How To Pick The Perfect Front Door Paint

Choosing the right front door colour for your home is not a matter of simply succumbing to the latest fashions. I want you to have a house frontage that makes your heart skip a beat every time you return from a long day at work, and that means putting aside other people's ideas of what's on-trend and focusing on what makes you happy.



This is easier said than done with the myriad of paint shades available but that shouldn't make you feel despondent. I'm here to help ensure that the colour you end up with is one you really love. With that in mind, here are some questions to set you on the way to your perfect front door.

Are you drawn to warm or cool colours?

Don't restrict yourself to colours that are typically linked to 'hot' or 'cold' climates. Every colour can have cooler or warmer undertones, (or, for that matter, be thoroughly neutral).

For example, here is a picture of a front door painted in Little Greene's Celestial Blue. Although blue is traditionally thought of as a cool colour, this particular shade is warm and lively.

Conversely, see how this front door below leans towards the cooler end of the red spectrum, with its blueish undertones. Try Farrow and Ball's Brinjal for a similar look.

Do you want your front door to stand out or to blend in? 

If you're stuck with a not-so-pretty look then pick out a colour which blends in with your exterior walls so that there is no stark contrast between the different surfaces.

This essentially means that the eye can move seamlessly over the front of your house, without noticing specific details, but taking it in as a whole. Try Paint and Paper Library's Estuary for the toning look below.

Or is your front door particularly lovely? If so, make the most of it by picking a brighter shade. For a smart, bright red, perfect against pale walls, choose Farrow and Ball's Blazer.

How often do you plan to repaint?

This is time to be frank with yourself. If the answer is infrequently then I would definitely advise choosing a classic colour that won't date, such as Dulux Gloss Black, which is hard-wearing and timeless. You'd certainly be in good company...

However, if you're happy to redecorate often then why not choose something a little more daring? I love it that these owners have created a look they adore by picked out Little Greene's Eau De Nil and Little Greene's Garden. 

My last paint-picking question for you is this:

When looking at other people's front doors, which are the houses that make you want to stop and stare?

Search out beautifully decorated houses that are built from similar materials to yours, and, if possible, face the same direction, as paint can look surprisingly different depending on the quality of light it receives.

Be brave! Knock and ask the owners which paint they have used....though it's always worth trying a sample size out before committing to a full tin.

Of course, I am well aware that these questions overly simplify the whole angst of picking the perfect paint for your front door but I hope they have given you a good starting point, as well as an idea. 

For a more personal discussion, feel free to contact me personally, for the front door colour of your dreams.

Take Care Until Next Time,

Sarahx

Images via Farrow and Ball, Little Greene, Farrow and Ball, London Door, Interior Domain Designs, Maison Classique, Welsh Heritage, Sanderson

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How To Create An Amazing Modern Country Front Garden With Zero Space

Okay, so you've seen the look you love and adore: a long winding path lined with lavender, leading up to a perfect, muted front door....but you have the smallest front garden in the world?

Consider a country-inspired feminine palette of Farrow and Ball Pelt, Dulux Linnet, Farrow and Ball Purbeck Stone, Farrow and Ball Cinder Rose; lavenders look gorgeous on paintwork alongside plenty of green planting, a circular pond wrapped with low box hedging is set off with a ribbon of lavender plants; topiary balls in old pots

Now, front doors I can help you with but I can't, even using my most special Modern Country powers, magic up long winding paths if you have a tiny front garden or no front garden at all....

But, but, BUT what I can do is give you fantastic alternatives that will help give the impression of your dream look in a variety of guises. Let's take a leafy stroll through the Top Ten Ways To Get A Modern Country Front Garden With Zero Space....

1) The humble window box. You only have to walk down a trendy London street to see how far window boxes have come on the Modern Country front. Gone are the twee fussy arrangements and in are crisp topiary, contemporary finishes and gorgeous symmetrical style. On the other end of the spectrum, it's perfectly possible to bring in a gentle touch of lavender here as demonstrated in exquisite style in the image above. 

The contrast of the aged terracotta pots, with the gently swaying lavender flowers alongside the smart black, geometric frame of the window box and the shaped topiary-like planting combines to create a perfect Modern Country exterior.

2) Wreaths aren't only for Christmas, you know. They can look completely scrummy, and introduce that perfect shot of lavender, all year round...

3) Be flexible with the actual planting. Here eryngium (sea holly) and eucalyptus is used in a beautiful wreath to give the same hint of lavender... (and I'm LOVING the Jim Lawrence door knocker!)

4) Many houses have scope for pots by the walls and planting scaling their walls, even if they don't actually have official ownership of the space in front of their front door. Take a walk around many gorgeous streets in the Cotswolds to see this beautifully in action...

Simply pop in a couple of lavender-esque plants into pretty pots and place either side of your gorgeous front door for a quick and cheap way to get the look...

5) Now, the joy of lavender is that it can belong to all different kind of homes so when thinking about your pots, take care...as you can see from these images, the pots themselves creates a very definite feel, whether that's uber contemporary, super rustic or perfectly Modern Country: none of these looks are right or wrong but it's worth spending a little bit of time considering the overall direction that you want the front of your home to have and making sure all design touches are aiming the same way...

