Welcome or Stay Out?

What does the color of your front door say about you?Are you saying “Come on in” or “Stay away”?  Our chum, Chris, who is a realtor with Podley Properties, recently posted an article she found from the Paint Quality Institute that posed the question of what the color of your front door is communicating.  We found this fascinating and thought perhaps you would too:

Whether we realize it or not, the colors with which we surround ourselves—in our clothes, cars, and homes—reveal a lot about us. For example, bright colors often indicate an outgoing personality, while subdued colors imply a more low-key persona. We also can convey our personality through our paint choices, and some experts believe that one paint choice specifically—that of our front door—can say a lot about us. So what does your front door color choice say about you?

According to Debbie Zimmer, color expert at the Paint Quality Institute, color has a psychological component through which we often communicate our moods, feelings, emotions, and personality. We even convey emotions by our exterior paint choices. “The entire exterior color scheme has meaning, but the color of the front door is especially important,” says Zimmer. “Like a necktie, which is the focal point of an outfit, the front door is the focal point of the home. The color there sends a strong message, in the case of the front door, providing insight into how we view our home.”

So, what does the color of your front door say about you and the way you regard your home? Here’s what a color psychologist might say about some of the most common front door colors:

Blue. Shown to be the most popular color in many studies, a blue front door signals that the homeowner views his or her home as a place of refuge—calm, serene, and relaxing; the perfect retreat from an often harsh and demanding world.

Green. Green is another popular color when it comes to the front door, and with good reason. Psychologically speaking, green connotes health, safety, tranquility, and harmony, all highly desirable attributes for the home environment.

Black. Those who paint the front door black are communicating something entirely different about their homes. A black front door projects strength, sophistication, power, and authority, indicating to all who enter – or even those who pass by – that the home is a serious place inhabited by a person of substance.

Red. Regarded as a powerful “punch” color, red is the color of passion. By painting the front door red, the homeowner is saying that the home within is a vibrant place, full of life, energy, and excitement.

Brown. Whether painted or stained, a brown front door looks natural and organic, but it can send mixed messages in terms of color psychology. On the one hand, brown conveys warmth, stability, and reliability. However, certain darker shades of brown signal a desire for privacy, even isolation.

Very likely, the color you’ve chosen for your front door projects the way you want your home to be viewed. But if you inherited the color from the previous owner, or if you want to say something different about yourself and your home, you can quickly change the color, says Zimmer. “It takes only a few hours to prep and re-paint a standard-size front door, and by applying a durable, top-quality paint, you can make a totally different color statement that will last for years.”

So if you don’t like what you are saying to passersby or those who visit your home you can change it in a hurry. Dunn-Edwards Paints has some very handy services including sending you up to 100 paint color chips free of charge and providing you a download to a rendering tool called Palette Previewer that will allow you to put in photos of your front door or any room and “try out” colors to see how you like them. You can paint like a pro after viewing this video about how to properly paint your door:

If you already know what change you want to make, then grab some sandpaper and a paintbrush and bucket of paint and you know what to do….your weekend project is calling!