Hey, friends!
One of the things I’ve been working on in our new house is updating all the interior doors with a paint color. I mulled it over for awhile before I decided on one, but this one really stood out to me as a good choice, so that’s what I ended up doing and I am SO happy with the results.
I’ll share mine at the end of this post, but I wanted to talk about this trend of painting interior doors today and see what you think. It seems that painting interior doors is one of those trends that hasn’t been around all that long. It’s only in the last few years that I’ve seen so many people doing this. It was over 5 years ago when I moved in my last fixer-upper that I painted all the doors a deep chocolate brown and I loved the look in that house.
So, how do you decided what color to paint an interior door? I think it just depends on what you have going on in your home and you have to take cues from your interiors, paint colors, and furnishings to decide what color might be a good fit for you. White has always been the standard for interior doors, painted to match the trim in most cases, but there’s something fun about painting interior doors a different color. I asked some of my blog friends to show me their interior doors. Some of these are exterior doors too, but it just goes to show the power of paint and how a fun color can brighten up a front door or inside the house.
My friend, Shannon, with Fox Hollow Cottage painted the inside of her front door a pretty aqua blue, which carries into her home furnishings as well. I love it and it is so much more fun than a white door would be.
What a breath of fresh air this green front door is, from Maggie Overby Studios. I do like a pretty front door color, but our house has black and it will probably stay that way for now and black is a classic.
Little House of Four did a classic black front door in a Craftsman style and it’s so pretty. See the black accents she has already? That’s a good flow and black really does make an exterior door pop.
Melissa with The Happier Homemaker also did a black front door inside and it’s a nice punch to the foyer.
Natalie from A Turtle’s Life for Me, went bold with her green accented doors along with the blue and white, a nice combo. I did a similar color in my old house in the laundry room and it was fun to have some color in that space.
Melissa with A Polished Habitat decided on a pretty aqua to accent the inside of her patio door. It leads the eye out to that color on her porch and how pretty is that?!
Toni with Design Dazzle did a gorgeous laundry room and added a pretty aqua shade on the door. That really makes this room special.
How about this front door for sunshine and happiness?! Brittany with Pretty Handy Girl chose a sunny shade of yellow for the inside of her front door. I think it’s on the outside too and how happy is this entry?
Sunshine and Munchkins did a fun garage door entry in a pretty shade of blue with an added Hello to really make it fun. I love this! Much more fun to come home to than a plain white door!
Kristi with Addicted 2 Decorating has been working so hard on her fixer-upper and is making lots of progress. I love these deep blue doors in her house and what a statement they make.
These coral doors just scream happiness and fun, don’t they, from Lolly Jane. Their guests can never miss this house!
Kristi with Chatfield Court also opted for a pretty aqua shade for her front door. This is a popular shade of blue.
Black is bold and Domicile 37 does a beautiful pair of black doors in her dining room, complete with trim over it.
Anita with Cedar Hill Farmhouse painted her interior doors gray way before the trend started and I do love gray interior doors. Such a nice and neutral color.
Jenna with Rain on a Tin Roof spruced up this set of of doors with classic black and adding pink to the mix for some retro fun.
And Roeshel with DIY Showoff had a lot of fun with her grandson’s nursery door in this colorblock style. I love this!
Monica with Monica Wants It has just moved into a new house and is taking her time decorating it, but she went with all black interior doors. I love it and I also love the style of these doors! This classic 5 panel door is historic feeling and I’m seeing this trend in new builds now. So pretty! With her white walls, it’s so classic and timeless which is just what she was going for .
Jen with Jen Woodhouse painted her front door a vibrant emerald green and it pops!
So that brings me to our doors! As I mentioned, I mulled it over for weeks before I decided on a color. We have these pretty arched doors in our house and I do love them, but white wasn’t my favorite. I knew I wanted a color that would flow with everything in our house and with all the shades of blue I’m using, a soft shade made sense.
So, I went with Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams in a Satin finish. I’m already finished with our downstairs, but will move upstairs next and get them all painted. That means, every interior door will be painted this color. It’s soft and so pretty and looks really good with all our colors and furnishings. We are also changing out all the door hardware too and I’m partnering with Schlage on that, so stay tuned for all of this to be shown soon.