6) How's this for a beautiful idea: a little galvanised vase with a simple bouquet of lavender attached to your front door....just be careful if you're a door-slammer. ;-)

7) Of  course, many of you will be blessed with some outside space. Please don't be shy of making the very most of every square foot....

Small spaces, as has been said a million times here on Modern Country Style, can be absolutely the most satisfying to design. It's possible to pack a real punch, even with only a little plot so pick up your pencil and get planning!!

8) Lavender is a fantastic companion plant, one of the very best for Modern Country gardens. Have a play! Don't be afraid of combining lavender with super-sleek topiary...

9) ...or with country-loving roses:

10) And, last but not least, if green-fingered projects really aren't your thing, pick up your paintbrush and go lavender!

I hope, for those of you yearning for long paths lined with lavender, but without the square footage to match, that these ten ideas will fill you with enthusiasm and excitement for your space...and all its glorious potential!

Take Care Till Next Time,

Sarahx

Images via here

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Front Doors And Lavender Paths = YUMMY!

If there's one Modern Country look that never seems to date, never seems tired, never gets old, it's this: banks of lavender leading up to a gorgeously muted front door.

Try Little Greene Juniper Ash, Zoffany Sung Mauve, Fired Earth Sea Lavender, Fired Earth Gentian Violet; a beautiful Modern Country planting scheme with four clipped box hedges enclosing swathes of lavender with box balls nestled within; you can never go wrong with lavender leading up to a front door; two standard topiary trees standing as sentinels either side of a door looks da bomb

Lavender-lined paths are seen the world over but especially here in the rolling Cotswolds; stopping to sweep my hand past swathes of lavender is one of life's great pleasures.

The scene is set to perfection when combined with other greenery, whether that's a climber such as hydrangea petiolaris scaling the stone walls...

...or simply a front door flanked by two lollipop sentinels...

...or even, if you have the space, lavender plants interspersed with other topiary...

Yes, whether you have an old country pile...

...a lovely new-build...

...a gorgeous Georgian home like me....

...this is one look that most definitely isn't going anywhere.

BUT, ever the realist, what if you don't have oodles of front garden space to trace out yards of lavender loveliness?? What's a girl to do if she really, really, reeeeaaalllly wants this look?

Clockwise from top: this aged brick house is set off beautifully by dusky grey paint on the doors and frames, allowing the drainpipe and rendered base to fade into the overall scheme; box topiary in a zinc planter, box balls sit perfectly alongside a whole range of different architectural styles; Colours to try alongside this look include Dulux White, Farrow and Ball Cabbage White, Farrow and Ball Calluna, Little Greene French Grey, well thought-out details inside tie your interior and exterior together with aplomb..... 

Come back next time, my sweets, and I'll let you into a few of my secrets...

Until then, take extra care of yourselves,

Sarahxx

Images via here 

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The Best Front Door Colours To Paint Cotswold Stone Houses (Part 3: Classic With A Twist)

Welcome to the final part of the very best paints for the front door of your Cotswold Stone house. This is a question I'm asked so often by clients because its an easy way to really oomph the curb appeal of your home. It's also pretty cost effective because it's only the front door and windows that need painting, rather than the whole house, as with many rendered properties. Cotswold Stone just keeps on getting better with age.

The last suggestion I want to make when choosing paint colours for Cotswold Stone front doors is to veer towards the traditional. If in doubt, choose classic....but with a twist.

So, while I'm certainly not knocking black, it can look gorgeous, though it's best if you have a house that has oodles of natural charm like the one below.....

..., you might, for example, consider choosing Farrow and Ball Railings....

...Fired Earth Mercury...

...or Farrow and Ball Pelt, for a slightly smarter look...

The same goes for classic white front doors. Yes, if the house has more than enough welly of its own, then plain white can be a good way to go...

...but for those looking for a way to stand out from long lines of same old, same old, how about the softest pink?

...or the gentlest of greens....

{Marston and Langinger's Silver Lavender would be great for this Cotswold home....}

I'm currently so obsessed with this property that I feel it's only fair to give you three images here... It's called Soho Farmhouse and is part of a full-on luxe Country Club based in the Cotswolds.

Pure White on all doors and windows looks utterly anachronistic on period properties: they never had access to the technology that gives us the whitest of whites that we're used to today; going down a softer route will give you a more authentic feel...

Off-whites, putties and stones will all hit the mark...

...or even a soft white like Fired Earth Dover Cliffs...

And for those of you looking to create the perfect Country idyll, classic cream should most certainly be on your list...

Little Greene Woodbine is lovely...

I hope that gives you plenty of ideas to dream about if you have a front door to paint and a Cotswold Stone house. Three distinct routes to travel if you: the neutrals, the green-grey-blues, and here the classics with a twist.

Which is your favourite?  

Images via The Burford Experience, unknown, unknown, Farrow and Ball, unknown, Money Week, unknown, Soho Farmhoue, Soho Farmhouse, Soho Farmhouse, Home Way, Character Cottages, Coates Mill Cottage, unknown, Helena Bernald

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