I’m the last person who will choose red for a front door. Is red a beautiful color choice? Of course it is but it’s also the #1 color choice for a front door. Why not choose something different?
I guess some people find it difficult to choose color even for a front door so red or black would just be an easy choice. What if you did want something different? How would you know how to do choose that color? Well I’ll tell you how I go about choosing color for a front door so maybe it’ll help you too.
What do I consider when I choose color for a front door? Well first I find out if the neighborhood has a Home Owners Association because it you do, you’ll be limited to a certain palette.
I then take a drive around the neighborhood and see what everyone else has on their front door so I’ll know not to choose that color.
I look at the colors in the roof shingles. Is the roof black? Gray? Multicolored? This is where you can start pulling colors from or start coordinating your palette.
Does the home have any decorative stonework on the outside? I love pulling colors from the stones! This is probably the #1 best place to choose a color for your front door.
What color is the siding on the house? It’s probably a neutral of course so you really don’t have to worry too much about this but certainly study the undertone and where it sits on the color where before you make your choice.
Do you have a wooded lot with tons of trees? I’d stay away from green and reds. It would just be too much if you went with a green door and too Christmasy if you used red.
Be careful of your cutsie colors like pink, yellow and bright green. You want your house to look classy not Willy Wonka-ish. But … if you have a cottage style home, these hues would be perfect! (always a but right?)
Let’s see, what else? Oh yes! I already said stay aways from a red front door but especially if you have a brick home. It’ll just be too much red and probably just clash.
Don’t get all trendy and choose purple unless it’s the right purple. I have an eggplant color on my door but my home is light gray and it looks pretty cool.
When you do finally choose a color you like, sample it out of course. Keep in mind that your door color will look different and be amplified (unless you choose black) in the sun so consider light as you would any paint color.
Ok, I think I covered the really important facts about choosing a color for your front door. Questions?
Decorating by Donna • Intuitive Color Expert 
I have a traditional brick home and was thinking about a pale turquoise blue to play off the orangey tones….
Many times I gravitate towards a slate blue when working with a brick house but it doesn’t have to be dark. You’ll see that blue hue right there in the dark areas of your brick. Be careful with turquoise and red brick.
My front door is a rusty/orange color. I pulled it straight from the surrounding brick. I also painted the shutters a dark, charcoal gray (with a bit of greenish-brown – the changes, I swear); also pulled from our brick. Although, we made the mistake of first painting the door a dark blue (since the husband vetoed my vote of black). The blue door didn’t last long.
That’s strange that dark blue didn’t work. I just mentioned in the other post that a smokey slate blue is what I love to choose when working with brick homes. Be careful with the orange. How will that stand out from your home that is already a red-orange?
Thanks, Donna.
Well, the blue didn’t work because it was more of a cobalt blue (as chosen by my husband). It wall worked out in the end. I really appreciate your words of wisdom.
I love this post. I’ve been thinking about painting my front door but have yet to settle on the color I’d like to use. Maybe this is the kick in the pants I needed!?
Let me know what color you choose!
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Hello, I have a brick house. However, the brick is a random pattern of multiple colors including red, terra cotta, brown, orange and plum. See my problem? Also my home has a huge front porch and although it faces South we do not get very much light even in the daytime. I actually heard neighborhood children call our house “the scary house”. Can you suggest something to brighten up our front door/doorway to make it more welcoming and less formidable? Thank you,
Puzzled
The scary house? Oh those kids, lol. When I choose color for brick homes I just pick one of the colors that are already in the brick. Depending on where you live and how much sun you get on your house, you can go with a slate blue. But to brighten and liven it up I’d try to match and work off of the grout color you have. A nice warm beige with soft white trims on your home will help. Please don’t do the red door!
My home is ranch style, weathered wood shingles, heritage cream vinyl siding, and pink brick with kind of a white washed look. I am struggling with front door style/color and shutter colors. Right now the shutters are Hunter Green and doors are white…..blah! Can I post pictures?
Unfortunately you can’t post pics here – it would be great if that was an option. Send me an email at DecoratingbyDonna@mac.com if you’d like a consult 🙂
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Hi Donna. I live in a ranch brick home. Bricks are pinkish / orangish color. In great condition as the house was built in 1955. I put a new roof on a few years ago and chose a dark brown tone. It looks OK, but wished I would have chose something in the gray family. I am seeing on this sight that most homes in the reddish, orange colors look best with gray tone for a roof. Anyway I need to work with what I have. What would you suggest for window trim colors as well as front door and garage door colors. I would also be repainting the soffit and gutters to help tie in the brick and brown roof. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Gene, when it comes to brick homes, I keep it super simple. I try to pull out the colors that are found in the brick – that is one reason a gray roof looks pretty good because it plays off the cement or pointing on the house. I do the same for front door color which is usually some type of slate blue. I DO NOT USE A RED DOOR ON BRICK HOMES. Sorry for the caps but so many people make that mistake – it’s death by red on the house. As far as trim and gutters, I’d tie that in depending on the overall undertone of the house. I hope that helps!
Thanks Donna for the information. There is so little detail in my brick color and would not want to pull anything out from that. It’s quite solid Orange/Pink and would rather find other colors to compliment the brick. As I had mentioned, I have a dark roof with all brown tones and is quite dominant. I think I may need to connect the roof tones in with the brick somehow buy choosing colors that would work and at the same time livening up the overall look of the house. It seems drab at the moment. I am wondering if I could use something in the gray family to not clash with the brick, but still compliment the brown tones from the roof as well? I do like your color idea to paint the front door in a slate blue. Maybe something very light for the gutters and soffit – not stark white, but a very light tone of gray? Then I have the garage door. Some say match the brick / siding color. That would be too much of the orange/pink brick color which I do not want to play up. I am considering adding shutters to the house to steal from the brick, but compliment buy choosing the right colors. Thanks for your suggestions in advance!
Gene, at this point, I suggest a Virtual Exterior Color consultation for $125. Email me if interested.