Yes, yes, yes! So many fun choices....ummmm, a blue based red? Maybe a charcoal? Or a colonial blue? I vote for something bold. And bigger or darker light fixtures (not that you asked)

What color is your siding? Reading a very light blue or gray on my monitor. My first choice would be black. You could do a dark red or very very dark, almost black green. If your siding is light blue, deep dark navy is an option as well.

Also, if your budget allows, I would also consider changing out your lights for a larger style in black. If your budget is tight, I would paint the existing brass lights flat black. Rustoleum makes a flat black outdoor spray paint that works well for that type of project. I use it on my patio/deck/pool wrought iron furniture when it needs touching up.

We changed our front door lanterns to larger ORB about 5 yrs ago. What a difference in the appearance of our front entrance! At the time the front entry seemed a bit blah, yet painting the stained front door wasn't an option for us. With the natural stone/stucco exterior, just changing the size & color on our lanterns made a huge impact.

Please post an after pic! BTW very nice home!

I would go bold. Maybe a red, not a bright red but a berry red. I have a light yellow house and I painted my front door purple with a gold welcome on it. Haven't regretted it. Its only paint. You can always change it if you don't like it.

Linda

I'm envisioning a beautiful deep red front door:)

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Thanks for the compliment workinprogress! :) I am definately going to change the lights to something larger and black. I will post ideas when I find what I am looking for.

The siding color is Sherwin Williams Exterior Color Answers Monorail Silver 2121 and the trim is Steely Gray 2120.

Do I paint the panels on both sides of the door also?

I vote for a berry red, too. And yes, I would paint the panels on both sides of the door. I think the punch of color will look fabulous. :)

Here's SW Crimson Red. Is this too cold? I also prefer Benjamin Moore paints so any suggestions would be awesome.
Sorry, I still haven't had the time to teach myself how to photoshop on an image.

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Benjamin Moore Cottage Red -- which is a pre-mixed exterior red! Go for semi-gloss or even high-gloss!

Add a large knocker in brass, pewter or black.

Add red flowers in black urns.

Jan

Another vote for red, a classic look with the gray and suggested black accents.

Thanks teacats. Great ideas. I have these urns at the front door right now. (This photo is from last summer. I live in New England so there are no plants in the urns.)
Are they too tall? They are resin with a faux concrete look. It's no problem painting them but what kind of paint should I use?

Thanks everyone!

Yes -- those would be simply fantastic in black with the red flowers!

Hmmmm -- you might look for that spray paint that is made for plastic! Ask at your local home center!

IF possible (maybe for future consideration?) look for larger lanterns for your doorway in black. Again -- a wonderful look with a red door!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

And here are some wall lanterns. The ones that are there now are 20" tall.

This one is 29" tall.
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This one is 30" tall.
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Ooooooo -- VERY nice lanterns! :)

A vote here for the first one that is 29 inches tall!

Jan

Thanks for the help Jan. Yes, those lanterns are not cheap. Over $400 a piece. Yikes!! Okay well I have my work cut out for me. I probably won't be able to change the lanterns until Spring.

Thanks for all the help everyone!!

RedSox, you can get some beautiful lanterns that work really good for a lot less money.

As far as the door, my choice is colonial blue. I love red doors, but they're becoming so common now, and the colonial blue would be beautiful and something different.

Then you can accesorize with wreaths, etc, using red! At Christmas the two colors would be stunning!

Thanks oakleyok. My husband and I just took a walk around part of our neighborhood. It's 62 degrees here in Connecticut. Yay!! On the cul de sac where we walked there are 7 houses. 5 of thoses houses had red doors. I was thinking that I wouldn't be doing anything different. It is something I will play around with in my head.

I will definately shop around for black lanterns. I would never pay that much for an outdoor lantern!! At least I have an idea of size and style though. ;)

Nancy

Hmmmm.... just another red door. That'd probably give me pause, too.

How old is your roof, Nancy, i.e., how long until you'll have to think about the possibility of a different roof color? It looks like it's in pretty good shape so it might be many years, but it also might be something to think about as you're contemplating a door color, as your roof is a big expanse of color, too. For instance, that image you posted of the house with the warm red door also has a warm red roof, or something close to that. The roof and door are tied together nicely.

Possible fun colors to check out:

Summer Plum 2074-20

Sparkling Sun 2020-30

Dark Celery 2146-10

Hawthorne Yellow HC-4

Huntington Green CC-406

Eggplant CC-1379

Just for fun -- all Benjamin Moore colors! :)

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Okay I am on that Jan!!! Thanks. I have the Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer.

Jacy, my roof is brand new. I made up that image above with the red door and the colored house on the Sherwin Williams site. I agree with you about the roof color matching the other aspects of the house. Thanks for the input.

Nancy

Jan, I am liking the Eggplant, summer plum and on the same paint strip as summer plum, grape juice. There's a house in Qgunquit, Maine that we drive by every year when we go on vacation and they have a purple door that I have loved. There's another thing to think about. :)

Thanks,
Nancy

That being the case, and if you decide there is one too many red doors in your 'hood, then I'm all over the yellows Jan posted.

My first thought was yellow too. Yellow would be gorgeous with the colors of your house and would certainly stand out :-)

From the Sherwin William site-Gray House and Gray Roof:

Purple Door:
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Yellow Door:
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I didn't have any choice about coloring the steps. :)

Sorry I deleted the images above by accident. Work in progress and Chloe mentioned black and charcoal. Here are these before I head to bed.

How about an off-white or a khaki color of some sort, kind of like the highlights on the roof or tree. Color on a wreath or swag.

I was thinking about you this morning (yes, I'm one of those addicts), and I thought, hmmm, something warm, not red....

How about a beautiful dark coral? With brass accents. Could be gorgeous! I think it would be welcoming, warm, go well with your siding and roof colors, and stand out against the other red doors.

