Help choosing front door colour

[Zebra]

I'm having some trouble deciding on a colour for the front and back doors. Here's a pic of some tester pots on the temporary front door. The real door is like this:
http://www.todd-doors.co.uk/external-doors/oak-doors/thames-door-6635.aspx
View attachment 1

What do you all think? These tester pots are all Farrow & Ball: Blue Grey, Vert de Terre, and Light Blue.

 

[Lime]

I don't like any of them with the wall colour.
I'd chose a deeper/brighter shade of the wall colour.

 

[LadyArowana]

How about a nice yellow door, cheerful

 

[malcolm]

The house has warm colours for the render and roof. A cold colour would be a bit out of place, and it's good to have some contrast between the openings and wall. Window glass looks black and a similar contrast is good for doors. My favourite door colour at the moment is dark green signifying a marriage between house and garden.

 

[Zebra]

Yellow? I hadn't thought of that!
That's interesting that you say a cold colour wouldn't work there. Now that I think about it, you're probably right. I was just going on the idea of yellow and blue going together.
I like the idea of a stronger colour, I think they're more traditional for an old cottage. However, the manufacturers of the doors say that doors should be painted in a pale colour because dark colours absorb more heat and can lead to splitting, so their guarantee is void if the door is painted in a dark colour. Ignore their advice you reckon?

 

[Feltwell]

With your wall & roof tile colour I'd go for a deep burgundy red or a brick red personally. Sorry, I don't like any of your testers.

But then I possess a Y chromosome which invalidates most of my opinions on colours....... :wink:

 

[malcolm]

the manufacturers of the doors say that doors should be painted in a pale colour because dark colours absorb more heat and can lead to splitting, so their guarantee is void if the door is painted in a dark colour. Ignore their advice you reckon?

Is it south facing in direct sunlight all day? That could make the paint peel quickly if it is a dark colour unless you use one of the fancy linseed types maybe. I have badly maintained dark green doors on both west and east facades and they are both OK. If the door splits because it is the wrong colour then it could be a poor choice of door or just a symptom of an overly litigious attitude.

Blokes can be artistic! In my experience it's the French that are bad at choosing colours because they want to use them all at the same time.

 

[Zebra]

No no Feltwell, don't apologise. I'm not crazy about them either, and whichever chromosomes I have don't do me any good at all when it comes to this sort of thing. Brick red!Hmm, I shall have to get more tester pots!
No malcolm, neither door is south facing, and neither is in direct sunlight. I'm making little oak framed and tiled porches for both doors so they don't have to be out in the weather, consequently they won't get much sun at all. Perhaps the manufacturers are being over-pernickity, or trying to get out of any potential future liability.

 

[88v8]

As it will be in the darkish, I'd go for a lighter green.
Perhaps this, although lacking the gloss of an actual paint card it's hard to tell.
http://www.littlegreene.com/light-brunswick-green

Paint? Sikkens AZ gloss.

Ivor

 

[Zebra]

I'm all excited about Feltwell's brick red idea at the moment, or at least a warm colour, perhaps a straw-type yellow? Shall get some more tester pots and see what you all think!

 

[Feltwell]

I'm all excited about Feltwell's brick red idea at the moment

By'eck I'm scared now, someone following my advice on colour! :shock:

Seriously, my thought was that your walls are a nice cream colour, and cream and red always seems to go together well when I see old railway carriages - not that I'm comparing your lovely little house to a railway carriage! :lol: Google images for "cream red railway carriages" and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Lime]

cream and red always seems to go together well when I see old railway carriages

You mean blood and custard.

 

[Zebra]

rhubarb and custard perhaps!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Little Greene's Invisible Green. And on the windows too! Just repaint it if it cracks!

Bright blue is OK with yellow but only really in a seasidey way. Yellow with those subtle blue greys doesn't work.

 

[Zebra]

I'm not allowed to repaint the windows any other colour than white - a condition of my planning consent, which I happen to agree with, since virtually all the old traditional houses in the village have white painted timber windows, and the one house which has been refurbished recently and gone with green windows, to my mind looks out of place.
That Invisible Green is nice for the doors though. I can see I shall be ignoring the door manufacturer's insistence on a pale colour!

 

[Penners]

Assuming that you've dismissed the obvious choice of black and white stripes, then I'm in Lime's rich yellow camp. This would sit very happily alongside the wall colour and would satisfy the door manufacturer's insistence on a light colour (which I find an extraordinarily timid approach to confidence in their product).

 

[Zebra]

Thank you Penners. I struggle with colours, and feel tempted to sod it and go with either black or white. I haven't managed to find a rich yellow on the F&B colour chart which grabs my fancy, as they're all a bit too, well, yellow.
So general opinion says green or red or yellow, my sister still thinks grey... This is holding up progress at the moment as I can't get on and get the doors hung until I've got the paint ready to go. Oh dammit, decisions, decisions.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I wonder if F7 B still do Carriage Green--that's almost black it's such a dark green. Worth asking them.

 

[Moo]

On the other hand you could look at it this way:

The most important part of the door-painting will be the preparation, priming, and undercoating. Done properly, it should last for decades.
The top coat won't last as long, in fact you could almost think of it as a sacrificial finish. And whatever colour you end up using, it's not going to take all,that long to slap something different on top, is it?

 

[Lime]

I think Custard would look nice.
http://www.ecohousestore.co.uk/product/Linseed_Paint_-_Custard_100ml_DPHPCU0100

There is enough in the 100ml pot to do the door with several coats.
It is a strong colour which weathers well.