Changing my vote again: Babouche but with a touch more brown in it. Closer to a dijon. Similar to the one posted by angc.

@bbstx, I love Babouche too! I am shocked that I like it so much. If I use Farrow & Ball, I can't change the formula. It is what it is. I am going to try and find a pic of a Babouche door.

so many choices my head is spinning!

Before I saw any of the choices, I visualized a mid-tone blue and thought Chinese Blue was dead-on. And I still do, but it looks like you want to pop a bit more.

I know you don't want red or rust, but I can really see it and especially how it coordinates with the front shrubs. Your first pic shows a bit of burgundy or red in the foreground. It might be nice to connect with that. I always thought red doors were realtors choice for welcoming.

Picture Gallery Red

Have you considered greens?

Maybe an apple or lime green? Heres Cooking Apple Green. Maybe a little too light.

Olive a little richer, stronger, more contrast:

...back to safe blues, I'm also liking Stone Blue

babouche snuck in while I was posting... It does look like an awesome color, but something about beige and yellow next to each other has always bugged me. Not a fan.

Look what I found! Babouche on a door! I like a lot!

Here is a link that might be useful: Warline painting

This post was edited by bbstx on Mon, Mar 17, 14 at 23:06

Thanks for the pic, bbstx! I found it as well and was coming to post. I really like it too.

@ wendy, I didn't think I would like the yellow and tan either but I like it in the mock up. Chinese Blue is still an option. We like that in the mock up too but the Babouche really makes an impact. As for green, it is my favorite color and I love it but none of the mock ups I did in greens looked that great.

Question: if I go with Babouche, do you think it's odd that the interior face of the door will be dark brown? All my interior doors are dark brown (same as current exterior front door).

I don't think it would look odd at all for the exterior of the door to be one color and the interior another. I think that is fairly normal. Thinking back to the last several houses I've had, the interior and exterior of the front doors were different colors.

Go for it! It's just paint. If it doesn't work, you can re-paint it. (hmmm...that sounds vaguely familiar)

Throwing in another vote for Chinese Blue. It was my first instinct and still my choice after reading the whole thread. : ). What I like about it with the stonework is it reminds me of a stream. Blue for the water. Plus it's a lovely blue! I would even consider getting a shade lighter and doing the panels on each side.

I live in FL where bright exterior colors are the norm. I got into it when we first moved here but it did get old. It is just a front door, you could always do the brighter blue, but from personal experience I ultimately changed my mind on the colors that stood out a bit too much. St. Giles blue would be fun until Fall ; ).

A color I think you may like is Peacock Plum by SW, check it out!

I like the mustard color show up the thread a bit, but that is with brown stone. Yours seems to have more gray in it and the yellows seem jarring. There are homes where bright colored doors perk up the face, but your home already has lovely features and I would want to compliment them rather than have the house say "Forget me, look at my bright colored door." Whatever you pick, you need to compliment the softness of the sage siding and the browns and grays in your stone.

I'm lovin' the purples, some bright, some subdued, but all very pretty, IMO.

Here is a link that might be useful: doors

Here's a few more ideas. Sorry for the multiple posts. Can't get all the pics in one.

BM Franklin Lakes

SW Meditative

SW Poetry Plum

Heres SW Riverway which is what I have on my front door

And should you change your mind about a dark color, BM Gentleman's gray

I'd go with one of the farrow and ball greens. The others don't seem to relate to the house or setting, IMHO.

Thanks all! Can't respond personally to all as I'm on my phone but I just wanted to say I'm back to blue. : ) We really like Chinese Blue best with our exterior. After a little more searching, I looked at Fine Paints of Europe ( I've used that paint for furniture before). I emailed their color consultant and his first pick was Potomac Blue:

Kind of between St. Giles and Chinese! I think this *might* be the winner! But I'll still look around. Just a little.

Ding, ding, ding!!!! LOVE the Potomac Blue!!!

Love it!

Thanks! I know it is just paint but it is so hard to pull the trigger. I don't want it to look out of place or wacky. It is funny about color - everyone has a different opinion of what "goes" and what doesn't. I consulted with the FPE guy and he said Potomac, which is on par with my original intent. Then I consulted with the colorist that helped me pick out interior colors. The gist of what he said was the house as is doesn't lend itself to any bright color, which I know some PPs stated upthread. I understand that and am kind of thinking that myself but I want color! Ugh. He suggested F&B Railings, which is a dark gray/blue/green color, but in FPE high gloss. I know the high gloss will give it oomph too. DH just wants high gloss black. This is way too difficult!

