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When we were buying our new house, there was so much that I loved about it – the very open floor plan, architectural features like rounded walls, floor to ceiling windows in the living room, giant kitchen island, tall ceilings ranch, mostly. But, everything was blah. Same orangey-beige everywhere, boring light fixtures, cheap-looking fixtures … there was so much unused potential in this house! Slowly, very slowly, I’m updating things to slowly flesh out the beauty that this home could be. We’ve already made a lot of progress, but there is a lot more to go.
One of those things standing in my way are the doors. They are mammoths. The tallest interior doors I’ve seen in a home. Roughly 8’+ tall. And they are the color the trim used to be (something else I’m also working on), which is kind of like beige/pink vomit. Obviously, I have no strong feelings at all about the gross color. The doors all HAVE TO BE painted anyway, so I might as well make them gorgeous.
The dark door trend is still going strong, and I’m seeing it in enough up-scale places to think it is going to stay around for a while. Either way, I love dark doors surrounded by white trim. I love the way it makes a design statement without being bold/tacky. Dark colors can be neutral too! Think: navy, black, dark gray, deep brown … totally neutral.
When I was nervous about my choice, I searched for pictures of dark doors online and it was very clear to me that I made the right decision for me.
(Checkout my Pinterest Board: Decor | Dark Interior Doors)
Here are some of the doors that helped convince me … Please click on the source below each image to learn more about the blog/website this image came from.
(via Home Bunch)
(via Brooke Wagner Design)
(via The Gathered Home)
(via Dear Lillie)
(via Sherwin Williams)
(via The Decor Chick)
(via Thrifty Decor Chick)
(via Honey We’re Home)
(via From the Carriage House)
(via The Inspired Room)
(via Remodalaholic)
(via 320 Sycamore)
(via Focal Point Styling)
SNEAK PEEK
I’m still in the middle of painting all my doors … so here is a sneak peek of a few doors I’ve painted into the laundry room. I can’t wait to show you the easy way I figured out how to do this, because it was taking me FOREVER to paint them, and I have 29 doors to paint. Yikes. (Hint: it is similar to how I’m painting my trim.)
I hope these inspired you too!
From my home to yours,
Mary
Very classy Mary. You’re right it’ll be around awhile. Reminds me of old areas in Boston for some reason. It’s a classic design. Please, for the love of all that’s holy and good, say “NO” to the turquoise doors. ☺️. Thanks for sharing!
Kerry
I think it’s classic too, thanks for validating. 🙂 And I have the same worry as you, turquoise doors may be just a trend. Luckily, one easily solved with a new can of paint!
My front door was a gross red color when we bought the house. Grey paint, black shutters, reddish door. I hated it. I tested out several colors and settled on “Sophisticated Teal” from Behr. It looks amazing!
I’m working on some closet doors now and decided to go dark. I tested out 4 colors, all of which seemed too light when actually painted, and finally settled on one that I couldn’t get a sample of and had to go with a quart. I’m struggling now with whether I want to do the trim in the same color or refresh the white. Then also, do I want to do the bathroom door, which is technically in the same room, in the same color.
I’m a fan of fresh white trim, but go with what makes you happy! There is no technical right or wrong, just different opinions from different “expert decorators.”
I’m ready to stain my interior doors black. Will l have to put a polyurethane to make them a glossy finish? Or should I just get a glossy finished paint? I’m nervous 😰
I’d say use a high-gloss paint instead of having to do a poly coat! I think that will be easier to touch up too.
Mary I’m going with Navy door also. Did you use a semi-gloss paint? That is what I’m doing and it is taking forever and multiple coats over the primer to get a nice finish. Was this your experience as well?
I really wish I could say otherwise, but yes, painting the doors is a terrible terrible pain. Spraying the paint certainly helps, but was still a lot of work. It will be so worth it, though! They’re so gorgeous!
Hi Mary,
This looks really nice. Do some people paint the trim darker as well or is that not quite as appealing? And should all the interior doors be the same dark color or can they vary from grays to black and still look cohesive?
Thanks, Rachel
I’ve seen it every way. I just went through a model home a few weeks ago, where only a few doors were chosen to be dark and they did paint the trim around them dark as well. It’s the wild west out there, no specific rules – you get to do what makes sense for your home and tastes.
