How to Choose a Front Door Color
Featured pro: Carter Oosterhouse
Category: Home Decor, Paint 101
The front door is the first thing that welcomes visitors -- and prospective buyers -- into your home. Make a great first impression by choosing the perfect color for your front door. Carter Oosterhouse shares his trade secrets for choosing the right shades based on the color, style and surroundings of your home, with a fun and inexpensive trick for trying out different colors without ever opening a single can of paint! Once you've chosen the hue that makes your home really pop, Carter shows you how to expertly apply that color to your front door.
Step 1: What to Choose
Pick a color that contrasts with the rest of the house; enough to draw the eye but still works with the surrounding colors.
Step 2: Auto-Inspiration
Get in your car, drive around your neighborhood and look at other doors. See what works and what doesn't.
Step 3: Say Cheese
ograph the front of your house, print a larger print, cut out the door then, using paint chips as front doors, try out various colors.
Step 4: Yes You Have to Paint
Prep the door by removing all hardware and dirt, and then sand down the finish-- if you don't use primer you will need two coats. Use a brush for all the detail making sure not to use too much paint (it will gather in the corners); then paint the panels with a roller.
Items You'll Need for this GMC Trade Secret
- House with a Front Door
- Paint
- Roller and Tray
- Brush
- Camera
- Scissors
- Paint Chips
- Car
Get more Carter Oosterhouse design advice on Stylelist Home »
I used a similar concept, but used a printer photo which I then colored a variety of colors. When I narrowed it to 4 I bought the small cans and painted each quarter of my door so I could get the impact from the street and lived with it for a few weeks. What I didn't expect was the unsolicited but friendly comments from family, friends, neighbors and vendors regarding their preference. They overwhelmingly picked the red-brick color I was leaning towards. Fun!
June 19 2011 at 3:47 PM Permalink +5 rate up rate downThe photo/paint chip idea is a winner! Regarding making the door "pop" and the color used are both personal choices. I would not have chosen blue for that door, but, I would have chosen Carter to paint it! LOL!!
June 19 2011 at 9:55 AM Permalink +5 rate up rate downThe photo and paint chip idea was great! I bet I could use that to decide what colors to paint some of my rooms, too. Thanks Carter!
June 19 2011 at 8:41 AM Permalink +4 rate up rate downAdd a Comment
My door is clear. You can see right through the front door and into the house.
January 02 2012 at 10:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI live in a brick Cape Cod style home and My front door is natural varnished wood and it does nothing for the looks of the home it tends to blend in with the calico bricks. I have thought about painting it a nice Terra Cotta or a dark burnt Orange of somekind. I'm not painting it red that is not original enough anymore.
September 05 2011 at 8:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyInstead of painting the old door yourself. We bought a new door, took it to a guy who paints CARS. Had the door painted " Metallic Brown". It was beautiful! When the sun hit it during the day....it just sparkled. Received many compliments on that door!
September 05 2011 at 9:23 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Replylove to watch your videos but no closed captioned or subtitled. Hope you do next time when you show something with your videos. Thank you....
July 17 2011 at 11:11 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI also used Carter's idea of using a photo of my house with a cutout for the front door. I painted my door a red color from Home Depot called "cherry bark" and it looks great. I also used a satin nickel lock set. My door had been white.
July 17 2011 at 9:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyCarter, you have given the best tip I have heard in a long time. Not only will I use this for my front door, but also on the color of my new shutters that need to go up on my newly sided house. Thanks....please more tips.
July 10 2011 at 8:38 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMy house is of red, charcoal, beige, and terra cotta colored brick. Right now, the door is white; but how would it look using one of the brick colors... or is white better? Fran
July 03 2011 at 10:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI love this. Any great ideas for house colors as well ? So hard to pick house, trim,shutters and door to match.
Need advice.
Thanks for the good suggestions. I'm going to use your tips when I select my color.
June 19 2011 at 10:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyGet our latest tips in your inbox
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