I do appreciate all the feedback. Right now, if I had to choose, I would just go with Potomac and see how I like it. After all, it is just paint!

Having painted a SW facing door high gloss black, let me tell you, it doesn't stay high gloss for long. The sun will beat it down, and fine dirt/dust will also make it look matte.

I had a pair of beautiful doors. The upper 2/3 was leaded glass. When we bought the house, we had the front doors stripped and re-stained. They were gorgeous for about 6 months. We had them sanded and re-stained several more times. It was a job that had to be done every 6 months. Finally, in frustration, I had them painted black. Then I got by with only having to have them repainted every year and a half to 2 years, but the high gloss only lasted a few months.

There's no right or wrong answer... You're just setting a mood. You can change it on a whim. A door is the perfect element to try out and have do-overs with. It only takes a quart of paint so it's not that expensive. It's quick and easy.

How about large color chips? Some places sell 12" or 18" sample squares. That might help you nail it down. Tape 4 colors up in 4 corners and go look at it from the street. I am sure you will know for sure which one is right if you do that.

I think that particular picture of Potomac is looking extra popping because of the high gloss and the photography. The actual color chip doesn't seem to have quite so much punch, so I think you will be pleased.

I have to agree about not using a bright color. When I see a bright red door, ant it's too bright, I think of an oriental restaurant. Keeping it on the muted side is a good ideaI IMO.

Mamorella, can you do a mock up with the potomac blue? I definitely like that shade best of your three blues.

@bbstx, good to know about the gloss. And that if I hate Potomac, it won't last long anyway. : )

@wendy, you are right - it is a mood. And the color is gorgeous so how can I go wrong?! Again, easy enough to change out. My painter knows how nuts I am at this point so I am sure he won't be surprised at a call from me to change it!

@patty, I know. It is just that the darker colors really make the house boring. I already think the tan is boring enough - I am not a tan person. But I can't justify changing that out yet. I can't wait to do it though!!

@natebear, well, here is a very crude mockup. I don't have photoshop so I am just trying to get the closest match on SW website. Here it is:

I agree with nosoccermom. A darker blue is the way to go!

something about that base picture is making the mockups difficult to evaluate. The lighting in that picture is cloudy and grey and the color pasted in has a not realistic quality to it.

I can't photoshop a real door, but this may give you another perspective. Thumbnail on purpose to obscure bad mockup technically. The color swatch is in FRONT of the shrub!! Ha ha

I think you are close enough to deciding, that you need to do it and see the real color in real life on the real door. Even if it is just a big color swatch sample.

@wendy, thank you!! See, I like it from far away. Kind of like a Monet. : ) Yes, yesterday was cloudy and yuck.

I just need to do it!

I'd paint the door so it fits the house and then get some urns and put color in with plants/flowers. You have all trimmed shrubs with no blooms, no color other than green and no soft lines. Maybe what you are missing is some flowers. I would be.

There are sample boards called Small Wall. I got mine at the local Sherwin Williams. You can also get them on Amazon, I think. They are 12x12 boards with a surface that readily takes paint. On the back is a sticky strip that can be moved several times.

Paint some test boards and let us see them!

re test boards...at Michael's you can purchase a large foam board for $2 that can be easily cut into 4-8 test size boards. I create double-sided painters tape -- by rolling a piece in a circle -- to stick them on the wall.

Now, if you wanted to go all out, you could get a large roll of white paper, cut out door size sheets, paint them your various sample color, and tape them to the door.

You need to paint the door a color that compliments the house, not something that clashes. The home is warm and you are trying to go toward cool colors. This will look ugly and clash! There's a fine line between standing out and STICKING out (like a sore toe!). You need to stick with warmer tones to compliment your house. We have a neighbor that's painted their tan home with a bright blue door, it looks HORRIBLE!

When I think *bright* it's the bright red or pink lipstick you might see on a TV commercial~while it may be beautiful on a model, a front door is probably not the best place. Muted is a 'toned down' shade of a bright color, not as strong, and easier on the eyes. I guess like everything else, it's also personal taste.

Just my .02, but I think you're fighting against your house, rather than embracing it. I know you said you want a punch of color, imo the colors are wrong for the current colors of the rest of your house. If you want bold, I think you could go a barn red or rusty orange to compliment the tones in your rocks. If you really want blue then something in the navy tones is all I would do. I do like the the other blues,I just don't think they like your house. :)

Well, there you have it! Deep down I know my house wants a dark color. It needs a dark color. Maybe because this winter has been so awful (and our first winter back East), I just really need some brightness. Navy blue was our first intent. That is "our" color. Both our cars are navy, we love navy, etc. So, maybe that is what I should do. I know it will look refreshed either way. I just feel like it is settling. But since I can't change the tan shingles right now, my fab front door color might have to wait.