The hexagon tile… where can I find that ?
That wasn’t my tile. If you click the link right below that picture, you can go to the person’s blog and ask them. 🙂
Hi Mary, Thank you so much for sharing this. My hubby and want to go dark door white trim. With have sampled a few colors but struggle to make a choice. We have a dark glossy mohogamy cherrywood floor. Do you recommend dark chocolate brown or black doors? Should the paint be semi-gloss or glossy? Thanks again.
Aida from Toronto
I don’t think you could go wrong with brown or black. I’d love to know what you chose and how it went! We’re in a new house from the one in this post and I’m just approaching the idea of dark doors again (it’s a big job). I believe I’ll be going with a black-ish brown. SW has a color called Black Fox that I’m considering, but I haven’t tested it out yet.
I’m thinking the same thing with repose grey walls. These both have black undertones ! I’m thinking of the trim either same as walls or a shade lighter than repose grey. I hope it looks good. This is In a new construction home.
I’m sure it will be beautiful! Feel free to email me pictures 🙂
This is something i never considered but looks so beautiful here
Thank you!
Beautiful color! What color did you use for the doors? Wondering so I could find it 🙂
Naval Academy, I believe.
We are building a lake house. Struggling with trim and door ideas. Front door is espresso aspen style door. Would you suggest espresso color on doors with white trim or do you think dark gray is safer with lake house theme? Looking at either Repose Gray or Agreeable Gray for walls.
Honestly, I don’t think you’ll regret dark gray or espresso on the doors. I think the gray may be a bit more “lake house” but they both sound lovely.
I changed the colour of my door a couple of years ago now . But I recommend farrow and ball eggshell it’s much easier to apply than gloss and really easy to touch up . I also left my trims white 🙂
Love it! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile and love the look. The question that I keep having is for the front door, do you need to paint the exterior portion of the door? I already have a black security door and am not sure I want the front door black too.
I’ve seen plenty of front doors that are different colors inside and out! I think it’s your home and you get to do what feels and looks right to you!
I’m starting to paint some of my interior doors black as well but I got stuck because the doors I see that are all black also go with the interior of the room. My bedrooms don’t all “go” with black and I don’t really close my bedroom doors to get the drama down the hallway. Should I just leave them white? Or just paint the outside of the door and not the inside where the yellow bedroom just wouldn’t work with black?
Black is a neutral, so supposedly, it would coordinate with anything in any room. Of course, it’s your home and you need to feel comfortable with it. I personally wouldn’t paint only one side of the door, I’d pick one color for both.
Hello, I started to paint my doors after seeing these pics. Couple comments and then a question. So our decor/color scheme is currently antique white walls with a bright white trim on baseboards and casing (I love white on the trim) and darker brown furniture. Initially I thought I had to go with a dark brown color so I got Espresso Beans. It looked awful! So I went back and got Black Fox which I love. I did just get Wrought Iron to try before painting all the doors but both Black Fox and Wrought Iron are in eggshell which I think looks great. My question is I really don’t want the dark color on the doors as that doesn’t match the colors I already have in say the spare bedroom or my office but do you think it will look funny to only paint the outside of the door (the side facing the hallway when door is closed)?
I personally don’t think it will bug you that much over time. Your eyes might be drawn to it at first, but I’ve seen it done at other people’s houses and looks totally okay.
I am in the process of remodeling and can’t decided how to paint my doors. When you walk in my front door there is a small foyer, then a hallway with two other doors. All of the doors are white except my front door which is painted black (iron ore Sherwin Williams) My walls are mindful gray with white trim. I’m wanting to paint my other interior doors a darke color instead of white. Should I paint all the doors black like the front door or some other color such as a dark gray? Should the front door be different from the other ones?
Tough choice. To be honest, I love both color ideas! I think you may need to do some sample paint on different doors and go with whatever you like the best, because both sound great.
I love the dark doors. I’m struggling now because we are thinking about replacing our flooring and doing a light wood. We will then need to redo the baseboards and trim. Problem is I have wood windows that we paid so much extra for and I really don’t want the hassle of painting them.
I think it would still be okay to have the wood framed windows. If anything, they’ll look extra cool and stand out more.