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July 21, 2010

My colourful obsession

It’s happening again… every couple of years, I get this urge to paint the front door of our house. Even though I love the current colour (Valspar Rare Wine), images of bright green and turquoise and orange are dancing in my head…

bright green flickr

turquoise flickr

orange flickr 2

Maybe even fuchsia pink…

pink blue flickr

Ummmmm… on second thought, probably NOT fuchsia pink!!

The problem with our house is that it’s all white brick with some grey brick trim. The windows are white vinyl. The eaves troughs are white. The garage door is white. And there’s NOTHING on the house to paint except the front door. So I paint it. A lot. It started life white, then I painted it purple, chocolate brown, really dark blue, and purple again.

I’ve had this picture floating around in my mind for quite a while:

Bright_front_door green crafted by lindy2

LOVE the bright green, especially against the black. Wondering if I could paint the door green and the sidelights black to get the same effect… Yes?? No?? (Sorry about the crappy mock-up!!)

green black door

Some more bright green doors…

green red bubble

bright green high heeled foot in the door  sunset mag getting to just right green door concord green

I’ve also had this robin’s egg blue door floating around my mind. What really makes this door is the detailing — the trim and the silver kickplate, mail slot, knob, and knocker.

blue_front_door the desk of annie

Some more pretty blue doors…

blue front door dmagazine

blue front door litte green notebook

turquoise flickr 2

If only I could rip out the door we have and replace it with one like this surrounded by windows…

turquoise-door-domino-copy

Orange isn’t my favourite colour, but for some reason it appeals to me on a front door. It looks especially fab on a house with dark grey siding.

OrangeDoor apt therapy

orange grey mommalou

Love this house!!

exterior ornage door flickr

Lauren at Pure Style Home painted her front door orange:

orange lauren

Isn’t her entry fantastic?! Love the chandelier and the artwork. And the orange door, of course!!

orange lauren 2

The next house we buy will definitely NOT have a white unpaintable exterior. Well, OK, yes, you CAN paint brick. But remember, it took me 8 years to convince hubby to paint the kitchen cabinets. It would take a lifetime to convince him to paint the entire exterior of our house!!

So am I nuts for painting our front door over and over (and over)?? And nuttiness aside, what colour would you choose??

sig purple

28 comments:

Lauren said...

Do it! You could direct visitors to your house with a very cryptic... our place is the one from the Trinindad/Tobago Lonely Planter cover. Or beat Martha @ her own game & re-paint it for each season. Lime now for now, orange for later.

Christy said...

I think you should totally do it. I'd go for that pale blue...or maybe even turquoise or orange. I mean, it's a door - if you end up hating it it's easy to re-do! I hope you do this soon and show us what you choose! How fun!

Lisa said...

Oh I would paint it turquoise - like Waterfall BM 2050-50! That would lovely against the white and gray!

Kat said...

The bright green. I love it! Although I agree, the orange against the grey is really nice. Good luck convincing hubby to paint the brick. We've lived in our house for 22 years. Bricks still unpainted :) Kat

Razmataz said...

Love the green.....or deep pinky red like nailpolish with chinky metal hardware.

Jemsmom said...

Not nuts at all and I would go blue!!! That is the color I am love with now and then do orange for fall! You could get crazy! Our house is red so we are very limited to a door color! Go for it and post pics!

Unknown said...

Well at first this seemed easy. Of course I said to myself-go with the green. Then I saw the orange, and then the yellow green, and then the fushia.And then the beautiful aqua door with chrome hardware. Now I think I need to paint my front door!
xo
amanda

Unknown said...

Yes...to all of the above!

Simone - honeyandfizz said...

I totally understand the urge to keep changing things up! The lime green is a definate statement, but it would look great, but I also love the turquoise :)

Unknown said...

Kelly,

I feel all women live in a constant state of change. Therefore I think a Black door for a while and then a Periwinkle door would be outstanding. Great display of the language of doors.

Bette

Vanessa@decor happy said...

I'm on my third colour in 5 years so I definitely say do it! This has me wanting to change it again.

Marcus Design said...

I love all of these! I think you should keep painting!! It's so fun and it's an easy change when you are bored. I am so drawn to the robin's egg blue door, and all of the turquoise ones!!
Nancy

qerat said...

Robin's egg blue Kelly and it will also be great with everything you have inside the house, at least what we know from all the pictures you showed us before

Susan said...

I am totally loving the idea of a turquoise door.... you're lucky to have a neutral house colour. You can do and redo anything you want.

BTW we had Kates front door painted raspberry/fushia, looks amazing.
cheers
susan

Shannon @ What's Up Whimsy said...

You are definitely not nutty! If I wasn't renting, I would have painted our door a bunch of times. I never thought I would say this, but the lime door is gorgeous! I think it's different, which I like and the colour really stands out. If you think it's too much of a stretch, then I would go for the turquoise!

Unknown said...

Kelly - what about deep purple? Can't you paint the side parts as well?

The Misty Journey said...

I love the idea of the blue's...so pretty...would look calming against the white.

mj said...

Kelly, I have a brick ranch built in the early 60's. The brick is the perfect neutral buff, taupe and some grayish variegated. I've painted my front door a lot. I've had teal, and I've had sage. But right now I have granny apple smith green, and it is stunning when the sun shines on that side of the house. It may be my fave ever!! In the winter it looks a little more subdued since we rarely see the sun then.

Anonymous said...

I love the lime green door against the black wall.
I would definitely be wondering what style of decor I would be seeing when I walked through the bright colored front door. And I would know without a doubt that someone really fun lives there!
Thanks for sharing such a fun post.

DesignTies said...

Thanks for all the great feedback on the potential door colours :-) Looks like blue is the popular choice, with bright green close behind.

Monica, what green did you use on your door??

I'm not sure if I'll get around to painting the door this summer, but I promise I'll post pics as soon as it's done :-)

Kelly

jill said...

the orange door on that grey building is just perfect, it is unusual but so effective.

jill said...

the orange door on that grey building is just perfect, it is unusual but so effective.

mj said...

Sorry to say the shade of green I used doesn't have a name. I picked a green I liked from my Pantone color guide and had it color matched at Home Depot in Behr satin finish. I was going to offer to email you a picture but when I went out with the camera all I could see were weeds and dirty windows and a faded doormat, etc. It's a train wreck! So if you would just imagine a lovely fresh, spring-y, granny smith apple-y green with cream trim you would be really close.
The thing I love about painting the front door is for less than $20 and an hour of time you can really make an impact.

Naomi@DesignManifest said...

haha this cracks me up because my boyfriend and were both so pumped to paint our door an awesome lime green/ chartreuse shade. Of course he picked the paint without me and now our front door is NEON. Swear it glows in the dark.

But yea, really love it paired with the black. Very sleak.

Anonymous said...

green door is perfect...I like it :)
stock photos | royalty-free images | stock images

Emma said...

Very inspiring - go for it!

Anonymous said...

Love the painted front doors. It always irks me when I see front doors left unpainted. People spend a fortune on houses and let them go unfinished, tsk, tsk!!

Donna @ Paisley and Perspective said...

Wow Kelly - I love the green!! Lime green is one of my favourite shades of green and those doors look fab!!! And well, the turquoise is a very close second.

Good luck with your decision! Hope you don't take as long as I do! ... LOL

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