We have two sets of French doors painted black in our basement. You can find photos from the my page link.

I've seen it done and it's very attractive. The house where I saw it is a very nice but 'fairly typical' red brick traditional, and the decor was in various shades of white, sepia, deep dark brown and black. Kind of a 'Swedish country' look. In fact, the homeowner is Swedish and a professional interior designer.

We have dark, dark grey-green doors and trim in our house. Unfortunately, all of our dark doors open off of small interior hallways, so there's really no good way to photograph them! But trust me - they look great.

KSWL did this and posted pix recently. Hers are gorgeous, but if I remember a deep, dark green that looks black. Love it in some houses - it would not look right in our house with our "stuff".

tina

I'm in the process of doing this, but only to the inside of the two main entrances of my home. My front door, which is a double (so quite large visually) and our back door (swinging not sliding), which is in the kitchen and goes directly into the backyard. No pics yet.

It really is just a leap of faith. And even after the first coat (especially then in fact) I had reservations. But now that the back door is done I keep thinking 'well done me, for sticking to the vision.' It's all glossy and pretty, can't say they are any cons, since it's just aesthetic and easily changeable, oh except getting black paint all over your hands no matter how hard you try not to. Now to get on with all the other things I want to paint black .... the second half of this project, then my hutch, a bench...

Here is the front door

We had nearly all the interior doors painted black and love the presence it gives our wood doors.

I sometimes like the look of black doors on blogs, but I would think the effectiveness would depend on a lot on lighting and space. Do you have lots of windows and good lighting? Tall ceilings and an open floor plan?

My parents house (1970s split level ranch) always had mahogany stained doors. Last year, they remodeled and replaced the mahogany doors with white doors. We hadn't thought about the house seeming dark, but white doors made a huge difference in adding a light feel, especially down the hallway with 6 doors.

I'd hesitate before painting such a large surface such a light-sucking color. YMMV.

I thought the black doors would be too dark, too dreary, would make the house feel closed in. On the contrary, what they really did was define the spaces and by so doing make everything feel more spacious.

go to Houzz, search for black doors. Lots to look at there!

Here is a link that might be useful: Houzz, black doors...70,933 when I searched...

kswl - I like your black doors! They seem to work well in your space: high ceiling, open floor plan (or at least rooms that appear good sized). Actually, one thing I don't think we've touched on is door style. A black slab or paneled door, in some settings, could end up looking like a black hole. Your doors have windows, so they stay light, with the black nicely framing the view.

Yes, and love it!

Before:

After:

Y'all have me convinced!! I'll be going at it when the weather cools here in Austin, so probably Oct/Nov. When I left San Diego 4 years ago, I had painted the front/back doors in my condo black and loved it~~black seems to make some sort of statement.

I won't be painting the front door since it's beautifully stained(dark)and has a wrought iron inset. At 8', it's way too pretty too touch!

Jessicaml, I agree, it probably looks better w/an open concept/high ceiling/etc, as well as *bright*~~i'm good to go in all areas! I'll be doing 6 panel doors, a pair of French doors leading into my masterbath, as well as a single french back door.

A quick description about the rest of the house:black granite/white marble tile set on the diagonal in the foyer. The balustrades are black wrought iron as well as the hanging lantern. Dark wood handscraped floors w/rugs in gold/cream/ivory~~I got on a roll before I even knew I would be building this house!! Crazy, huh?? Walls are a warn medium tan thru-out. I *almost* went with black/trim doors during the build, but had seen a home in NC with the trim 3 shades darker than the walls, so that's what I did. It's quite pretty the way it is, but there's something I like about the black doors.

Kswl, I found your thread and took a looksee at your home~~love your black doors!! They add a real elegance, don't you think?

Beekeeperswife, I ran right over to houzz~~I should have known that would be THE place to look, thank you!

Anyway, at the moment i'm kneedeep in 'creating a garden' in my back yard~~13 trees at last count! Anyone have any good landscape suggestions? Come fall, I should be ready! Thanks again everyone for giving me the push I needed! ;o)

Trish...we'd love to see the garden pix, too ! :)

I don't know why I just posted the French doors on this thread, Jessica--- probably because the wall color of the others pictures is so off.but I actually like the solid doors better in black than those with glazing. They have a solid presence that is wonderful! Our painter kept on and on about the quality of our wood doors, and how it had been a while since he had seen any like. But I never even considered our doors good quality when they were stained a weird light ash color or painted white! Now that they are black they just look 100x better.

We still have some white doors, including a few exterior steel doors downstairs and French doors inside bathrooms and closets, but we have painted almost 30 doors and they are all FABULOUS.

