When we think of colour, we inevitably think of our walls. But our doors can also play a part in establishing the mood and ambience in a space. While many prefer to stick with the natural beauty of oak doors subtly enhanced by a finish or stain, most internal doors can be sanded, primed and painted. If you feel like breathing new life into your living space, painting interior doors can be a great way to make subtle yet powerful changes.
Colours have power. The power to influence our moods. The power to shape how we see the world. The power to inspire and energise or to relax and calm. When it comes to our interior design, we tend to think a great deal about how our use of colour facilitates the functions of different rooms. For instance, we will often use cooler and more calming tones in the bedroom while using bolder and more energetic shades in the kitchen or home office– spaces associated with an activity.
But which colour is best for your internal doors?
Let’s take a look.
How Do I Choose a Door Colour?
With so many colours and shades to choose from, finding the right doorcolour for your internal doors can be an intimidating prospect. You may wonder whether all your internal doors should match. Or which colours are best to use for different spaces in the home.
There are no right or wrong answers here.
Should all your interior doors match?
If your internal doors all match, it can create a nice sense of flow throughout your home. You could even plan things so all the doors in your home match, from french doors to single leaf internal ones. An exterior door sets the tone for your house, and you might choose to continue that throughout. However, just because this can create a consistent feel doesn’t mean that you must limit yourself to a single door colour.
Painted doors can be anything you want, from warm colours that make a room feel cosy to cool colours that add a touch of serenity.
What colour should interior doors be?
You may find that it’s better to paint the doors in different rooms different colours to better match the room’s intended function.
For instance:
Use greens to evoke a sense of nature where calm and focus are needed
Use relaxing neutral colours in spaces like the living room or bedroom
Use rich bold colours to draw the eye to doors in feature walls
Use a classic black to create a striking visual contrast with white walls
It’s also a good idea to consider the colour of the walls within your space. You may want to create a striking contrast between the colour of your doors and the surrounding walls, or you may find that this is distracting. You should also consider the amount of ambient light that the room gets and how it may be reflected by whites and other bright colours.
Unless you don’t mind repainting your internal doors every few years, it’s best to avoid colours that are considered en vogue. Colour trends can all too often become fads (apologies to all who rushed to capitalise on the black chrome bathroom trend) that are discarded as quickly as they are adopted. Extreme colours like coral pinks, dazzling pastel yellows and marine blues were very popular at the dawn of the 2020s but fell out of favour very quickly. When in doubt, opt for a classic colour that’s here to stay. We’ll discuss popular colours in greater detail later.
Is it ok to Paint Interior Doors a Colour?
Yes, you can absolutely paint doors any colour you wish. However, it’s important to use the correct technique to achieve a rich look and a satisfying finish. If your existing interior door has been stained and finished, you will need to sand it down and prime it to ensure the perfect smooth finish. Take a look at our guide to painting internal doors for further guidance.
If you’re looking for a new door, you can make painting easier by selecting a door that has already been primed. Our range of primed doors includes white, grey and black. White primed doors are a good fit for doors that you intend to paint a lighter shade or colour, while black and grey are better suited to darker shades.
Can a door be different colours on each side?
Keep in mind that you can paint internal doors in different colours on each side. So you can enjoy a seamless blend of colours in rooms and connected spaces. Colour professional and designer Samantha Bacon recommends painting interior or exterior doors that open onto your living area “an off white or in the same colour that you have painted your walls” for a seamless look that creates a greater sense of space. Alternatively, she recommends using bold feature colours like blues, yellows or even pinks. However, it is a good idea to leave the surrounding architrave white to highlight the contrast.
The main caveat when painting doors different colours is that you will get a different effect when the door is closed to when it is open. Doors that are usually left open may impinge on other spaces if the door is painted an extreme colour.
Should Interior Doors be Painted the Same Colour as the Walls?
If you’re happy with the colour of your walls, you may wonder whether your internal doors should match the colour of your walls. This depends largely on both your personal preference, the colour of your walls, and the needs of the space itself.
Your first instinct in a small room could be to choose a white door leaf and frame. This certainly can work, as white reflects light and makes a space look airier providing the illusion of breathing space. However, this is best considered for rooms with white or cream walls. White doors may be detrimental in rooms with more characterful wall colours. As Kate Watson-Smyth from Mad About The House says: “[with] a white door, white ceiling and white skirting board you are effectively outlining the edges like a cartoon and I guarantee your first thought would be ‘this is a small room’”. In these circ*mstances, a colour that is the same as or complementary to the surrounding walls may be advisable.
That said, some believe that painting an interior door the same colour as the walls is redundant and can even make the space look boring and uninspired. Home Decor Bliss advises “It is not considered necessary for your interior doors to be painted the same colour as the walls. In fact, using a perfect match is often considered too redundant. However, the interior doors should coordinate with each room and the overall home style… all of the interior doors should agree with each other in the same way, even if they are different colours”.
