Painted Interior Doors

There are some design elements in a room that I think strike you right away.  Fabric choices on furniture.  Statement art on the walls.  A really interesting rug.  Kitchen countertops.  Fabulous Lighting.  Deciding on these things is important and definitely shapes the feel of your home.

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I also think there are some elements in a room that deliver a big impact in a more subtle way.  It's not secret that I love to paint things, and what I'm thinking about today are painted interior doors.  Maybe not the first thing you'd think to address in your home, but I love the way they warm up a space and create a good dose of contrast.  

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In our home in Richmond, I painted the inside of our front door black.

I also painted the inside of our back door and an interior bathroom door gray (Benjamin Moore's Gunmetal to be exact).  This small change did so much for the kitchen I thought!

Our current home has lots of options for painted interior doors.  There's the back of the front door, several doors in our dining room and the hallway, which in its current state is not interesting in the least.  It's lined with cheapo, hollow core doors that are just begging for some love.

My apologies for all the junk laying around…these photos were not styled :)

{I feel the need to explain the water dispenser you can see here…I have always been a tap water kinda girl.  Well, not in California.  According to the city's water quality report, Davis water may contain boron and hexavalent chromium (Erin Brokovich anyone?), so we aren't too keen on drinking it.  The trade off is this beauty in my dining room.  Philip's parents thoughtfully gifted us with water delivered to us for the year!  I'll happy take a water dispenser over toxins in my drinking water, thank you very much :) }

Baskets of laundry, always.  Also, a ceiling light fixture that I am so not friends with.

I could, however be friends with a blue door.

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Gray is nice…

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I think yellow is really pretty in this particular space.

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Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I'm inclined to go more neutral in our wee little house with 8' ceilings.

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Rachel Halvorson is uber talented and wrote a great blog post about dark doors.  One of her color recommendations is Sherwin Williams' Urbane Bronze, which is actually the color I painted the walls of our master in our Illinois house.  

Black is a classic choice, and you know what they say about it--every room needs a dose.  If you're looking around your room and noticing that you are lacking in the black department, why not grab a paint brush and give a door a quick makeover?

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We already have black countertops or else black would be a given for our front door.  I'm wondering if it might just be too much in our little place, and I should go with a gray or a brownish-black.  Hhhhmmm.  Too much or just right?  

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The thing I love about a project like this is you can knock it out pretty quickly without too much hassle.    So long as there aren't any tiny people running amuck (cue the nap time chorus!), you can paint a door without much fuss.  

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So, have I convinced you?  Who else is with me and is ready to paint some doors?!