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I keep thinking about what I would do if it were my house...because I have WAY too much time on my hands lately
To me, your house has a very contemporary look, with the window style and the type of brick, and the door is much more traditional and is a bit of a clash style wise. But obviously very pretty and in good shape.
If it were me, I would paint the entire door, trim, sidelights, everything in a much lighter color, basically almost like the siding above, in super high gloss. Maybe almost like that door to the far right. That would let the glass design stand out a little and be the main feature. I would make sure the handle set was a very dark bronze/black.
Then I might have two low simple dark planters to either side of the door and would use that as my opportunity for some color, with the plants & flowers.
If it was a really modern door, then I would be thinking possible color, like a burnt orange or very dark muted blue. But with that particular door, I wouldn't add color there. Again, just opinion. I like your house!
OP, you have gotten a lot of different opinions. It's almost like shopping with friends. It looks like you're going to go with all one color for the door and side partitions (not my choice ; ) and the most important opinion is yours so of course go with what feels right to you. From a safety/security standpoint - I would make sure that the glass is resistant to break-ins. Most local police departments offer the services of a safety officer to come out to your home and do a walk through to point out soft spots in your home. We live in a gated community and many of our residents avail themselves of this free service. I know it's off topic, but the glass panels made me think of it.
Thanks! And I appreciate the thoughts. We often joke because our house has quite a few design idiosyncrasies. The prior owners built/designed it and while it was built in the 2000's much of the color and design elements were from the 1990s. Lots of purple and teal, for example. And the door is definitely not what we'd pick, but its functional and there is no real reason to replace it. We aren't that into design...
What is spurring all this is that the prior owners had a brown composite deck railing put all the way around the porch. It was big, ugly, and blocked everything out. I pulled it off last weekend, and we like the new look but it definitely accentuated the front door challenges.
Separately, we also have a landscape architect pulling together a foundation planting and front bed scheme. I think that will help too.
It looks like you're going to go with all one color for the door and side partitions (not my choice ; )
Honestly, I'm wavering back and fourth on this. I'll blame the Benadryl brain fog. Darn allergies!
What I'm considering now is doing all the door trim and side windows in the light tan that matches the rest of the window trim, and painting the door in whatever accent color we land on. If it looks great, we'll call it done. But having that color up there on the door will make it easier to also visualize what the side windows would look like if they were painted in that color too.
While I haven't yet settled on a final color, this has been a great thread because it's helped me realize that there are other things I can work on besides just the door color.
Honestly, I'm wavering back and fourth on this. I'll blame the Benadryl brain fog. Darn allergies!
What I'm considering now is doing all the door trim and side windows in the light tan that matches the rest of the window trim, and painting the door in whatever accent color we land on. If it looks great, we'll call it done. But having that color up there on the door will make it easier to also visualize what the side windows would look like if they were painted in that color too.
While I haven't yet settled on a final color, this has been a great thread because it's helped me realize that there are other things I can work on besides just the door color.
That's actually the way I thought it would look best. I suggested a blue door because you seem to have a little bit of the "rebel" in your decorating and I think a blue door, which isn't all that common, shows an adventurous spirit without being too "out there!" Whatever you decide, have fun with it and as you already know, nothing's permanent
Keep it all the same color and use a color 3- 4 shades up from the trim on your house like Honed Soapstone. Add a great pair of outdoor sconces or a pair colorful ceramic planters. Err on the large size for lights and planters.
and paint the whole door,sidelights, all of it. Dark bronze hardware.
And buy some nice planters, and paint them either the siding color or that muddled basil color, fill them with some pretty red or dark fuschia flowers.
Well, in the spirit of nothing tried - nothing gained...I tried something this weekend. I did a test swatch of the beige window trim/siding colored paint, we had some laying around from another project. I think it seems to be working better than the dark green, it was pretty cloudy yesterday so I want to look at it in the sunlight after work tonight and see what I think.
I'm still waffling on the sidelight color. I see pictures online where the sidelights are the same color as the trim and like them. I look at this picture and I'm not so sure. The trim paint is free and it's probably only another 30 minutes to paint the rest. Maybe I'll give it a whirl. It's easy enough to cut in the sidelights with the door color afterwards.
Totally agree on the new door hardware and also doorbell. Planters are going to be a bit more tricky, because the right side of the door has that brick wall coming straight out for a couple feet. So they will need to be on the smaller side.
I know that I can also buy replacement glass for the lights and door that may match the house better. I've done it before, and would like to do it here but we are trying to conserve cash as much as possible till this economy/Covid situation is settled down a bit.
And I just wanted to say again, I appreciate all the comments. Neither my wife or I are design people, so this does not come naturally. Their are a lot of good ideas in this thread, and it would be awesome if I could try them all and see what we like the best. But that would keep me tied up all summer, and I'd like to avoid that!
I think the beige sidelight color looks very nice - definitely better than matching it to the door.
When we bought our house about 5 years ago now, the sidelights and door were the same color on our house as well (dark green). We went back and forth on painting them again to match our door color when we got around to it (BM Hudson Bay) or if we would just paint them out white to match all the trim. Ultimately we went with the white and it looks so much better. Really makes the door color stand out.
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