Therefore, if you want to maintain a consistent look for the interior doors with your walls but don’t want matching colours for both, try and stay within a range of two or three shades between the door and the wall. However, in a more expansive or spartan space such as a corridor, contrasts can add a touch of visual character. Glossy blacks, charcoal greys and rich blues, for instance, can make a statement where other design options like wall dressings are limited.
Should I Paint the Door Frame the Same Colour as the Door?
When we talk about internal doors, the discussion extends beyond the door leaf itself to the surrounding frame and architrave. These are parts of the door’s apparatus and can potentially create opportunities for complementary or contrasting colours and shades.
Do the trim and doors have to match? Absolutely not. Although many choose to paint the door leaf and trim the same colour, mixing the colours up can cause the colour of the door leaf to pop more vividly. Especially if the door frame already matches the colour of the surrounding walls.
White frames can be used to create a bold contrast that ensures your internal doors command attention. For instance, a dark grey door leaf surrounded by a pure brilliant white frame can lend the doorway a sense of class and sophistication while adding a focal point to the space that draws the eye.
However, if you want to add a bit of dimension to the aesthetic without drawing too much attention to your doors, keeping the door leaf and frame within 2 or 3 shades of one another can create a subtle but visually pleasing balance of colours.
Popular Internal Door Colours
Sanding, preparing, priming and painting your internal doors can be a time-consuming and laborious process. Something that most will only want to do a handful of times in their lives. As we’ve discussed previously, the last thing anyone wants is to paint their internal doors in a fashionable colour only for that colour to fall painfully out of favour in 6 months’ time. Unless, of course, it’s a colour that you love or have a strong personal attachment to.
With this in mind, you may wonder which are the most enduringly popular internal door colours? The ones that will still be popular and satisfying for years to come.
Based on our own research, these are some of the safest bets if you’re considering an internal door colour that’s here to stay.
Black
Black has been growing steadily in popularity over the past couple of years, and it’s easy to see why. Black is classy. Black is classic. And black doors can make an impressively bold statement in a spartan living space.
As interior stylist Dominique Gebru told My Domaine: “I’ve experimented with a few different colours on the inside of our condo’s front door (mustard, punchy green, white), but none have felt as immediately satisfying as black. I just finished the One Room Challenge in my own home, and I decided to add that same black paint onto all of the interior doors in the space—a total game-changer”.
So, if you’re looking for the perfect door colour to contrast with your white interior walls, take a word of advice from Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Paint it black!
White
White is a blank canvas. Our white primed doors can be painted over, or simply finished and hung for a look that’s charming in its simplicity. White doors against white walls can make a room feel airy and spacious by reflecting the incoming natural light. White can create a bold contrast with feature wall colours as well as perfectly complement earthy neutral tones helping to create a relaxing ambience.
White allows your space the best of both worlds, combining outstanding versatility with the opportunity to create bold contrasts between the door and surrounding wall.
Grey
Greys encompass a wide range of shades and levels of warmth, making them a great fit for all kinds of interior spaces. Dark greys can be used as a less severe alternative to black, lending the space a sense of prestige without the sometimes oppressive connotations that black can sometimes bring. On the other hand, light grey can be very calming and is suited to all kinds of spaces from home offices to bedrooms and living rooms.
Blue
Blue has become an increasingly popular colour for internal doors. While its cooling properties make it a cheerful and calming colour for use in kitchens, home offices and bedrooms a rich royal blue can also lend a much-needed pop to corridors and living spaces. Darker blues carry the same sense of class and prestige as black but with a little more life and vibrancy.
Green
One of the wonderful things about green is its unbeatable versatility. It can be a cool light colour, or it can be warm, vibrant and welcoming. Dark and rich greens can lend a space a sense of class, while muted soft greens can be conducive to rest, contemplation and relaxation.
Find Your Match
With so many colours to choose from and an abundance of advice online, it’s easy to be bamboozled by internal door colours. It’s important to remember that there are no right and wrong answers. It all comes down to your personal tastes, the needs of the space, and the architectural style of the property.
Are you the kind of person who likes to see a bold splash of colour in their living space? Or do you prefer subtle and understated colour schemes? The beauty of interior doors is that you can scratch different itches in different rooms. It’s not like your front door, where you only get to choose one colour. You can experiment with different colour combinations in different rooms and get creative with different shades.
However, this is all much easier when you have a primed door that’s ready to paint and hang. Take a look at our selection of white, black and grey primed doors that could serve as your creative canvas. Whether you’re looking for something traditional or contemporary, glazed or unglazed, we have the internal doors to showcase your perfect colour match.
