does n’t have to report up or disquiet from the front doorway color . Paint the frame the same coloration as the front door to make them blend into each other and make a cohesive visual statement . For even more bridle appeal , take a deterrent example from this bungalow , where the cheery pallid blue of the front and screen door reduplicate on the risers of the front steps .

Do Speak to Your Home’s Style

Theoverall architectural style of your homecan and should give you a cue for the right front door color . On this front door , basic black or obscure blue would have worked , but the lime green does a good job of nod to themodern computer architecture . But do n’t be afraid to demote the formula . An unexpected color can enliven and update even a very traditional facade .

Do Consider Your Surroundings

If you ’re stumped on a color for your front doorway , await to nature and your home ’s surroundings for inhalation . " Draw inspiration from your landscape , " articulate Sue Wadden , director of color marketing at Sherwin - Williams . Think about pick up a color from theplantings in front of your theatre , the green of the hem in tree diagram , or the blue of the sky for your front door coloration . Using instinctive coloration has the bonus of seduce your home looking like it belong in the landscape .

Think also about what color will fit with the other business firm on your street . If your neighborhood has ahomeowners association , you may need to have your front door color choice sanction before you paint .

Don’t Stay Indoors to Pick a Color

To fully understand how a blusher color will attend , you need to see it in its planned environment . Front doorway colors can look very unlike in different firing conditions . mag tape blusher swatchesto the door and detect the color throughout the day . If you require an even estimable idea of how it ’ll look , paint a little swatch directly on the threshold .

Do Match Your House Color If You Like

If you have asmall house , this trick is for you . Painting the entire outside , include sidetrack , trim , window frames , and the front doorway the same vividness can actually make your sign of the zodiac depend larger . A monochromatic colour schema also provides a advanced - expect background that lets accessories such as sconces , planters , and house numbers shine . If you go all one color for doorway , trim , and siding , use a slightly different color to subtly foreground other architectural particular . Here , column painted in pallid grey offer a bit of visual interest against the creamy white facade .

Don’t Ignore the Trim

The trim around your front threshold is also a campaigner for painting . White is classic , but another option is to make a colorful door pop even more by using a counterpoint trim . Its the same essence as assign a frame around artwork . Here colored browned passementerie stands up to the visual heft of the emerald green door , helps with the conversion to the stone window dressing , and reset the whole scenery look nicely finish .

Do Consult the Color Wheel

There are thousands of paint colors out there , which can be consuming . Thecolor wheel — a diagram that show all the colours and their kinship with each other — is a shortcut to count on out which people of colour go together . call up that the colour of the frontage , well-kept , and any shutters on your theater is the background . You want to handle the front door as an accent mark , like choosing the right cam stroke pillow for your sofa .

To apply the vividness wheel to help you pick a front door color , first find your house color , then front to the other side of the color rack to find nominee for an accent color . For example , if your house is dark low and you need your front doorway to down off that background , look across the color bike to yellows and oranges . colouring material directly across from each other on the color steering wheel are calledcomplementary colors . They give you the maximum line and dramatic event but still appear pleasing together .

If you want less contrast , look at colors neighboring to your house color on the wheel . For a benighted blue house , that would be greens and purple . This is call an analogous colouring combination . correspondent color system are more subtle and harmonious than complementary combos but still form together because they are neighbors on the colour cycle .

brick front steps with key lime door

Credit: Brie Williams

Frequently Asked Questions

On average , having your front door painted costs between $ 100 and $ 225 , but that cost could be more if you have double doors or if your door are made of a material that expect a little more preparation work ( such as fibreglass or sword ) .

you could save yourself more than half the toll of a professional painting job by doing the work yourself . It ’s arelatively unproblematic and square DIY job .

If you select a warm - drying paint , you should be able to paint a distinctive panel woodwind instrument door in a day . start out in the morning , figure out fast to pass over away any drip or globs as you go , and you ’ll finish by nightfall .

dog sitting at front door of home red door

Credit: Kevin Miyazaki Photography

For the average - size front exterior door ( 80 inch tall and 36 inches astray ) , you will need about one dry quart of paint — even less if you only paint one side of the door .

If the threshold is the same color on the outdoor and indoor sides , the answer is yes . But if the door is one color on the exterior and a different color on the interior side , the answer is no . In that case , the flexible joint edge should match the exterior door color and the latch edge should equalise the internal color .

You should n’t paint over your door without preparing it first . You should lap it , sand down the scratchy area to smooth them out , prime it , and then paint it .

green house front exterior front lawn landscaping

Credit: Kim Cornelison

It ’s well to use both tools . Use a brush to paint the edge and the more detailed areas of the threshold , and utilise a tumbler to paint the larger , flat areas .

White house with green front door and dogs on porch

Credit: Brie Williams

Wooden house with light blue front door

Credit: Brie Williams

White house with gray wooden pillars

Credit: Jeff Herr

Stone entryway with green door and white pillars

Credit: Greg Scheidemann