There are many details about our new home I love: the retractable chain on the door; the textured wallpaper in the family room; the transporter-style shower in the guest room. (Pictures of that later.) But one of my favorite details is the front door: an original midcentury door with three horizontal windows, the kind that’s being replaced all too often by decorative doors made out of vinyl.
You can see it, barely, here. Bad blogger that I am, I forgot to take a closeup before commencing with the destruction.
The little minx who stole our hearts.
But as soon as we saw the door, we wanted to paint it. Its color was a nice beige that matched the celery-siding-and-stone exterior, but I knew I loved the brightly colored doors that often showed up in midcentury homes.
From Mad for Midcentury Blog
I’ve always loved the turquoise blues (like in the picture above), so I bought two sample shades, Behr’s Azurean and Tropical Holiday, in what I thought were slightly less bright tones.
Tropical Holiday
Azurean
Both pretty colors. Also: surprisingly eye-watering when viewed from a distance, in sunlight. So no dice.
A few weeks passed, and I woke up yesterday morning done with having two shades of blue swathed on my front door. (Also imagined the neighbors might be wondering if we were planning to go for an underwater camo look.) So I headed to Lowe’s and picked Valspar Day at the Jewelers and Monterey Bay Teal.
Day at the Jewelers
Monterey Bay Teal
On a whim, I also grabbed a sample of Orange Slice.
Orange Slice
Headed back home. On went the paint. Out the door we went. The Jewelers was pretty, but too green and matchy with the celery siding. The teal was nice, too, but…
“We should get something with contrast, or what’s the point?” David asked. I concurred.
So back I headed this morning, for a full gallon of Orange Slice, and three hours later…
Brighter than beige!
If you’re interested in checking out more front doors, check out www.crestviewdoors.com–they specialize in midcentury doors and they are all fabulous.
Won't you come in?
SO. MUCH. BETTER. I’ve always been a fan of the door pop and that is a damn fine door pop! Pam would approve!