I do appreciate all your assistance! They started demo on the overhang ceiling today and lo and behold the whole overhang roof has to be replaced. Go figure. So I have a few more days to pick a door color. And then when the weather finally warms up, I will pick out new planters to flank the door and get some pretty colored flowers in there like I did last year.

I have to say that I love the darker blue. If you want something bright, you can always go for colorful annuals in containers next to the door.

Thanks, nosoccer. I love navy too. I really do. I just wanted to do something different. I know it will look great. I love that last door you posted.

I did colorful annuals last summer and loved it. Will do the same this year. I also did hanging baskets.

I think it will look great!

Super home.

I agree that a strong colour would be most effective, as soon as I saw the picture of the house, before scrolling down to your samples I thought of a deep turquoise like St. Giles. Also, I think a strong electric blue would work such as Benjamin Moore caribbean azure
2059-20
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/caribbeanazure

The neutral exterior colour allows you the luxury of using a splash of dynamic colour. A second thought would be an energizing green like: floraisle 581
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/floradaleisle

Also, if you have a primary home colour you may want to coordinate with that - but in an energized hue.

Finally, whatever you go with, it might be fun to get a couple of large pots to put on your walkway and paint them the same colour. You could just plant them with white alyssum. I found 2 pots in the colour I wanted - a deep jade- and will put them out on the walkway this year with white alyssum.

Sure it will be great...post an after photo.

Navy isn't settling -- it has a lot more life than the black it appears you have now. I've had the stained wood and black front doors and wanted something more (in my case because all the red brick houses seem to have stained wood, black or dark green doors and I wanted different). I have navy now and even under the overhang of a front porch and having gone with a very dark blue with a bit of black in it, it is still different.

I have a navy car too -- an you walk in and see my deep blue dining room. If you are a blue person, I think you'll be happy.

Oh, the navy goes well with just about anything you can put in your planters. :)

you haven't painted it yet???

Not that you need MORE choices, but I think you need to consider BM blues. Much more selection to get just the right shade. Here are some.

on the BM site each paint lists it's LRV - Light Reflecting Value. That is helpful to judge brightness from one to the other and avoid getting one too dark that reads black from afar on a grey day. (the higher the LRV number the lighter it is - white is 100)

The larger sample in the links are more revealing. Notice how those chips above are not consistent. Bermuda blue came out different in two instances.

Caribbean Azure seems to be a good compromise between navy and bright.

Blueberry is just a little lighter.

New York State of Mind is just a little brighter than navy -- no turquoise in it.

This post was edited by wendyb on Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 8:03

@radley, thank you! I really do love the house. I am still toying with bright vs. dark-ish. And I will definitely get pots of flowers. Interesting idea to paint the pots.

@lascatx, I think I will be happy too with a navy color. Your dining room sounds gorgeous!

@wendy, no!!! I promise I am going to the paint store today to get a few sample pots. I have seen NY State of Mind before and really like it. That and Caribbean Azure. I think I might get those both and see how they fare. The LV is interesting. Both Caribbean Azure and NY State have low reflective values - both in the 8 range. Do you think that might be bad?

> low reflective values - both in the 8 range. Do you think that might be bad?

that's where the in real life samples are crucial. It will depend on your actual lighting, but I would think anywhere about 8-10 will be a nice depth -- that is, in your last iteration of preferences. Those electric type colors are probably 20-30ish or more!

I have urns that I used the high-gloss FPE on and they have been outside by my door for 9-10 years and they are the same color they were when I painted them.

Made a little progress. I bought paint samples over the weeekend. One green (wanted BM Chrome Green but they can't do a sample in that so I bought a similar one just to try a green) and one blue (BM Caribbean Azure). I painted sample boards. Here are some pics in front of the door. I think I just need to bite the bullet and paint samples directly on the door. Thoughts on colors?

I like the blue, but that was also my first direction. Green doors are great, but your house seems to be all soft green so t's more of the same and less interesting to me. If you do want green, I'd go with something a little darker -- with a bit of black in it.

I much prefer the blue, but then, there's not a single piece of green clothing in my house. The only green I own is plants.

@lascatx, blue was my first direction too. Definitely pops more too. I love green - probably my fave color - but I think the house needs blue!

@nosoccer, ha!

I think I will paint more of the door the blue color and see what I think.

Yup, that blue is gorgeous. Gives you the pop you are wanting. Has more life than the green. It is dark but not navy dark, so good contrast with the house w/o the bold overload.