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An eDesign Front Door Colour Consultation; Before and After

By 10/20/2018April 17th, 202012 Comments

If you’ve been putting off choosing a front door colour, here are some ideas to help you with inspiration so you can choose the perfect front door colour. 

Of the thousands of colours out there, how do you know what the best choice is for your front door? Why do some front doors look fab and others look drab or just plain wrong?

Here’s how to choose the perfect front door colour.

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My lovely client Patti worked with me via an eDesign Front Door Colour Consultation to get her front door colour just right. Her front door was an innocuous classic black, but she wanted some colour instead.

Here is her front entrance before (below).

Patti’s Front Door Before

You can see that the black related to the door mat and matched the shutters, but the look was falling a bit flat for her. She was craving some colour.

>> Click here for more gorgeous front door curb appeal ideas and inspiration

She was also planning to include this pretty decorative bench to create some interest and an inviting feel to her front entrance, which is a great idea (below).

See the fiasco I went through when I ordered my first garden bench here. Ha, ha!

Amalfi Bench by Grandin Road

Scroll back up to her front entrance. What colour would you choose?

You might have a go-to colour you love for front doors, or an inspiration house you would like to emulate. But really, it’s much easier to get excited about a colour if it relates to something. That’s when it feels right and that’s when it’s better than good. That’s when it’s great.

1. Choose a Colour from your Landscape

Take a look at this gorgeous eggplant door below. This house is a similar deep earthy colour, but without the pretty purple flowers as a cue, this colour might not jump out as the perfect colour.

Benjamin Moore Kalamata AF 630

I love a purple front door, it works with earthier and fresh palettes alike and there are so many pretty flowers in purples you can plant to create some context for it.

Here’s one more just because (below).

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Sherwin Williams Impulsive Purple 6832

Nature combines purple and green all the time, but it’s so simple to repeat the colour with some potted flowers even if it doesn’t exist in your landscape. And in this case, the brick is purple gray which doesn’t hurt. Beware however, the neutral undertone of your house is NOT generally the best place to look for your front door colour, sometimes it can work, but usually no.

What colours do you like?

However, back to my dear client Patti, purple was a hard NO on her list. In our eDesign questionnaires, we always ask for your preferences, because colour is personal. We get it.

However, note that when it comes to neutrals, your finishes and furnishings will dictate the right one, but preference is important if there are colour options.

And with an accent like a front door colour, the colours you love are super important. You want to be happy every time you walk in.

Another colour that easily relates to most landscaping is of course green.

Choosing the correct green to harmonize with the colour of your house is the trick. You can get away with a much cleaner green on a fresh white house than on an earthy brick house for example, but you can often nudge the green of a front door to be at least as clean leaves and grass.

Here is the green option we gave Patti.

We also found her a throw pillow with leaf green in it for her bench to repeat the green and really make it look intentional. Which brings me to the next way to choose a new colour for your front door.

>> Click here for my favorite classic outdoor wall sconce lights

2. Create Some Context by Decorating Your Porch

Just as in an interior, the surest way to figure out the right blue out of the thousands available at the paint store is to first choose a fabric or decor item to match it from. Because she was planning to install the charming new bench, we found some pillows for it to pull just the right colour from.

You can do this with a rug, pillow, planters, or even your favorite seasonal decor.

Here is another option we gave her for a pretty blue based on a pillow for her bench.

It would be hard to pick that specific blue out of a hundreds, but when you have something to go on, it’s easy.

Clean and Dirty

When sourcing colour palette inspiration for your exterior (or interior for that matter), it is a good idea to keep the concept of clean and dirty in mind.

If you have an earthier colour on your house like Patti does, it means you can’t do a super clean blue like this one (below) so you have to find an inspiration piece that is a bit more muted (dirty).

Benjamin Moore Clearest Ocean Blue 2064-40

This clean a blue belongs on a house that looks more like this:

Photo by Maria Killam

And what does this blue door relate to? The sky of course. On a white house, the sky really IS the limit for front door colours.

3. Create Flow by Choosing an Accent Colour from your Interior Decor

If you’re not adding any decor to your porch, or simply don’t have much room, another place to get inspiration is your interior. That’s right, create flow from the inside out.

We can also help you choose the perfect front door colour as part of our Get Me Started decorating package so that you can use an accent colour from your decor for your front door to create a colour story that greets you at the welcome mat. Just like I did for my client here. 

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You can see how this pretty periwinkle front door relates to the lamps on her console. This was a considered choice that flows with her interior. Beautifully done.

