I Painted Mine Yellow!

Pretty often when I want to do something, I just do it.  But, I admit it...sometimes it takes me FOREVER to make a decision.  Especially when I try to involve my husband in the decision-making process.  Take, for example, our front door.  It really needed to be refreshed with some paint. It was basic builder's white.  Well, actually, a dirty-looking shade of off-white which I realized later as I began to paint our trim a nice, crisp white. But, I digress...

You see, last year, we decided it was time to paint our front door.  And we couldn't make a decision on a color, so we left it.  FOR A WHOLE YEAR!!! So recently, I decided it was time to finally JUST DO IT already.  Our house is a steely blue-gray and our shutters are a dark, dark blue.  Well, I didn't want the door to match the shutters because I thought it would be too dark.  

But that's what EVERYONE DOES!  

Walk around our neighborhood and everyone's door matches their shutters, unless they have replaced their builder's basic door with a fancy wooden one.  If you live in the suburbs like I do, take a walk around your neighborhood and I bet it's true there too. Am I right?

I searched online for information and images on painted front doors.  I learned that it really is okay not to have a plain white door or one that matches your shutters.  I learned that it's okay to have a different accent color on your front door.  It's OKAY if it stands out, or "pops".  In fact, it's even a very good thing.  Really.  (But try to explain that to your conservative husband, and, well....just realize that you two are both very different and then go with your gut!)

So I considered several shades of red, which is a classic front door color. Nope, not for me.  I considered a lighter shade of blue, a darker shade of blue, and I considered gray, brown, black, and even white again.  I used this awesome online tool by Sherwin Williams called the paint color visualizer which allows you to upload your own photo and then change the paint colors of your selected areas.  

I also grabbed a bunch of paint chips that I thought might work.  Then I cut them down into little door-shaped rectangles (and even drew a doorknob on several of them, just for effect).  Then - and this part will really intrigue your nosy neighbors! - I stood on the curb facing my house and held up the little paint chip rectangle until it was directly in front of my actual door.  If you squint just right, it will look like this little paint chip is your actual door.  It works, really!  See, most people will tell you to buy several little sample bottles of your possible colors and paint them on the surface your considering and then make your decision.  Not me.  That's not how I roll...

The problem was, none of the "popular" front door colors appealed to me.

See, I LOVE yellow, but, you can't paint a door yellow, right?  Everybody knows that.   So like any normal, creative, DIY-er, I strolled around blogland until I found these pictures of people who weren't afraid of a yellow door and I knew I had to do it!  

From My Notting Hill

From Your Nest Design

From Simplified Bee

Photo credit:  HGTV.com

So I DID IT!  I painted our front door yellow!!!  And I LOVE IT!!!

The BEFORE - with the plain white door.  Okay, but just not me...
Obviously, this is an old photo - the shrubs have grown up quite a bit!

And the AFTER!

My new yellow front door.  So happy.  So cheerful.  It's totally ME!

This color is "Shoreline" from Valspar.  

The yellow is so cheerful and happy.  And quite the contrast to the subdued gray-blue of the house.  I love walking up to our front door now.  And my husband?  Well, let's just say that he doesn't totally hate it...

What do you think?