“The door is the smile of the house.”
John likes to make strange declarations like that. For example, after talking about how both bacon and mustaches were trending, he once proclaimed that “the mustache is the bacon of the face, and bacon is the mustache of breakfast.” But back to the front door. Our first house had a red door. Our second house had a yellow door. And our new house has a….
Yup, it’s a happy little blue door. It’s sort of a peacock meets teal with enough gray to keep it from going neon when the sun hits it.
When it came to picking the shade, first we taped up a bunch of swatches in almost every color of the rainbow (we tried red again, some green tones, a bunch of blue options, and other colors like plum, orange, navy and charcoal). Then we stepped back about ten feet, took note of what we liked best, and stepped back a lot more – just to make sure we still felt the same way from further back. We did this a few times during the day and evening to make sure the colors we loved in direct sunlight didn’t look crazy or change a ton when the front door was in shade or lit up by the porch light at night.
Then I painted the cream sidelights white like the rest of the house’s trim. We really wanted the sidelights to be their permanent color before finalizing a front door hue, just in case the old creamy-yellow trim was throwing us off. So after rubbing them down with a magic eraser to get all of the bug guts off, I just used an angled brush to apply the same white exterior paint that the painters left behind (and later used a razor to scrape the excess off the glass panes).
That helped us to narrow it down to four contenders: Spirit In The Sky, Blue Lake, Peacock Blue, and Tranquil Blue (all by Benjamin Moore). We’re actually convinced any number of colors could have worked (nearly all of the swatches looked nice with the white trim and natural brick) so we just went with what we liked the best.
Then it was test swatch time. After the whole oops-we-picked-the-wrong-siding-color snafu, I didn’t trust swatches without putting a big ol’ rectangle of color right on the door. So here’s how things looked after I applied each of our four samples on four of the raised panels of the door, being sure to give them each nice thick coats so the true color was easy to see, but not goobery and drippy. Colors tend to darken as they dry, so we did that “live with them a hot minute and evaluate them throughout the day” thing. That’s Blue Lake in the top left, Spirit In The Sky in the top right, Tranquil Blue in the bottom left, and Peacock Blue in the bottom right.
And the winner is Blue Lake…
The others all looked either too dull or too neon in certain lighting situations throughout the day. Here she be, all glossy and gorge.
It only took about half a day to get it painted. As for the finish/type of paint, we used BM’s exterior paint that the guy at the desk recommended for doors called MooreGlo in Soft Gloss, which is their version of a semi-gloss finish (didn’t even need primer since it’s self-priming). We only needed to buy a quart, so this whole project was pretty darn cheap, which feels great after basically sweating money out of our pores for the last month or so on bigger inspection-item fixes that we needed to check off.
When it comes to painting doors, my favorite method is to start in the morning so the door can be open all day and has time to dry before you have to close and lock it at night. I like using an angled brush only – although John loves a foam roller, so it’s a different strokes for different folks thing. Literally.
I have a certain order that I swear by, so first I paint the frames of each raised rectangle, then I paint the insides of each of them as you see in the photo above. Then I paint the flat planks around them and between them, always going in the direction of that plank (I pull my brush from top to bottom to do the vertical plank down the middle, then I go from left to right to get all of the horizontal slats, and at the very end I drag from top to bottom to do those vertical parts on each side of the door).
I wait for that to dry about an hour (or two if it’s super humid) and then I do the whole thing again, in the same order. Then I just give it the rest of the day to dry and lock it up at night. Oh and we like to remove the hardware, so that’s why it’s off (we reattach that right before we lock the door in the evening).
We also updated both the door knocker and the doorbell, so we’ll be back with those details tomorrow (they involved a dremel and some paint as well as a bit of a manhunt).
Oh and I repainted the sides of the door but not the back, so that’s still a hazy dusty blue color like the rest of the trim in the foyer… but I’d love to paint the back of the door the same happy blue shade once we nix the blue trim and wallpaper going on in the foyer and get some nice white trim and sidelights in there as well.
