Choosing a New Front Door Color


When we first saw our Finn Fixer Upper, I wasn’t suuuuuuper jazzed about the curb appeal of the home. Sure, it’s cute enough. But it really needs some TLC. I vowed that I would make a few small improvements immediately to tide me over until we could afford to make some bigger changes.Casey and Finn on the front porch

Well, we’re about to move into the house and it’s about time I make some of those quick refreshes to the exterior. First order of business? Find a new front door color! This muted yellow is doing no favor for the front of the house and it isn’t our style at all! I love a fresh coat of paint on just about anything, but a new front door color is especially appealing because it can totally change the look of your house.

But before I get to some front door color options, I want to back up and chat about the exterior of our home.

Long-Term Exterior Changesoriginal exterior color and finishes

Eventually, we want to make lots of exterior changes to our property. The home was built in 1921 with the original red brick on the front. It has since had two additions put on and these came with two more brick colors…beige and then tan. So I now have three different brick colors on my house! I would love to have the entire house painted one unifying color, but that won’t be until next summer, at the earliest.

I really don’t know what color I even plan to use when we do paint the brick. At first, I thought I would paint the brick white, but now, ย I’m not so sure. I think I need to live here for a while to really figure it out. I would love to hear what you think would look nice, though. We’re open to painting the trim and siding too. I also want to upgrade the front door, potentially remove the glass block window, add shutters, new landscaping, new fence….clearly we haveย  A LOT to do. One thing at a time, though…

In the meantime, I need to find a front door color that works with this red brick because I can’t stand the look of that yellow any longer.

Finding a New Front Door Color

Finding a new front door color

Whenever I have a home decision, I always love polling you guys on Instagram to hear what you think would look best. I asked for your advice and you didn’t disappoint. From black, to navy, to evergreen, and even coral…you guys had lots of great insight about what my new front door color should be.

Before I went out and bought a bunch of paint samples, I wanted to really visualize what these colors would look like on the front of my house. My amazing intern, Liz, graciously photoshopped some colors on the front so we could test them out. I also had her add my new front porch light and the black matte door smart lock and handle I chose. With those items in place, we looked at the various color options…

Coral

exterior door color chili pepperFront Door Color: Benjamin Moore “Chili Pepper”

Let’s start with my least favorite of the bunch…coral. With the red brick, an orangey-red hue like this just does not work. It doesn’t complement the red brick very well. Immediately, I knew this was not for me.

Black

exterior door color bm black

Front Door Color: Benjamin Moore “Black 2132-10”

I figured black would be a safe choice for our house and it definitely is. I love the idea of painting the inside of the door black, but on the outside, it looks a little boring and creates a realllly dark hole for a front porch. Again, not the winner.

Brownish-Red

exterior door color red rock

Front Door Color: Benjamin Moore “Red Rock”

This was way too matchy-matchy with the brick on the house. Not a fan of brown or red…and together they really don’t work for my style.

Sage

exterior door color sage bush

Front Door Color: Benjamin Moore “Sage Bush”

This is my favorite so far. I really love the color sage and hope to incorporate it throughout the house (our first floor bathroom will be sage!). But ย I’m not sure if I’m in love with this look for the outside of our house.

Dark Green

exterior door color tarrytown greenFront Door Color: Benjamin Moore “Tarrytown Green”

As you guys know from this post, we painted our guest room a dark green and I’m obsessed with it! I definitely thought that a dark evergreen would be the winner for the outside of our home. But after seeing it paired with the red brick, it feels a little too Christmas-like for me. Not bad…but not 100% there.

Navy

exterior door color hale navy

Front Door Color: Benjamin Moore “Hale Navy”

I’ve always been a big navy fan, but I wasn’t sure if this color would work on the front of our house until I saw it! I really really like it! I think it looks very crisp and classic. A very American house with the red, white, and blue!

Leaning Towards Navy…

exterior refresh door color hale navy

Here’s a close-up view of what the navy would look like next to the red brick. I need to paint the wood surround of the door white (right now it’s painted yellow to match the door and it’s not good…), so I think the navy could really pop against the white. I really like this look! The only thing I’m a little worried about is the black handleset blending into the navy door color. So I don’t think I could go with a suuuuuper dark navy here.

What do you think? Do you like the navy? Or did another color make your heart flutter?

What’s Next?

My next step is to get some samples and figure out the exact shade I’ll go with for our door. Then, it’s time to paint this sucker! I’ll be using all of the tips and tricks from this post to get the job done. Can’t wait to improve our curb appeal so our house isn’t the saddest on the block!

Casey

Other Paint Color Resources


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.