So.... have we narrowed it down for you? lol

LOL Holley. This is getting more confusing then ever!!

Here's a red:

SW Crimson Red

SW Youthful Coral

Here's one Squirrel:

SW Malted Milk

I am using Sherwin Williams colors because their site is user friendly for me at this point.

Oh well, I just wanted to spruce up the door a little bit. Eventually though, I will be changing this color completely. I am so sick of the drab gray. It has to go with the gray shingles though. :)

I would go with a traditional New England style light. Sandwih Lantern on Cape Cod makes great brass and copper lights. I have their onion light style on my shingled house. For your house I would go with the Barnsider or the Colony. They come in brass or copper. I would get the antique brass which ages to an almost black color. The seedy glass is wonderful also. No, I don't work for them! I've attached a link.

If you are a red person would paint the door a dark red, darker than the Crimson Red you posted. A red with a touch of black or dark brown. And I would paint the door only and leave the sidelights as is. You seem to like the red, if you didn't I would go with a blue like this http://www.european-touch-painting.com/door.htm or even a green that has a touch of olive/gray to it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sandwich Lantern

Another vote for red or eggplant. I agree, it will really pop.

I have a suggestion for a light fixture. I have a similar flat front colonial style house. Lots of straight lines. I bought some fixtures that have curvy lines. I got them at Lowes and LOVE them. Since I'm a NOOB, I will post the link for the fixture at Lowes first and then a link to pictures from my house.

I apologize for the quality. I only had my cell handy.

Kathe

Here is a link that might be useful: Lowes Portfolio Fixture

You all are so awesome for helping me. Sue36, I am a red person so I will definately be looking into dark reds. I love the blue in that door that you posted and those lanterns are perfect but need to be larger. I will look around for some that are similar.

kathec, thanks for the link to the Lowes' lights. There's a lowes down the street from work so I will run in there and check them out. I love eggplant too. I can't wait to see a pic of your house. Thanks all!!!

I'm partial to a colonial red door, but to be different
I would consider maybe a sharp black or even
a dark savannah green.

In our neighborhood red is all too common too. I vote for deep, grapey purple!
Diane

I still think a beige/khaki type color would complement your siding and trim nicely, and connect overall because of the warm tones that seem to be in the roof. Maybe it should even be a little grayer, looking at it again here.

Not really liking that lantern shape with your home. This isn't 29" either, just sized to what looked good to me.

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Here is a lantern from Lowes online - $144, 29 1/2 inches long

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When I look at your beautiful home, I think about a nice shade of periwinkle blue for the door and flowring shrubs all along foundation line covering that completely up - shrubs like maybe hydrangea - periwinkle blue of course....and how about a beautiful black wrought iron bench in your yard with large striped pillows in that same periwinkle and cream....I'm still thinking.

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Here is a link that might be useful: Fabric

Squirrelheaven, you do such an awesome job when you photoshop. That's just gorgeous!! Thanks. I was thinking more in line with Benjamin Moore Bottle of Bordeaux maybe???

Catnap that's a great price on those lanterns! I couldn't find anything close to periwinkle blue on the Benjamin Moore chips. I love hydrangeas!!! Will they grow on the north side of the house? I have terrible trouble with shrubs there. This photo is from the summer of '08. We cut down the large shrubs ourselves to clean up the entire area that is why the foundation is exposed. The rhododendrons have grown back and it looks a little bit better. I would definately put hydrangeas there if they would grow. Love the bench idea!! Thanks so much and keep the ideas coming. I really appreciate it!!!

Here is an old photo with the shrubs blocking the windows. I know it looks well established but I don't like the mess the shrubs were making or just the overall overgrowness of them! I don't think overgrowness is a word. :)

Oh wow!! That is the old roof and the old paint. I got this photo off of the assessors site. This is old. And those air conditioners are still there. Probably need to get central air. I'll just add that to the growing list of things to get done when the economy gets better. :)
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Here's an interpretation of BM's Bordeaux. And a more grayed/washed out one. Then an eggplant and another similar color more grayed and washed out.

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Squirrel!!! You are wonderful! I actually like them all. That eggplant is pretty. I love the black lights and the placement that you put them at the door. Mine look really high. Thanks so much. I know how time consuming that is.

You're welcome : )

Here's an interpretation of Cat's periwinkle, with blue hydrangea. The lantern height here hits just below the height of your doorknob. Took some of the curly iron off the top for a more compact shape. And there's cool-toned antiqued pewter/silver/nickel color door hardware this time, with the blue. Oh yeah, and no bright orange mulch!

Door trim shown in current trim color and periwinkle color.

This would have to be my fav.

My advice would be to not go too bright on the door, for your gray house, or it feels disconnected.

HTH!

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If you look at the Sandwich Lantern link the lights come as large as 24". That is pretty large.

Oh wow Squirrel. I love that!! I looked up on google to see if I can plant hydrangeas on the north side of the house and this is what P Allen Smith says:

"I can remember as a child being drawn to the cool shaded area on the north side of the house where my mother had a bank of blue hydrangeas planted. The giant blooms were as big as my head and such a clear, deep blue they seemed to belong in a velvet lined jewel box rather than casually hanging about the garden."

Well now I know what my project is for next Spring. This is a good thing. I love working out in the yard!!

Thanks again, you are a sweetie!! btw, I love that little flower pot on the front steps. :)

Don't you love the big lanterns, too? I didn't like them large in the drop-look form, with the open work at the top, but these really make your door pop. Hard to believe they're that large. ! This darker door hardware achieves that, too.

One for the road : ) Bringing in some better blooms. And looks really nice just cascading away from the door, too, if you're not up for the whole stretch.

Beautiful work, Cattknap.

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