So that’s how one quart of paint and one morning of work made our house smile. Not bad, right? It took me waaay longer to take pictures of the finished product than it did to actually do it (is it just me or has it been raining for 40 days and 40 nights?). Heck I think the little doorknocker and doorbell upgrades took longer than painting the door.
The lesson? If you’re putting off painting your door, jump on that pony. Then your house won’t be all “oh hi it’s you, whatevs” when you come home. It’ll be all “Hiiiiiiiiii! Welcome!!!! It’s so nice to see you!”
It’s so funny to compare it to the portico as it looked back when we bought the house. Complete with a really old wreath on the broken slatted screen door (we took that down asap). And remember how green those front steps were before we power washed them?
Oh but one more thing. Remember that time a deer photobombed my front door photoshoot? Wait you don’t because I didn’t tell you about it yet. Allow me to paint you a picture. I’m snapping a few photos, and here comes my deer friend, stage right.
He saunters across the yard right in front of me and stops to chew on a few weeds by the door. Directly in front of my shot. I’m telling you, I never laughed so hard. Dude must have thought our yard looked extra welcoming, what with the smiling door and all. It certainly wasn’t a lush lawn that was drawing him in…
UPDATE: I quickly snapped this instagram picture on the way back from our evening walk, and it one captures the green undertone in our teal door so it finally looks like real life. Leave it to the ol’ cell phone to take a more accurate picture than the fancy camera. #nofilter #instagrambeatsDSLR
Psst- Wanna know where we got something in our house? Just click on this button:
Abbey says
Love the color! Did you consider painting the inlaid sidelights the blue color as well? (keeping the white border?)I think that might look neat! (or terrible, who knows :) )
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s a thread about that for ya Abbey :)
xo
s
Abbey says
Thanks!
Kiki says
I LOVE the color! I love how bright and fresh the color is as well as how it complements the brick exterior. Seriously, you guys always pick the best colors for your home. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Kiki!
xo
s
Erin says
I know you already know this, but gorgeous! Absolutely beautiful!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Erin :)
xo,
s
Lauren (in PA) says
Yeah, I don’t really love it. But I’m not partial to blue in general. For me it’s too bold/cool among all the natural warm tones of the brick and nature. But it’s definitely you guys! You like pop and that pops for sure!
Are you going to put colorful flowers out? Maybe my eyes would like it more if there were other pops of bright to tie it to.
Looking forward to more changes!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’re about 1% done with the landscaping, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. We’d love to bring in blue hydrangeas and colored planters along with a lot more shrubs, etc.
xo
s
Lauren (in PA) says
Ooohh…hydrangeas…that would really tie that door in!
Sol says
Going to say something strange now. I am English before we go any further so maybe all houses in the states in your area look like yours I have no idea.
The other night I watched the film Failure to Launch and when he drives his date to his parents house, there is a shot of the house opposite. I swear it was your new house!
minus the deer and the big front yard… and probably a million other things but the moment I saw it and I thought that house looks familiar. I think it is the black shutters…
I will shut up now
YoungHouseLove says
So funny! Now I have to watch that movie!
xo
s
Jeanine says
Oh, I love the color! It really perks up the front of the house.
That deer photo bomb is too funny! Gotta love Bambi!
Kelly says
I love the new door color! I was looking at the May issue of HGTV mag this weekend. There was an article in there with pictures of different house color combos. I loved the one with the navy paint and yellow door. Then I noticed it was chosen by you guys! I knew I liked your taste! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Kelly! That was such a fun article! We’ve only had brick houses so it was fun to play around with color choices for a house with siding.
xo
s
Jenna says
That is the happiest looking door–I love it! I am always impressed by YHL, but it’s amazing the transformation you’ve made on the house so far. Hopefully it softens the blow of bleeding money a little when you are seeing such tangible results! Can’t wait to see what else is in store.
