If the eyes are the windows to the soul, doors are the open arms that welcome you into a home. Your front door does more than just welcome people into your home, it can act as the first thing people see when looking at your house. A front door stands out from the walls of your home, acting as a guiding light for anyone looking for a place to rest (or to place an Amazon package). The color of your front door can offer more than a marker of your personal taste. In fact, the color of your front door can determine how much your home sells for.
Colors to Avoid
Did you know there are some colors you should just avoid? However, unlike avoiding painting a hospital with red splotches, these color choices may be less intuitive. In a 2023 study conducted by Zillow involving over 4,700 recent and prospective home buyers, the color gray was ruled out, and found to lead to a home selling for $3,365 less than a similar home with a different door color. Red doors caught the attention of potential buyers, but made them unlikely to look inside. On the same note, saturated blue and olive green also led to lower prices by about $1,300. These two shades also led to less tours, leading to less prospective buyers.
Color Theory 101
Before we dive into the best colors for your front door, including some of the hottest color trends for 2024, let’s take a moment to talk about color theory. Thankfully, you don’t have to major in art to know what colors work well together, all that takes is some practice and taste.
First, there are three main color terms you should know before we keep going: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary colors are somewhat obvious: red, blue, and yellow. Secondary colors combine primary colors to give us orange, green, and purple. Finally, tertiary colors are ones that combine secondary colors further, hence their place as the third “step.” Knowing these colors and their distinctions gives you a jumping-off point on the color wheel. You can see what is near other colors on the color wheel, what combines other colors (orange having both red and yellow, for example), and get an idea of what similar colors look like.
How does returning to high school art class help you choose a color for your door? It’s all about understanding how colors work together. These colors all have their own complimentary colors, or their exact opposites on the color wheel. Each primary, secondary, and tertiary color has another color that stands out starkly against the other color. While you may be tempted to jump for these color choices, they’re a bold move to make. For example, it would be hard to avoid staring at a yellow home with a purple front door. It’s best to leave the complimentary colors to the interior of your home, and stick instead to something more manageable.
The color types you want to look at for your front door all depend on what style you’re going for. If you want everything to be a similar color, you want a monotone color palette. If you want to use nearby colors on the color wheel, say on either side of the color of choice, you’re going for an analogous color palette. Finally, if you want to get really advanced, you can use three colors in a triangle shape on the color wheel, called a triadic color palette.
All this to say if you’re looking to paint your front door, try and find a color that works with the rest of your home’s color. If your home is white, you can take liberties with your front door color. However, if your home has a monotone color scheme going for it, it’s best to stick with that scheme and choose a front door color that matches.
Top 5 Front Door Colors to Sell Your Home
5. Black Doors
According to the same study by Zillow, having a black front door could boost your home’s resale price by $6,450. Not only that, but homes with a black front door were more likely to be revisited by potential buyers, giving them a leg up on the competition. This makes sense, as black is a striking, but neutral color to paint your front door. It gives an air of respectability while still showing some creativity.
Note from Top Local Realtor, Stephen FitzMaurice (licensed since 2003): Be careful with black. It is hot now and works well for modern homes, or traditional homes with a modern remodel. It sells well now, but it is uncertain how long the trend will last and if you are not going to sell now, might be tough to re-paint later.
4. Brown Doors
Brown includes natural-tone wood for your front door. Another safe, neutral color, there’s something warming about browns and wood tones. Not only does it call back to a kind of rustic comfort, but it also matches well with natural trim. If your home has a more rustic appeal, or you’re looking to have your front door stand out on your modern home, using a natural wood or brown door can lead to a striking end result. Plus, if your home is a lovely shade of green, you can’t go wrong with the classic brown door to pull the whole thing together. On top of this, according to the Zillow study, this color door might net you about $300 more in home value, which is nothing to shake your head at.
Note from Top Local Realtor, Stephen FitzMaurice (licensed since 2003): Brown works well on the exterior in the PNW, especially with white accents. However, it is still not an advisable color on the inside. Early 2000’s had too much brown interior paint and the market hasn’t gotten over that yet. It is okay to have brown accents or some light brown in your primarily white or light gray wall colors, but the coffee tones of yesteryear are still not advisable for the interior walls of today.
3. White Doors
Once again homebuyers trend toward neutral colors, and nothing brings a home together quite like a pristine front door. Not only does white go well with extravagant siding colors, but it can help tie together the rest of your siding and roof edges, leading to an overall cohesive look. A white front door signals cleanliness, comfort, and a welcoming brightness sure to attract potential buyers. Plus, by choosing a more reserved front door, you can decorate the siding of your home a bright color in response, without overwhelming the viewer. Plus, a white front door leads to a higher intention to tour the home, making it a good choice for any home.
Note from Top Local Realtor, Stephen FitzMaurice (licensed since 2003): White doors can really help offset darker exterior colors and help them pop.
2. Chalky Blue Doors
Chalky blue is also a color that can lead to a home tour according to Zillow. This color is right outside of the expected, and brings with it memories of a sunny day, as well as thoughts of creativity and home comforts. If your home is a lighter color, a chalky blue door can act as a great accent piece, drawing attention to the front door and inviting in guests. Of course, keep the siding color of your home in mind when choosing this door color, as too much blue (or too much contrast) can easily overwhelm this soft color choice.
1. Choose one of 2024’s Hot Colors
2024’s hot colors of the year are full of plenty of door-worthy options, many of them in striking shades of blues and pastels. While it’s always a good idea to choose something timeless for your front door, delving into your creativity and choosing one of these less traditional colors could work in your favor. While we’d suggest against the pale peach as a front door choice, it may work well with your home’s aesthetic, so take the time to sift through these fantastic new colors and find one that could revitalize your front door.
A Door to Better Home Sales
If you’re looking to sell your home, contact our team of top 1% seller’s agents. We’ve been selling homes in the greater Portland metro area for over 20 years and our small team has completed over 2,000 home sales. We charge less than the local average, but provide better marketing and more services so our clients’ homes sell faster and for more. Give us a call at 503-714-1111 or chat with the bot on this site. We’d love to connect today!
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