WHAT COLOURS ARE BEST FOR YOUR HOME’S FRONT DOOR?
Your front door is an element of your home’s exterior that needs to appeal, both from a distance (from a curb-appeal standpoint) and up close for a visitor about to ring your doorbell!
Deciding on a colour for this front-and-centre design element isn’t always clear. Should you match it to something on your home, or should it stand out? Are certain colours problematic or seasonal? Here are some answers to commonly asked questions and some tips from designers to help make your decision easier…
Download Front Door Colour Guide [Free Colour Chart]
Colours to Rule Out
The colours to rule out from the start are any you’re not particularly fond of. This might seem like common sense, but people often choose a front door colour because they think it might “go” better with their home’s current colour scheme and dismiss the fact that it happens to be a colour they’ve never really liked! So even if the latest decorating magazine is touting bright yellow front doors, for example, if you’re not a fan of bright yellow, don’t even consider it!
Harmony or Contrast?
The next question you need to answer is whether you prefer colours that harmonize with one another or you’re looking for an unexpected pop of colour and contrast. In other words, do you want your front door to stand out, or would you prefer it to harmonize with your home’s overall colour scheme? Answering this question will narrow the field of colour choices considerably.
Show your personality at the front door with the Botanic Bounty Colour Range
Colour and Symbolism
If you want to send a message with your front door colour, it’s helpful to know the meanings behind certain colours …
- Red – power, passion and strength
- Blue – calm, peace and trust
- Green – nature, balance and growth
- Yellow – happiness, high-energy and warmth
- Orange – optimism
- Purple – royalty, spirituality
- White – purity and innocence
- Black – elegance
Other Considerations
There are other things to consider aside from symbolism when it comes to choosing a colour for your front door. For example, primary colours tend to stand out and make a bold statement, but muted shades of the same colours will make a quieter, more subtle statement.
You should also be aware that certain colours are best in small doses. Orange and purple, for example can look gaudy on the exterior of a home if they’re used to excess, so if you choose bright orange, forget about using it on shutters to tie it in to something else on your home. Bright, eye-popping colours are best reserved for the door alone. There’s a reason why you don’t see many houses that are electric blue or deep purple, too much of a good thing can easily become overwhelming and offensive to the eye!
Consider Your Home’s Overall Colour When Choosing a Colour for Your Front Door
Whatever colour you end up choosing for your front door, you’ll want to be sure that it doesn’t have the effect of clashing or detracting from the overall colour of your home’s exterior. Here are a few tried-and-true colour combinations to help guide you:
- Green shades look particularly good against terracotta (brick) and grey exteriors.
- Purple shades look great against a grey home, and you can adjust the intensity to harmonize with your home’s colour intensity if you wish.
- Few things are as welcoming to visitors as a bright yellow front door. However, it is intense and therefore, it tends to work best with a somewhat muted background, like soft blue, white, or grey. Bear in mind that there are many shades of yellow to which to choose from soft lemony shades to something as bright as the sunshine itself! Again, this is an instance where your preference for softness and harmony or boldness and contrast come into play. Trust your gut!
- Orange can be tricky to get right, even for a front door. A bold orange looks super with a cool grey exterior. An orange door can also look fabulous on a blue home since blue is its opposite on the colour wheel. However, to keep things from looking too intense, adjust boldness in accordance with the shade of blue that’s on your home’s exterior. For instance, if your home is a deep, intense blue, tone down the orange you use for your door, and vice-versa. And since orange is a warm color, it also works well if your siding is also a warm color, such as tan. The siding in this case will make even a bright orange door look less intense.
- Red doors don’t necessarily need to be the brightest hue to make a statement. For example, a white or off-white house with black trim looks truly elegant with a deep red front door. In fact, a white house with black trim can handle nearly any colour you choose to paint your front door! On the other hand, if your home’s exterior is deep grey, a bright red door will complement it beautifully! (Bright red will also work on a lighter grey home.) Read our post on why you should paint your front door red.
- Purple’s opposite on the colour wheel is yellow, so it stands to reason a purple front door can work well on a yellow house. Remember the rule about keeping one colour muted, though and if your home’s exterior is bright yellow, tone down the purple you choose for the door. A brighter purple front door can look quite regal against a neutral background, though.
- Intense shades of blue aren’t often used on the exterior of a home, but when muted a bit, can actually be quite striking! Consider a softer tone of blue paired with a brick house, which produces a lovely effect!
Whatever shade you ultimately choose, make sure that your door is worthy of your efforts. For the largest range of quality front doors in Australia, visit us at Parkwood Doors today!
