Painted Interior Doors
BY EMILY FARAONE
You can completely transform a room with a can of paint. One of the first things a realtor will have you do when it comes time to list your home— paint your walls. It is a fairly easy task and it really does make a difference. Now, we are moving away from the accent wall (finally!) and starting to do something on a smaller scale, yet just as impactful. Painted interior doors are something we are starting to see more and more. It is an older trend that is now feeling fresh.

How great does that look? Having the blue door and railing really ties together the room and simplifies accessorizing the space as you can easily pull from the blue color. Painting your doors also works perfectly with the current trend to keep your walls neutral. It is a lot easier and more affordable to paint your door when you want to mix it up, instead of painting all the walls.

Once you have decided to paint your doors, now you have to decide how far to take it. If you aren’t sure you are ready to go all in, stick with just painting the door. You can easily pull it off the hinges and paint the door. An easy place to start with this is your front door. Just bring the exterior color to the interior side of the door. It will add a pop to your entry.
Ready to take it a little further? You have to decide if you want to take the paint to the outer trim of the door frame. Take it even further and do all the trim in the room. When clients and I have this discussion, my advice is to start with just the doors. This is a task you can take on your own and really will be impactful. If you live with it and love it— go for it and do all the trim. Your impactful accent door will now be more dynamic and your room will have a two-tone feel. The design by One King Design below really illustrates this. Keeping the wall color and trim color monochromatic is a great way to ensure they will work! Tip: You want your colors to be from the same card in a paint deck fan and be a couple shades away from one another.
The middle option is to paint the door and the trim of the door frame. I actually think this is the trickiest to pull off! I find this because you have more paint colors to pick. You need the door color, the wall color, and the color of the rest of the trim around the room to feel cohesive. The design below by Shabby Chic Home Decor does a great job of pulling this off. They have the baseboard color be a darker shade of the wall color and that helps keep it feeling cohesive.


The Deerly Co. executed this in the office for Sarah Olivia Marketing. We needed a moment to transform the office from the rest of the house. Painting the interior doors of the office blush was an on-brand way to differentiate the office space. We love the impact this makes on the overall space. We went with Marry Me by Benjamin Moore.


After showcasing pictures of the painted interior doors from the new SOM office, we received such great feedback! We even had a few clients try on their own doors. It is such a great DIY project to freshen your home. Let us know if want some advice to get you started!

What color is the first door?