Ashley says
I love the color of your door. It looks great! I’ve been considering painting my door for a while. I have beige vinyl siding, a red brick foundation/basement and maroon front door and shutters. The maroon is throwing me off. Would it look weird to paint the front door and it be totally different? I’ve also considered repainting the shutters too but that seems like a lot of work :). Our house is only 5 years new so I can’t really justify totally replacing them :-/. Any thoughts?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I would try painting a few poster boards with colors you like and taping them up to see what you like with the shutters. Maybe something will work without repainting them!
xo
s
Carolyn says
I like the blue door … it is cheerful!
Are you painting the inside the same color?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! I can’t wait to! The other doors have been white inside so this should be a fun change for us :)
xo
s
Sharon says
I love the choice of color of your door. I too have seen many newer colors all over Richmond where our children and grandchildren live. The newer colors update the traditional homes of yesterday away from the weary red (mine), black, white, emerald green, and dark blues doors. I am just sure the original builders/owners of some of these houses would love the updating and be choosing the new colors themselves. The different paint on the shutters give the house a more classic style. Thank you for your ideas and inspiration!
Jenny says
I can’t remember your ever mentioning any challenge in getting door hardware off — has it always been super straight-forward? Our door handle was jiggly a few weeks ago and I tried to disassemble and find something to tighten. I took a few screws off and was able to get a cover plate off, but couldn’t figure out how that related to the rest of the assembly, and couldn’t figure out how to tighten anything that made a difference. I eventually just shrugged and put it back together (and don’t remember now if it’s still jiggly — maybe I’ve just gotten used to it??). Anyhow, I’d love it if John could mention the process of getting the handle off and if it was easy to figure out or not. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We luckily haven’t run into too much trouble with hardware. Most doors handles we’ve dealt with are attached under one of the knobs and again on the plate on the edge of the door. We’ve solved a couple of jiggly handles by tightening the screws under the knob (which just holds it tighter against the door) but there could also be something at play in the rest of the door mechanism on yours that could be causing the issue. I’m not really an expert on how those things are put together so I’m not sure I can be of much help here. Sorry!
-John
Andy says
Just for fun while you’re looking for the right porch light; you should paint the one already there hot pink.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha!
xo
s
Alison says
I have never noticed a door painted a different color than the framing around the door. If I could do photoshop, I would try the classic look of it all being black. Like your shutters. Then add color with planters, door mat, and flowers.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Alison! Here’s a thread about the sidelights being white for ya :)
xo
s
Kim says
I’d rather have a friendly neighborhood deer than need a lawnmower! :-)
Melisa says
I love the blue up close but I agree that it might need something else once you back up and look at everything. I think painting the railings and posts gray could tie it all in. Just a thought! :)
Ginger says
Hi, Sherri!
Love the pop of color on your door. Good choice! I recently remodeled my 27 year old daughter’s playhouse for my 22 month old granddaughter. I painted the outside a light gray with white trim. I don’t know why I didn’t realize at the time that using the gray shade I chose was going to be so much lighter as an exterior color. I am always accustomed to colors looking darker than the charts on the interior walls. But, I wanted a pop of color on the door, so I went with an aqua shade. I may go a little darker on the gray next time around. I have exterior and interior pics of the playhouse on my instagram feed if you are interested in looking since you have your own precious little girl, Clara. My user name on instagram is gingerbreadnoble. Again, I love your style!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome! We’ll have to check it out!
xo
s
hillary says
I love the color you chose! It’s just the right amount of contrast with the red-orange brick. I love it when front doors are on the opposite side of the color wheel from the siding or trim. Muy bueno. It totally says, “Hey, I am a friendly house, get on in here!” (Our house is beige, shutters and porch trim green, and front door red. This post makes me want to paint my front door again though!)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Hillary!
xo
s
Shannon [Our Home Notebook] says
Such a happy colour for your door! I love that such a little thing can make such a big difference. You two have a beautiful home.
Emily says
Do any of you have thoughts on painting a front door that has a white metal security door over it? Removing the white security door isn’t an option but I fear that painting the main door in a color other than white might look awkward.
