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Make Your Entry A-door-able With the Right Color


A grand entrance isn’t just important for Hollywood A-listers. After all, the Oscars only come around once a year, but most of us are going through our house’s front door several times a day. That front door is also the first impression your house will make for any visitors you receive.

So it’s important that that door be something you like to look at, and that is be something that will make the right statement to your visitors. It’s also a tiny canvas on the house where you can be a little more playful and provocative — if that’s your thing.

But what color will do all this?

Sadly, it’s not an open-and-shut case. Traditions weigh in, as do the color of your home. And there may be colors that would look great on your home but are either too bold or understated for your taste. Here are some guidelines.

The red door

The easy choice? Go red. It’s a little splash of color, and it’s imbued with history and subtext. In Scotland, the tradition is to paint the front door red to indicate that the mortgage is paid and ownership of the home is completely yours. In Chinese tradition, a red front door symbolizes luck, and in feng shui, “the front door is considered the mouth of Chi. It is through the front door that the house receives its feng shui nourishment of energy,” writes Rodika Tchi for The Spruce. In America, a red door has symbolized a welcoming place to travelers.

Here in shade of the Atlanta skyscrapers, a bright red door has a particularly fitting association. As Southern Living puts it, “A shot of this happy hue brings to mind: Coca-Cola, the American Flag, a great picnic-table gingham, and other All-American notions.” (They recommend Sherwin Williams’ Real Red, SW6868.)

Other classics

If you’ve got a historic home or one built in a traditional style, you can draw from popular tints of the mid 19th century, made from site-made dyes to make gray, blue-green, olive or mossy colors.

Doors on Victorian houses were most typically black, white or a cream color. Just keep in mind that, just like on a car, an especially black or especially white color will show dirt more flagrantly than other hues, so there you’ll need to clean it more frequently.

Going bolder

Depending on the other colors and materials on the outside of your house, going bold can really make that front door pop.

Teal can look great, seriously! And, if you want the front-door equivalent of a power tie, there may be no bolder color than yellow for that portal. Ace Hardware’s national design expert, Nathan Fischer, told the Kansas City Star, “It can take a leap of faith to paint your entry door yellow, so in turn, your door will tell the story of you and your home’s daring personal style.”

Still stuck? Employ a little science, by way of the color wheel. This tool — a best friend to artists and designers alike — can help you draw out complementary or contrasting colors that work. Better Homes & Gardens has an online version to play with.

And, while you’re playing, you can take this short HGTV quiz to determine what front door color is right for your personality.

If you’re still looking for the right house, which, of course, is the most important first step, let us know and Carter & Associates can help with that. We’ll even make sure that front door is painted the color you want!

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