Here’s a sneak peek at how great it all looks! This color is so soothing and calming and we both love it so much. The black/oil rubbed bronze doorknobs just take them to another level as well. I can’t wait to get it all done and I’ll be sharing all the sources with you soon. Our old door hardware is a silver toned, but this black totally changes the look and of course, we love that backplate too. You can see how pretty it is with the white trim and Magnolia Homes Gatherings paint color on the walls, which is our main paint color through the house.
Someone asked me when I was sharing these on Instagram, how do you decide what color to paint interior doors? That’s a good question and so that’s something I thought worth discussing. I’m sure many of you have white doors, right? That’s totally normal, so if you love them, keep them. So many people stay with white doors. But I just like to shake things up a little and paint my interior doors a different color than just white.
As I mentioned, my previous house was painted deep chocolate brown on the doors and with my creamy white walls, it was a good mix and I loved that color there. But this house seemed to call for something else, something more subdued to go with the flow and furnishings of what we have going in this house. And Oyster Bay was the winner for us. I tried it out and walked around the house and knew it would be a winner and it is. It accents the alcoves and looks so good with everything we have in the house. All these shades of blue just flow together.
So, if you’re in the market to paint your doors, I think you have to look at your main paint color, your furniture and furnishings colors, trim color, and then decide what color will flow with all of this. It might be black, gray, taupe, or some shade of blue. Or something entirely different. I do think that painting interior doors is a way to make your house stand out from the crowd and it give it a whole different feel.
Are your doors painted, yes or no? And what do you think about this trend? Like it or not? Let’s discuss!
I like the trend to paint interior doors black, but painting them a color? I’d have to think about that. JMO
I’ve been wanting to change our door handles to rubbed bronze, but my husband said we would also have to change the door hinges to match. He thinks it would look odd to have knobs and hinges that are two different finishes. I’m curious, will you be changing your hinges as well?
HI, Jill, yes I’m changing all the hinges too, I agree with your husband on this one. Looks best for those to match. Doing a post soon!
I love the interior doors and trim and molding in black!! I saw a design shoot with deep satin black interior doors and windows and I plan to do it in most of the house me are building! Love it.
This will be helpful for my new home I am designing, I am looking for unique colors for the doors and the grey is a winner.
Maria
Thanks for sharing all of these beautiful doors! No sure that my LL would go for an aqua (which I would love to do), but it wouldn’t hurt to ask! Love your Oyster Bay doors… such a pretty blue!
Rhoda, your choice was a really good one! Hmmm. . . I’m not sure I’d be up to the task of painting all our interior doors, but if I did it, I think I’d follow your lead and go for a light color. Just enough to show off the pretty doors but not enough to be jarring.
I find myself wondering about painting just the inside of the front door. Seems like that door could stand alone. Of course, I LOVE a painted front door on the outside, so it stands to reason I’d like the inside painted!
I love the way you’re a wise trendsetter. 🙂
Thank you, Richella, I do love a front door painted on the inside too and did that 20 years ago in my first house, so continued that into my other houses too. I do love the interior doors painted as well, but I know it’s a big job and maybe not for everyone.
I’m getting ready to do this and it might be a silly question but do you paint the entire door? Front and back? Or just the side that shows when closed?
HI, Elena, I do front and back and also the edges on the front and the edge where the hinges are for a cohesive look. It’s an extra step that looks great!
Love all the ideas. I painted and remodeled my kitchen, used mostly green. Painted the interior of my kitchen door a dark warm green to make it pop. We can’t paint the outside per condominium rules, but I love the look I created. So do all my guests!
We bought our house 2 years ago & everything I have is cream, white, pale blue & pale. Green
With some brighter shades. I immediately asked to have the walls painted in Sw Snowbound
& the doors in SW Sea Salt. Our house is open concept. I love the painted interior doors especially
With painted white trim also in SW snowbound
The exterior doors are Teal
I appreciate all your ideas and your counsel. I could use your opinion or a rule!
In my entry are three doors: the double entry doors, a bathroom, and a guest bedroom. The double entry doors I painted black, and the other two doors are currently sealed blond wood. It’s a contempory, open floor plan.
I’m painting my walls and trim all AGREEABLE GRAY… do I paint the two doors AG also, or black like the entry doors? Is there some decorator’s law about mixing door colors? Please help. I’m paralyzed with indecision.
