I’m designing a custom entry system for a client and it has me thinking about front doors and the powerful message they send. A dowdy home can be ‘saved’ by a cool front door. The front door sends a message of welcome (or not), and what you might expect to see inside.
So here are snapshots of front doors from homes I’ve lived
in over the years along with some others I find intriguing.
Color is Absolutely
Key
My current front door was boring so I spruced it up with
some snappy chartreuse paint, pinstriped with dark green and orange. Now I really like it.
Here’s a door and sidelights I created for a 100 year old
arts and crafts home. I love the
red-orange on the door surrounded with deep greenish black.
It’s traditional but fresh.
Red is always a good bet for the door where the door is the
focal point from the curb. Here are a
couple of great looking, fresh red doors.
Avoid the maroon red, often called Cottage Red that’s become dated. BTW,I love the house numbers etched onto the
glass on the house on the left, along with the red porch lights and pots.
Red really draws your eye on a formal entry with no other
color on the façade of the building.
The color on the door needs to relate to the color of the
building. The mustard yellow on this
door is perfect surrounded by buff colored stone.
Likewise this gorgeous blue on a blue-gray building. The
bright white trim sets it all off.
When the color of the building is delicate, the door color
needs to be so as well as it is here.
The soft gray-green on this door is just right with the cream colored
stucco.
Some facades don’t want color on the entry door. The cherry stain on this door and surround
are perfect.
And finally there’s the entry to Greene and Greene’s arts
and crafts masterpiece, the Gamble House. Only a rich wood finish lives up to
the architectural integrity, workmanship and stunning art glass on this entry
viewed from the interior and the exterior.