YoungHouseLove says
Can you paint the white door the same color as the door? There are some cute houses in our neighborhood with bright doors and bright screen doors in front (same color) so they blend and look great from the curb.
xo
s
Kezia says
Love the blue! And this post came just in time for me :-) I’m planning on painting our front door bright magenta! We’ve just ordered new frosted glass for the sidelights, so once that’s done I’ll be painting trim and the door too. Thanks for the painting tips. I’m thinking of just leaving the door knob attached while I paint. Does this matter do you think?
YoungHouseLove says
As long as you tape it off well it should be great. Getting paint all over it might look sloppy otherwise :)
xo
s
Jessica says
I would take it off for sure! Even with tape, paint will seep underneath and your work won’t look professional. I promise, it makes ALL the difference to take the knob off!
Marissa coon says
I’ve been wanting to reprint my old mildewy white door a green apple color, but we have to scrape it first which is a total pain. Any suggestions about how to do that?
YoungHouseLove says
That does sound like a pain! Maybe try googling around for a tutorial or ask the pros at the paint desk what they recommend for getting it done the quickest?
xo
s
Betty says
I need to paint my front door and a shade of blue is what I had been planning to use.
I guess some people have nothing better to do than to criticize what you have done. It is your house, your door and you can paint it whatever color you please!
Over the past year, several homes have repainted their front doors – yellow! I wonder how many (besides me) will be painting (or repainting) their doors blue!
Kelly says
I wouldn’t say that people have nothing better to do than to criticize them– this is a public blog and John and Sherry do this for a living– people are going to give their opinions! I have not read anything that was rude or over the top… People are simply saying that they do not like the door– what is wrong with that? I think that you are being a little dramatic, Betty!
Lisa E says
I agree with Betty and don’t think she’s being dramatic. If I don’t like something, I just don’t comment as they are not asking our opinion, just sharing with us. They know everybody is not going to like it because thank God, we are all different. They always take the higher road and are positive, so I choose to give the same courtesy.
Eva says
Why should only positive opinions be shared? Why have a comment section if all you want is praise? Someone with a different opinion can bring to light something they never thought of before! Sherry and John are human – they don’t know everything, they can’t possibly think of every perspective on their own, and they make mistakes. Sorry to burst your bubble, but not everything they do is perfection (no offense to Sherry and John). As long as no one is being a complete jerk (which I don’t think anyone was), why shouldn’t different perspectives be shared?
Sakura says
I agree with you totally. Our house is reddish/brown bricks with chocolate brown trim. Our door used to be brown as well, but when it came time to repaint it I went with a blueish purple color called “Twilight Purple”. It gave the house just enough pop to draw interest without being crazy bright.
Kelly Morley says
I have noticed in my neighborhood people have started painting the two white side panels the same color as the door and it gives this beautiful optical illusion of a much larger entryway. Would look gorgeous on your house! :)
Jackie says
Okay the jig is up! You picked blue because it matched the Young in Young House Love! Now all three door colors in order match your brand – that can’t just be a super cute coincidence right?! :)
YoungHouseLove says
How funny is that?! If only our last door was grellow and not yellow. I noticed that as soon as I wrote the post and saw the blue door under our header. Laughed out loud!
xo
s
Jennah says
We need to paint our front door, but I am trying to figure out how to do it with 2 cats, a dog, and a toddler who can’t be around an open door. We have a storm door that is currently removed and I am kind of thinking we won’t put back on, but we might have to put it back on just temporarily so I can paint the other one! I can’t think of another way to keep all the creatures inside (no basement or other large part of the house to close the cats in).
caroline [the diy nurse] says
Holy color! I love that you marked this off your to do list early in the game. It makes such a statement. Maybe I should get on mine!
Aubrey says
I LOVE IT!
melanie says
I love it! Not at all an inspected door color but it works!
melanie says
Oops I meant expected color. It’s a great color and a nice pop.
Katie says
I really like the color, but don’t think it works with the brick color. Red would have been nice. The white looked fine.
Soiledrotten says
You guys have a lot of patience. I just throw a color on and then get mad at myself if it doesn’t look good lol.
anna see says
Dude, I like your house’s smile.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Anna See!
xo
s
Christine says
I have seen your website before via pinterest but didn’t have it bookmarked until the HGTV Magazine article. I now check your site everyday along with my email. I really love all your decorating ideas! You are brilliant! My boyfriend and I are working on purchasing a house right now and I can’t wait until we get to do some of these things to our house!