And geosciencechick's front door is one of the best examples of turning a plain front door into something spectacular. The black they used is just right. Every time I see her door, or any of the others posted here or on houzz I see the future of interior doors. :-)

Thanks, kswl! And between the door and the deck, I am NOT trying to copy you, LOL.

At first DH was hesitant about the black, but now he likes it. Now he wants to paint our storage shed purple!

Oh my, geosciencechick's.....you have created a design monster, tee hee!

We are not under an HOA, so there is no one to tell us we can't do it. DH is feeling creative following our recent trip to San Francisco. We are really trying to improve the yard now that the deck looks so much better.

Here is an inspiration pic:

Here is a link that might be useful: shed makeover

No, we haven't, but I think they look marvelous.

They seem to work best in a very uncluttered space. Does that seem so to you all?

Gsciencechick, that shed transformation is amazing! From shark lagoon /tiki bar to darling and appropriate home enhancement......I want one! Please start a new thread when you tackle your shed. I want to at least enjoy it vicariously!

How funny - I was led to this page because someone posted my Shed Makeover (thank you by the way) and this is my new favorite thing. I JUST painted my french doors in my kitchen black and I LOVE them. The kitchen is a work in progress so the pics aren't great but I love the way it added an air of sophistication to the kitchen. DO IT! It is just paint. If you absolutely hate it, you can always put it back the way it was. Right? :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics of my before / after black patio doors.

Awesome! I hope to start the prep this weekend since the weather will be cooperative. At most I may get it cleaned and get a coat of primer.

Can you repost the link? It's not taking us to the pictures.

katieob did this over on the kitchen forum. Her pictures are just beautiful!

I admit to watching the Kardashians and can't help but notice their beautiful homes. On a recent episode Kourtney's home was shown and the doors as well as the trim is painted black, and also pictureframe moulding/chairailing in the DR~love it! If anyone else can *admit* to watching the show, did you catch this episode? Love the Jenner's home as well. ;o)

kswl, LOVE your black doors! I was wondering about doing that in my house, so glad I got to see what yours look like!

gsciencechick,
Your door came out great! love it!

I love, love, love, those black interior doors especially with lots of white or light colored crown molding and natural light.

I have an old french door painted black in my kitchen.

In my next house I would love to have black glossy black interior doors, simply gorgeous.

Good luck Patty!

....Jane

What kind of sheen? Flat or glossy? I love the impact of the black,but I have WHITE blinds on my doors. Will that ruin "the look"?

thank you, Mary Ruth! I am still surprised at how much I like them! Our painter said they were one of the most painstaking but satisfying projects he has ever done.

I have been on a mission to get rid of white trim and doors for a while now. I have painted them all with the BM Raccoon fur which is a very dark charcoal, with no undertones but black. Most people think they are black, but, it is a bit softer look than the regular black. So far, have done my office, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and just finished my laundry room yesterday. Here is a picture of the laundry room. Please excuse the mess, because, I havent done the final cleaning yet, and yesterday was also laundry day. One more room to go, and that is living room. Probably a winter project.

Cat_ky, I love it ! Did you use a satin/ eggshell or glossy? And you say it's not a black-black but a brown black? Will check out BM Racoon Fur. ;o)

Cat_ky, I love it ! Did you use a satin/ eggshell or glossy? And you say it's not a black-black but a brown black? Will check out BM Racoon Fur. ;o)

Cat_ky, I love it ! Did you use a satin/ eggshell or glossy? And you say it's not a black-black but a brown black? Will check out BM Racoon Fur. ;o)

Cat_ky, I love it ! Did you use a satin/ eggshell or glossy? And you say it's not a black-black but a brown black? Will check out BM Racoon Fur. ;o)

patty cakes, it isnt a black brown either, it is a very dark charcoal gray. Its semi gloss. The color is the BM Racoon fur, but the paint is Valspar Medallion. I love the color, because, it doesnt have undertones like some charcoal does. We once painted the outside of a house we had, charcoal gray and it always had a blue cast to it, which I didnt want. The two pictures on the wall by the door in the picture are a matte black lattice type frame, so you can see a bit of a difference between very black and the charcoal.

Cat_ky, I love it ! Did you use a satin/ eggshell or glossy? And you say it's not a black-black but a brown black? Will check out BM Racoon Fur. ;o)

Wow, Cat_ky that looks awesome, and I don't think I've ever seen Racoon Fur that was not actually on a racoon, lol.

Thanks for the compliments on our doors. Our paint is just basic Valspar latex enamel in semi-gloss black, no special formula. You can just buy it off the shelf.

Maybe I shouldn't be posting from my iPad. ; o)

Have you ever wondered, who thinks up the names of some of these paint colors. LOL