Hi Kay, Congrats on your renovation. How do you feel about natural wood finish ?

I would actually change the wall color so it blends in more with the doors.

Thank you for the input so far. Ed, we purchased the doors for the Zen feel and they are just primed masonite, not real wood.
We think we will(try to) stain the mahogany around the doors to match the cabinets. The kitchen has a fair bit of black in it, so I had wanted black doors. I just wanted to say I had chosen grey for the walls but when they were painted, it was too gloomy, as we have very wide eaves. We changed the walls to Benjamin Moore''s Honey Harbour, as it's in the next room. It messed up my plans and it clashes with the buffet.

Back to the doors. My husband even suggested a deep plum, the same colour as the shades (they're all along the long room and in the kitchen) but then what should be done with the mahogany wall? Cover it in drywall and paint it yellow?!

Does anyone else have any ideas, please?

Hi Kay, both Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams have their own free software to help visualize colors of your space with your own photos --

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/visualizer/

If you had used their software to visualize your chosen grey for the walls, you might have changed your mind. You can still use their software to try different color combinations, before the actual physical painting.

Hi Ed,
Thank you for the Sherwin Williams program. I made the doors black. ( It looks great but I'm having trouble registering and saving the pic.) I used Benjamin Moore's program to choose my colours and make sure the colours flowed from room to room. I was happy with the grey until winter came. Maybe we''ll wait until then; drape the doors in a black material, and see what it looks like.

Black doors can be stunning in the right setting.

I found a photo of a black door that had cherry wood incorporated in it. It looks great!

foreverhunting- you state you bought a mid century modern house that you are renovating, what direction are you taking the remodel? The fireplace looks modern, the built-ins look traditional, the buffet table looks mid century modern, and now zen doors? I am not seeing a definite style?

We're not going for ultra-modern but I want it to look like it is "modernised". I don't care for the built-ins but it was going to be irresponsible to rip them out. That's why we may paint them black, though I think painting oak is irresponsible as well! The buffet is just "old", I think from the 40's. I have a wide eclectic streak.
I described the doors as Zen but I mean up-to date.

I love the Mahogany - I wouldn't change that. Changing the hardware out on the doors to be more consistent in color & line to the drawer pulls I think would help. I might try multiple coats of a matching mahogany colored clear gloss - to provide luminance, depth. I also painted doors in a former home (sorry no pics) by adding a graphite powder (found at hardware stores & the same as is in pencils) to a semigloss polyurethane. It lent a subtle pearly refractive quality and a durable finish to high-traffic doors. That applied to the stiles, rails & jams of these doors in a flat with mahogany gloss panels might be interesting another option.

As for the built ins, what if you took the doors off & used the shelving as a display case for great books, vases & the like ? This might also allow for the TV to be re-positioned at a lower, more comfortable viewing level.

As for the gray in winter I agree, however, sometimes adding a smidge of a warmer color (apricot/peach) doesn't appreciably alter the color, but, when wall sconces & lamps near walls are turned on, this addition of will reflect a "glow" & add warmth to the room when its needed. I'm honestly not a fan of the new trend in gray paint - I find it claustrophobic myself unless its of a light crisp linen-ish hue.

I do have silver door knobs, which I'd bought for the "black-to-be" doors. You're right: they would be better in either case so they match the cabinet handles.
Removing those dated oak doors is an excellent idea, too! Thank you so much.

I'll also look into the graphite powder suggestion.

Limed (cereased) wood was popular mid-century and can be dramatic or subtle depending on how you use it. My grandmother's custom ranch house once had custom oak slab doors stained ebony and then limed in white, and they were stunning. I always loved those doors. A lighter version with natural or slightly grey oak with white was popular in art deco furniture and some mid-century. In grey, it can look like driftwood, which might be nice with the fireplace. Liming wax is traditionally white, but other colors can be used.

Love the little buffet, and the thin needle legs are very mid-century, even if the pulls aren't modern. It has a strong Empire/Bidermeier influence, which can look almost modern or art deco.

Thank you for that suggestion of grey, which hadn't crossed my mind since the fireplace was supposed to be big black squares. Then we found a deal we couldn't refuse. A note to others: another reason we didn't use large squares was because the surface was too uneven and our saw wasn't big enough. Just for fun, here's a "Before":

This is a very nice gray door!

Yes, and it goes with the grey curtains. We'll consider that for our front door. Thanks.

It's March, 2014 and the doors are finally finished. They've been painted black; now have pewter handles; and they have a black trim. The surrounding wood wall was stained darker to blend better with the kitchen cupboards.

Now for the last query, Everyone: What colour should the baseboard be? Not having any is preferred, but the bottom of the wall is damaged and the gaps on the floor will need covering. I don't think quarter round is suitable for this house. I think the choices are: black, the same as the door trim or mahogany/cherry, like the wood. There is 4" white baseboard for a very short length under the buffet cabinet, shown in the last of these three pics.

I'm swayed to the mahogany/cherry because I think the black stands out too much.
Thanks, Everyone!

PS:Another thing to note is the thin stripof wood above the doors.
I paint-shopped in the black and the mahogany baseboards in the top pictures.