New Mahogany Dutch Door - Paint or Stain?

6 years ago

As part of our remodel, we are replacing our kitchen door with a new mahogany dutch door. We are trying to decide what color to paint or stain it. The exterior of the house (a 1923 craftsman) is currently a dark green, but we plan on repainting to more of a navy or dark marine blue in the next few years, with cream trim and rust colored windows/porch.

The kitchen interior will be gray & white (light gray walls, white trim, medium gray floor, white cabinets, dark gray countertops). In the summers especially, we will likely have the top of the door open into the kitchen for ventilation while leaving the bottom closed, so while the two sides of the door don't need to match, they should look nice together.

The door has windows on the top half but not the bottom. It is somewhat sheltered from the elements outside (under an overhang), but still has some sunlight exposure and it rains a lot in the Pacific Northwest.

Thanks in advance for your input!

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Beth H. :

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

you don't spend money for mahogany and then paint it! if you wanted to paint the door, then you should have ordered Fir.

mahogany doesn't need stain. once oiled or clear sealed, the natural red/brown color comes through. on the outside portion, use a UV spar urethane for protection. inside, any interior oil will work. look at Penofin. Epifanes for the exterior.

this is solid, un-stained mahogany

now why would you paint these?

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Comments (12)

decoenthusiaste
6 years ago
Go with cream for now and you can adjust once you paint the exterior.
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When we got our Mahogany doors, my now-ex was in his passive aggressive stage. He wanted a dark door, so I went and got different stains. He liked an Olympic something that looked absolutely chocolate. I wish he'd been even snotty and said to me, "You have to wipe stain off." Because that door looked painted for-EVEH. Fast forward several years with him gone, and me having learned enough to be very dangerous. I absolutely [insert really rude 'f' word here] the Mahogany front door. I stripped it and sanded it down (before I discovered Citristrip, sadly). I wanted a natural finish. I read and read, and ended up with Cabots Australian Timber Oil, which was supposed to bring out the grain and seal it well. O. M. G. I still HATE my yellow door. And, oil yellows. So does polyurethane, BTW. Fast forward again. I learned about Citristrip, which can suck stain right out of the wood. (I'm here to tell you with 15 antique doors as testimony! Raw wood! Digression...) I used it on the sister mahogany side door and it came out a GORGEOUS grayed wood brown. Not gray from stain, but being weathered. All that said, I'm using some white oak in my kitchen. I have discovered that special walnut doesn't have any red in it, which I really love. A single coat just gives the grain some depth without making it look man-cave-ish. I'm going to try it on the inside of the door I screwed up to see how it could look. I'm going to take the door off when its warmer and see if Citristrip can suck the yellow color out of the other side of the door and start over. So a lot more info than you might need, but you might want to check out the Minwax Special Walnut. Experiment. But Mahogany, like cherry somewhat, will oxidize and darken, so keep that in mind.
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Mahogany is used as it is a great exterior wood as it is used in boat building. Can it be painted? Of course it can but covering such a decorative premium wood is not advised by anyone who likes real wood. You can paint it and have the look you want and also have the strength and decay resistance of the wood. A shame but its your door and you will still have to repaint every other year anyway so the maintenance will be the same. I would never paint paint it as it is such a shame to cover that beautiful wood grain. Look into Waterlox it is great exterior coating. ANY exterior paint, coating, clear, etc will require maintenance end of story. DO NOT slap on a HD polyurethane as it will flake and cause all sorts of issues on a front door. Mahogany will change color in the sun. Staining with another wood color again makes zero sense. If you wanted a chestnut or hickory you should have just had the door built out of that wood. I can never understand people buying one type of wood and then saying they want it stained the color of another but this question is asked daily. Look into UV dyes. the dyes can tint the overall color of the wood but allow its natural look show through. I would us the Waterlox and see how you like it. You can always paint over it but if you paint there is no going back. You are trying to make a $1000 door into a cheap $200 door. With that overhand you should be fine. Plus one of the biggest killers is storm doors that bake the the door as they don't allow air flow to cool the door.
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Michael Stiller
6 years ago
stain the exterior, paint the interior.
Mattman
6 years ago
Paint doesn't touch Mahogany
Mattman
6 years ago
I took out an African Mahogany entertainment center for use in my basement, as much as I struggle with the reddish stain I will not paint it.
Liz K-C
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you for the input! Beth, I think we may look at using an exterior penetrating oil rather than varnish because we'd rather oil the door a couple times a year than have to refinish it completely every two years. Can we use the exterior Penofin Hardwood on both sides of the door or will we need to get both interior and exterior types and use one on each side?
PRO
Beth H. :
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Penofin has both. the exterior has an added UV blocker to it. sunlight and water is death to wood. I suppose you could use it inside but any of their regular oils would be fine. With the exterior, you will need to do it every year. Inside, not so much. I used the interior ebony oil on my black oak french doors. gave them two coats. Its held up beautifully. (I actually had a few tubes of the free samples so it didn't cost me anything!) go to their website and it will explain everything. they have oils that are tinted, so if you wanted it darker, you could do that.
Liz K-C thanked Beth H. :
Liz K-C
Original Author
6 years ago
There are NW facing windows that shine directly onto the door—would the additional UV protection be necessary in that case? Thank you again for the advice. This has been super helpful!
PRO
Beth H. :
6 years ago
most windows have UV blockers in them. If yours do, then it's not necessary to have the UV inside. But I don't imagine using it would hurt. you could always ask the penofin rep.
Liz K-C thanked Beth H. :
tatts
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
What Beth H said! Jeebuz, you don't pay that kind of money for mahogany and then paint over it! You might as well bought MDF. /rant ;-)

You are right on with the penetrating oil on the exterior--much better than varnish of any kind.
PRO
Palace Painting & Decorating
6 years ago
yes as suggested, i would stain because it is beautiful wood
Liz K-C
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you again to everyone for the input! We finished the door this weekend and installed it today, and it is beautiful! Please excuse all the construction debris :)

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