So what did Patti go with? She went with the third option we gave her, a saturated navy blue which was chosen based on this cute pillow we found for her bench.

And here is the AFTER!

AFTER Benjamin Moore Hudson Bay 1680

Great job Patti! Doesn’t it look warm and inviting and so much more colourful than the before?

Here is the before again.

Patti’s door BEFORE her eDesign Front Door consultation

And AFTER Patti’s eDesign Front Door Consultation

So, have you been putting off choosing a new colour for your front door? I hope this helps you get some ideas where to start.

There is still time this year to give your front door a colourful refresh before you spruce up your entrance for the holidays! You can find our front door colour consultation here. 

If you have after photos from an eDesign consultation, we’d love to see them!

Related posts:

The Best Way to Choose a Front Door Colour from Palm Springs

10 Best Front Door Colours for your House

The Best Colour Advice on Painting your Exterior

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12 Comments

  • Nancy says:

    Maria /
    Pretty front doors!
    Want to hear all about your Fiji trip !!!
    Love anything health .
    Well that ..color and design too …
    Went and bought the oil you talked about Udo’s ..
    thanks for sharing not only your color expertise but your journeys too !!

  • Patti says:

    Maria and Tricia are miracle workers. I am so happy that I found this blog and no longer have to waste time second guessing myself. I continue to learn so much from reading the content every week! I am so happy with my new door, it gives my house the perfect color pop. I am working on my landscape to also bring in some blue as well. Thank you over and over again!

  • Mary-Illinois says:

    Every time you do a post about adding a new color to your front door, I die a little inside.
    Dam HOA!!
    Pattie made the perfect choice. A little blue fixes everything. ?

  • Miranda says:

    I was thinking a dark blue would look good before I scrolled down the post! Looks great!

  • Lucy says:

    So pretty and so inviting! I love periwinkle blue. It is so fresh and it relates well with the pillow and flowering pots! Just lovely! I am sure it makes her happy every time she enters her home! Good job!

    Love following your adventures through Italy and now Fiji. You really know how to have fun! We have used Udo products before. We try to stay healthy as well. We have a green drink every day which has been a blessing as we never seem to get colds or the flu. Have a great time this week!

  • Lucy says:

    Oops I thought she chose the periwinkle door! Of course the saturated blue is also stunning!

  • Michelle says:

    Hi Maria, if the front of a house is all brick (either a single color or multi-colored like the brick homes in my area) instead of a solid color siding, would the Door Color need to relate to the brick? Or could it be a color that relates to something else in the area like a bench, flowers, pot, etc.

    Thanks!

    • Maria Killam says:

      It so depends on the colour of the brick, etc. Without a photo, it’s impossible for me to say. Either could work but I know that’s not very helpful. Maria

  • Vivian Forssman says:

    Hi Maria
    I read your blog with enthusiasm and I think I now have a better eye for color thanks to your excellent coaching. Since you live in greater Vancouver I’m curious about why I have never seen a cedar ceiling in any photos. Today’s white kitchen/ white ceiling photo got me thinking about the westcoast look. My very open plan home in West Vancouver (built in mid-70’s) has cathedral ceilings-all in brownish yellow cedar. I would never paint the ceilings “Cape Cod” white plank because I live in Pacific NW and I like west coast aesthetic. But the ceilings do “own me” re color and light. Walls are all
    white and many big windows which provide the grey-green of Vancouver tree, rock, water colours. (Looking at a pink and grey-blue sunset right now). Any chance you could play with some ideas in one of your posts, to give westcoast style cedar ceiling rooms a perk up?

  • Maria D Mascaro says:

    Thanks a bunch! You found the perfect color for MY front door! I wanted a purple that wasn’t too bright because I also have to paint a shingled area around my living room window and it would be overpowering. Been looking awhile but kalamata is PERFECT!

  • Nancy says:

    I love the purple front door that is Klamath by BM. Do you have the source for that picture? Id love to see more of that house. Thank you!

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  • jan says:

    I love a pretty front door color and the beautiful color options above! However, I live in the chilly-winter Midwest where the majority of us also use glass storm doors due to the winter elements. Thus, my front door is usually open – in all seasons – so it needs to coordinate with my interior colors as well. I am currently using SW Urbane Bronze which coordinates nicely with my brick front, but I am limited to a color that doesn’t stick out, or clash or with my interior when open, so I envy the ability to choose from a broader color spectrum!

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