Well, I did it. I went and painted my front door a color other than white.
But let me start at the beginning. For two years now, my front door has had nothing but a coat of primer on it. Have you seen what happens to primer, especially in high traffic areas? It gets dirty. Really dirty. Primer has a very flat porous finish, which makes it great for sucking up paint, but also makes it great for sucking up dirt if it’s not topcoated with paint.
So after two years, my poor door was looking rather pitiful.
So off to Home Depot I went. I knew I wanted orange, but picking a shade of orange was quite challenging. I thought I had found the perfect one called Vintage Orange. It looked like a soft, pretty orange…not too harsh. (Okay, I know orange isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I happen to love it.)
Vintage Orange was a bust. What looked soft and creamy in Home Depot looked harsh and neon on my door.
Being cheap like I am, and not wanting to go back to Home Depot and spend more money, I decided to try to fix the paint myself. I started by mixing a bit of black, which just made it dull and muddy looking, and even gave it a very slight greenish undertone. Definitely NOT what I had in mind. I knew that it needed some red, so after rummaging a bit more, I found some pinkish red left over from the original pet station project. So with these three colors, I was determined to make it work.
And somehow, by some miracle, it worked! I actually ended up with the exact orange that I had in my mind from the beginning.
I was definitely nervous painting my door orange. In my mind, I had visions of people pointing and laughing, word spreading through the blogosphere about this insane blogger who at one time had pretty good taste, but now had clearly lost her mind.
But now, I’m so glad I did it, because I absolutely love it.
After all, life is too short to always make safe decisions, right?
(And yes, that’s yet another strip of flooring that needs to be finished. Uugghh!!)
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I'm a self-employed interior decorator-turned-blogger, and a DIY fanatic. I hope you enjoy your visit here at A2D! If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to 
I love how it ties in the the valance and it compliments the cabinets wonderfully!! Perfection!
Your door looks awesome! It looks more like mustard than orange on my computer but either way it looks great.
Hi Kristi,
I just love the color you mixed for your door. Orange is my favorite color and this shade works beautifully in your room. Nice Job!
Cheryl at My Sister's Cottage
Love it!
I love your orange door! It is yummy.
I absolutely love it Kristi! If you've lost your mind, then clearly I have too.
Love it! I'm inspired!
PERFECT COLOR!
That's a lot of locks on your door!
Nope not crazy- I love it!
I know, right?! You'd think we live in NYC!
I really hate the color yellow and at first I thought your door looked too yellow but the final picture showed a beautiful fall orange. Love it!
Mixing up the paint yourself not only saved cash but saved space in the toxic waste round up. Good Job. PS love the color!
Kristi, I love-love-love your door!!! Orange is my favorite color, but I haven't used it much in decorating (for the reason you gave). I'm totally going to paint my door orange. I like that yours is more on the gold side. Too bad you weren't able to find it through a paint company cause I don't know how to mix my own paints.
Great idea, and that looks nice by the way. Better with the color, made it more bright! Now I want to paint our dull brown door. Thanks!
Gorgeous, what a fun color! I've been dying to see it since you teased it on FB!
I have a door exactly like yours – no paint just primer and it's so scuzzy…I know I need to paint it but I hold back..Now that I've seen your's – I'm ready to tackle it. Thanks for showing off your new, wonderful door!
I absolutely love it, Kristi! Now I want a yellow door. Looks gorgeous!
WOW is all I can say. I actually love the color… I was thinking a mustardy orange???? Or am I seeing it wrong in the pics???? LOVE IT and really really looks good with the new paint chip art and the rest of the area.
I like the new color of your house, this is more lively than before.
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