Making an Entrance - A Black Door

Just as a white door can look striking against a black or grey house, a black door against white or pale grey paintwork can look amazing. However, if you have a narrow door, painting it black it can make your doorway look smaller, so let's look at a simple trick to prevent this.

To counter the effect of a narrow door if you want to paint it black, the trick is to paint the door architrave the same colour as the door (see image 2), this makes the door appear wider than it really is. You could also use a dark colour such as dark blue or dark grey as (image 1 above). Using the same colour as the door however, will make the doorway appear wider. Of course if you have a wide door then finishing the door architrave in white is perfect for a black door as the contrast will look fabulous. Remember to make sure when you are painting your door that you mask off any glass areas and areas that are going to be beside white paint and it is important not to leave your tape on too long as the sun will harden the glue and make it difficult to remove. 

Painting my front door black is high on my "to do" list, however I am waiting until I replace my door so I have been looking for a few ideas for black doors with curb appeal.

2. Above: Painting architrave black to match the door will make it appear wider, the perfect solution for a narrow door. The black planters frame this door and are the icing on the cake.

3. Above: This doorway is fairly narrow, if they had painted the door architrave the same colour as the door as in image 2, it would have appeared wider. A black planter to the left could create more balance and "lift" this porch

4. A wide fabulous wide door. The pot does look a little odd on one side of the step, the tree to the left outside the steps, is probably all this grand entrance requires

5. Perfectly balanced, if the owners had wanted the door to seem wider then they could have painted the sidelights the same colour, (see image 8)

6. A perfect size door for this home, the white architrave balances this space and the small black pots complete the look

7. Another door that has the side lights painted white, I still think they would look better in black and give a slightly grander entrance (see image 8)

8. Painting the sidelights black creates a sense of a more space

9.

All Images via Pinterest

I hope you have enjoyed this brief post and feel encouraged about painting your front door black. If you love black and white and want to explore more, you may enjoy these previous posts.

Black and White never Fails to Impress
The Elegance of Black and White
A Fisherman's Cottage in Black and White

or

Check out Curb Appeal on my Pinterest Board