Our New Mint Front Door
One of the first projects I tackled when we moved in was taking our front door from a blank, white slate to a super bright Kelly Green color. I’ve shared this story before, but I painted it just a couple of weeks before Halloween, and our neighbors asked if we were doing that “thing from Pinterest where we made our door look like Frankenstein.” We weren’t…I was just really digging the green color I had seen trending around (I was just ahead of Pantone who announced Emerald Green as their color of the year just a month after I painted my door pretty much the same color).
For over 18 months, the green door has been an iconic staple of our house. Whenever we give people directions, we’d say, “just look for the bright green door!” but now no one will be able to find our house because I started getting tired of the green and wanting a new fresh color. Maybe the entryway makeover made me long for something different. Who knows. Either way I decided to find a new color.
Have you all ever wondered how to pick the perfect color for your front door? Me too! Here’s how I do! I started by picking up a bunch of swatches at Home Depot that caught my eye.
Once I got home and was standing in front of my house there were already 3 or 4 colors I didn’t like, so I set them aside. I then took the remaining color taped them up to the door to start the process of narrowing them down.
I asked Scott his favorite, and he basically said it was up to me. So I asked him if there were any he hated and he knocked a few out of the running.
At that point I just looked at how each color coordinated with our brick and tried the color both in and outside of the screen door, just to make sure it went well either way. I also made sure to look at everything close up as well as the street view. I did all this the same day we planted the Southern Living plants, so that’s why there are plants and dirt everywhere. 😉
No surprise, Martha Stewart (the 4th swatch from the bottom) was the winner. Always. 🙂 I went with her Sea Glass color and had Home Depot make a quart of external paint for me.
Scott then was kind enough to remove the door hardware for me. We’ve painted enough doors to know that it’s absolutely worth the extra step to take all the hardware off—it leads to a move even paint job with out visible brush strokes. Plus, you don’t have to tape stuff off, so that’s always nice.
After removing the hardware, he lightly sanded the door to give the paint something to cling to.
Then I got to work. I used a roller on the door and a brush to cut in the corners of the panels.
The first coat of paint is always rough. Things look questionable, the color seems off, I regret my choices. Like here…why does this paint look so white? I kept on going though.
Usually by the second coat I am happy with my choice again. 🙂
It took me three coats to do this door. Almost the entire quart! It was therapeutic though—it was raining and I got to listen to the rain and watch people drive by as I was painting. Luckily it stopped raining just enough for me to snap these photos after the paint dried.
I am absolutely smitten with our new color! It makes our whole house seem more modern and more welcoming somehow. Also, please note that our grass is growing back and all our plants are alive and growing. YAY. What do you all think? Are you on Team Green with Envy or Team Minty Cool? I have to go Team Mint all the way….kind of ready to end the era of the green front door. 🙂 What color door do you all have?
Tania Griffis is an accomplished writer, blogger, and interior designer with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. She started her popular blog, Run to Radiance, in 2011, demonstrating her design expertise through the personal remodeling of six houses to millions of readers across the globe.
Tania also owns The Creative Wheelhouse, a respected ghostwriting agency for bloggers, further showcasing her talent for creating engaging and informative content.
I like it;)
Thank you so much! 🙂 I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Love the new color and the wreath looks so good with it too!!
Thanks Caroline! I’m really loving the wreath too. 🙂
It looks so beautiful! And it coordinates so well with the brick. Great choice! Mint is always great in my book. 🙂
Thank you Rachel! I agree…mint for the win! As much as I like having a red brick house I sometimes long for a gray or white one for more color choices!
The softer color looks really nice! I was actually painting today–it can be a fun job because you get to see the color changing! 🙂
I agree! Quick and inexpensive! 🙂
That mint. My. most. favorite. color. Of ALLLLL the colors. Love love love!!! It looks great.
Amy I have the hardest time picking a favorite color but it’s definitely top three! 😀
Looks AMAZING! I really loved the emerald green ( I was quite obsessed with that color) but I am also in love with mint green! I think it looks very sophisticated. 🙂 bravo!
Thanks Volta! Who knows…maybe next year I’ll bring the emerald back? You never know. 🙂
I LOVE this! I’m all about the mint right now too.
We’re replacing our front door soon and I’m still deciding what colour to paint it.
Yay, isn’t it fun! Luckily it isn’t too hard to change if you want to change it up!
ahh, this is so gorgeous! the color gives your house a lot of spunk, and i never realized how easy it could be to do this — what color shall i do!?
Thanks Jennifer! 🙂 You should totally do it! What are the options?! 😀
I pretty much love any shade of green! Always a winner!
Me too! 🙂 Great minds think alike!
Great color! I’m in the process of taking wallpaper down and painting our kitchen. So I’ll be doing the paint chip taping tomorrow!!
Ah, Meg I have been there. That wallpaper can be a doozy, huh? Luckily the painting part will seem easy in comparison hehe.
This is gorgeous!! If I hadn’t wanted a red door (to go with our white house and black shutters), I totally would’ve gone mint. Love it!
Our first house had a red door. I loved it. 🙂 Good choice!
Love the color you used!! We’re planning on painting our door this summer, and I’m so torn on what colour to choose. Our house is a hard color to match to.
Green is my absolute favorite color, so I love both versions of your door. If I had to choose, I think I’d vote mint. It looks so fresh and cool. Looks awesome with the brick and that pretty wreath!
So bright and springy! Love it. Thanks for sharing the progress too – I’m about to tackle my own door for the first time and it’s super helpful!
Just seeing this post on Pinterest, did some research and discovered that Martha Stewart paint is discontinued everywhere! I HAVE to have this sea glass color for my new front door!!! Can you send a zoomed in picture of the key code or labe on your paint can (if you have it)!? So maybe I can still get them to mix it at the Home Depot!! any help would be appreciated!