Hi, Becky, there are no hard fast rules on these things, so it has to be pleasing to you. With your description, I would say paint the other doors black too, that would make them all flow from that one area where they are all visual. I painted all my interior doors in my last house dark brown and loved how they looked.
Hi, I am so glad I found this article. I am considering painting all my interior doors a light gray they are currently painted in white. The dilema I am having is that my two double French doors leading out to the patio are factory painted in white and they are aluminum, they are impact glass doors since I live in South Florida so replacing these doors is not an option. So my question is if I paint the rest of my interior doors gray is it ok to keep the French doors in white? Also my current front door is painted in bronze from factory since is an impact door as well. I feel there will be too many colors going on.. ? Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
HI, Brenda, I understand your dilemma, but I think you could still paint your interior doors the light gray and leave the others as they are. You could probably paint the white French doors in the same gray, I have painted metal doors before. But if you’re nervous to do that and would rather leave the factory finish, I think it would be fine to leave the front door and those doors as is.
Help!
I live in a mid century modern home. I’ve just replaced the upstairs doors with modern, dark mahogany with frosted glass panels and I have angular brushed nickel hinges/knobs. Looks great.
The problem is my downstairs. It’s more of a basement with a low ceiling. I think the mahogany is going to be too dark downstairs.
Can you use different colored doors from an upstairs to a downstairs?? Would it be strange to have a lighter wood with glass panels??
Hi, Sandy, that’s a tough one! I’m definitely not an expert on all house styles, but if it makes you happy to mix the doors,then do it. Maybe look around and see what you can find on your type house.
My bedroom closet doors (3 sets of bi-fold louver doors), woodwork and window is stained hunter green. The carpet is a light goldish tan. The walls are painted off wihte. I have wooden blinds on the window. I want to change the color of the walls but leave the rest as it is. What do you suggest? Changing all of the green to white is a monumental task of sanding and at least 3 coats of paint. Not something we want to undertake.
HI. Sharon, I would probably stick with a creamy white with all the woodwork and hunter green shade. Otherwise it’s going to be very dark in there. At least the off white breaks things up.
How did the satin finish hold up on the doors? I am seeing gloss being recommended but prefer the look of satin. Thank you.
They are holding up fine! I like the Satin sheen too.
I want to paint all my interior doors a color, but my sliding door is solid wood and I dont think my husband will like it if its painted. Will it look awful if it’s not painted?
HI, Julie, no I think it would be fine to leave that one alone and paint the rest.
I’m trying to find out what color the doors are in Kristi’s Addicted to decorating doors are in this blog post above?? I love the color and want the exact thing in my new renovation.
Hi, you should definitely go to her blog and ask her, I’m sure she would be happy to share.
Hi there, thank you for your inspiration re:painting doors
I’d like to ask ~ is it ok to paint the doors the same colour as the walls in a room and leave trim white~ that would have the bedroom and bathroom doors the same colour (Agreeable Gray) and all other doors a different colour (Winds Whisper) the colour throughout the remainder of the suite. Or paint all doors the darker shade that’s on bedroom and bathroom doors
Or what do you suggest.
Thank you so much
Hi, Marti, I think it’s fine to do what you think looks best in each space. I just redid my sitting room off the master and didn’t like the door color there the same as my other door color so it’s now the same as the walls. So just use your judgement on each space. I think you can get away with one room being different than the rest of the house.
Thank you for this post. I love admiring other people’s creativity. I am currently finishing my basement and am using 3-panel (equal) shaker doors. There will be 5 in total. There will also be 1 double and 1 single traditional 6-lite french doors which open to the spaces with windows, thereby letting in a little natural light throughout. I would have loved to use the matching 3-panel glass, but they were cost prohibitive. Do you think I could paint just the french doors a color, in an attempt to modernize them somewhat (I’m thinking dark blue or black), or would that just make it even more obvious that they are a different style from the rest? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, Lisa, I think painting the French doors a color would be great to do. I don’t have a problem mixing styles and a traditional French door is classic so you should be fine with your choices.
It was surprising how effective simply painting an interior door black can be when giving the house interior a new look. This makes me think about my current house and how it’s predominantly white and blue colored, leaving some room for bold colors elsewhere. Once I find a painting service that can help me out with my pre-holiday renovations, I’ll definitely try this color out for my front door.