LOVE THE DOOR!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Christine!
xo
s
Megan says
Love it!!
Beth C says
Beautiful color! I was hoping you’d choose blue–it’s a nice contrast against the brick.
Kim says
We painted our front door bright “Front door red” about a year after moving in. We live in a fairly beige neighborhood and I wanted a pop of color that would be HOA friendly. I drove through the neighborhood several times, up and down every street and NO ONE had a door like ours. Then, I suppose in compliment, our neighbor across the street painted their door the EXACT SAME COLOR. It’s time to paint again!
Megan says
Love!
I have the color that’s two down from “Peacock Blue” on the paint strip in my bedroom, called “Forget Me Not”. It reads similar to your door in interior light (just a smidge lighter) and is the perfect combo of soothing and cheerful. I hope you love coming home to it as much as I do!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome!
xo
s
Erin says
I’m in love! And I think Martha Stewart would be too considering this is her color. I’m sure she would love to come over and help you….i mean direct you on how to best remove wallpaper and trim projects.
Mari says
LOVING that door color! I got a big smile on my face seeing that picture, not because it is my cup of tea, but because it is uncannily YOURS! I can’t wait to see some of the other unexpected elements you’ll pop into this new place! I’ve always been one to play it safe, and your blog has really encouraged me to come into my own & incorporate things that are meaningful to my family and bring in a bit of “happy”. Thanks for the continued inspiration!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Mari, you’re so sweet! I think the more personal you make a home the less it might appeal to the masses, but the more it can feel like “you” if that makes sense! Go get ’em :)
xo
s
Lindsay says
We also have a brick house and a cheerful blue door. My fiance has been trying to convince me to paint it a “more mellow” color, but maybe your post will help me with my argument to keep the color. I love it!
Alison says
I’m glad that you updated the house tour page. One of my favorite spots on your website to see how the hard work you have done on one page!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, I finally got that updated!
xo
s
Jessica says
I LOVE IT AND I WAS HOPING YOU’D PICK SOMETHING CLOSE TO THIS. That is all. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Jessica!
xo
s
Amy says
I normally love everything you do but not this one. Door color is pretty, just not on this traditional looking house. Maybe it’s trendy or hip or reminds you of your color palette you had in your old place, but I def wouldn’t have picked anything like this. I think you can still use bright, playful colors when you decorate but not on the front of a traditonal, brick house.
Rebecca S says
Such a happy color – love it! I am crazy for any shade of aqua/turquoise/teal. I love bold front door colors and I love your unexpected choice. We have a little white farmhouse and we went with a periwinkle/hydrangea blue for our front door. I was a little nervous as the paint went on but we get compliments on it frequently. It was one of the choices that really ended up making me smile every time I look at it.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Rebecca! Periwinkle sounds so cute!
xo
s
amy says
I’m wondering if you did any kind of priming before you painted (this door or previous ones)? Every time I’ve painted a front door I’ve let it dry all day like you do but I always end up with the weatherstripping pulling a line of paint off the door when I open it the next day. It drives me crazy and I don’t know know how to prevent it when I go to paint our door soon. Any thoughts?
YoungHouseLove says
I didn’t prime this time since the door was chalky and not glossy, but using a liquid deglosser is a favorite prep method of mine (much faster than waiting for primer to dry, and since our paint was self priming it eliminated those extra steps so it had more time to dry).
xo
s
Whitney says
Love it! I am actually in the process of painting my craft room with Spirit in the Sky! I saw it as a front door color in HGTV magazine and loved it in our sunny third floor! Glad the neighborhood deer love it too :)
Sue VanParys says
I use that little blue Shortcuts brush on EVERYTHING I PAINT !!!!! LOVE IT !!! I like the door !!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s the best right?!
xo
s
Vel says
No one would miss your house for sure! Love it because it’s SO YOU!!! Surprised you didn’t go with mint green!