I kind of like that you all know me so well you predicted with certainty that I would want to paint our new door with the Crestview Doorlite kit orange. What you don’t know is that orange is part of an exterior color scheme that has been about a year in the making. This is the article that started it all for me, from Eichler Home Network.
I was inspired by a lot of houses I’ve seen in books online and I have found myself attracted to neutral exteriors with bright accents and colorful doors. Some of the ones from my Pinterest board that inspired me are:
And if we lived in a warmer climate or if our house had a whiter exterior, I would be tempted to even go for green or turquoise. But orange it is.
That left us wondering about the rest of the house. If we want to go from this:
To this:
So there has been an ongoing conversation about exterior paint color. Now that we landed on orange for the door, we wanted to find the right colors to accent it. The original exterior of the house appears to have been stained a very deep brown color. It still exists in the carport-turned-garage.
(Insert Photo)
I’d like to get it as close to its original color as possible and yet also have a somewhat lighter accent color to make sure it doesn’t get too dark and depressing looking. I started with the Eichler exterior paint gallery as inspiration.
After much consternation, we landed on a trifecta of orange, brown and gray, all from Behr: Pumpkin Patch, Walnut Bark and Wood Smoke.
And of course, we will be doing it ourselves, which from what I hear, is one of those home improvement nightmares akin to Russian dolls, you find layers and layers of problems beneath. Fingers crossed. Not sure if we will get this done this summer (considering we’re in mid-August!) but it’s on the horizon for sure.
But there are lots of other things to consider for a beautifully simple exterior: door knobs, lighting, house numbers. Fortunately for me, I have given a LOT of thought to those as well.
Most MCM houses had doorknobs that were simple brushed metal with a geometric back-plate. There was a trend in the 1950s and ‘60s to decorate modern doors with large geometric plates, called escutcheons, which were placed behind the doorknob and crafted in circular, diamond, square, star, and crosshair shapes.
I haven’t been able to find many of these online and the ones I have are pricey! The Starburst one above is from Rejuvenation and runs $224! However, they do sell the escutcheons for less than $50 and I wonder if I couldn’t pair it with a less expensive simple doorknob from Home Depot or Lowes?
I would also love to replace some of the exterior lighting with snazzy mid-century fixtures that are like Bullet lamps, but I am not sure where to find them. Any suggestions? Rejuventation makes some for interiors, but again…with a hefty price tag!
As long as we are dreaming, I also covet the Neutra house numbers. While $48 each, this is one item I want an original of!
As with all things, we will be moving at a snail’s pace doing one thing at a time. But it’s coming together in my head and I like the vision I am seeing.
Thank you for posting the Eichler colors! I have never seen that swatch set before. I really want to paint our front door. The house has black bark trim and a bit of a mushroom paint color (or taupe)… Thinking the sunflower which looks like it has hints of chartreuse.
I totally agree. I think that sunflower color is amazing. Happy I could help!
Love the color scheme!! Definitely on the right track. I recently ordered some new hardware for our house and found that Sureloc hardware has great minimal and modernist hardware lines to choose from–they’re affordable too! We went with the Juneau modern lever. If you’re into that style, the Oslo is also a great option! Keep in mind that if you do go in this direction, you’ll also need to
order a deadbolt.
Depending on the escutcheon that you use, the Sureloc Tahoe knob Is a great, cheap option for a round, mcm minimal knob.
When searching for these, we found a wonderful discount hardware site called directdoorhardware.com and were very please with the prices and timeliness that it took to get the product. This is definitely not a paid statement. It was honestly one of those “if this site even real” because the prices were so cheap. Definitely check it out!
Forgot to also mention our experience with exterior lighting. We bought a series of simple, straight bullet canister lights online from eBay made by Progressive lighting. I think that the two light canister was about 80bucks shipped and the single lights about 50 shipped. Overall, we are “satisfied” with the purchase, but if we had to do it over, I think we would have budgeted for a little higher quality of product.
I’m sure with either the black or white canisters, the overall look of the product wouldn’t look as “faux” finished, but the “silver” is just powdercoates silver paint vs stainless. Always remember that you get what you pay for, for sure. We will probably have to replace these lights within the next five years but they work for now and definitely look a heck of a lot better than the previous poor excuse for lighting that was ghetto mounted in the first place…
You have been a wealth of knowledge. I am going to check out those products and maybe post about them. Thanks!
I was going to say, based on your Pins Pumpkin all the way! And that is the coolest door knob I have ever seen. I didn’t even know they existed.
OK, your possible color scheme is very close to ours…http://thecavenderdiary.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/img_3829.jpg
We have those house numbers too, think I found them at Elliot’s hardware for about 6$ each
As always, LOVE your style
Thanks, James. And $6 is WAY better than $48. Where is Elliott’s hardware?
Brandy
I just checked, and unfortunately they are just in Dallas. They are the greatest “Hardware” store , they have everything…but they are sadly being pushed out of business by the BIG guys…
Love the color you chose for your door, and the house numbers. They are so sleek and stylish. Keep it up, can’t wait to see the final product!
Thank you! We are excited and can’t wait either. Though, if history proves right, it will be a while.
Love your choice in Pumpkin Patch. It’s one of our “finalists” in the Great Accent Wall Color Competition. We are also trying to figure out a color scheme for the outside of our MCM home (we moved in just about a month ago). The outside scheme will have an impact on which color wins the above mentioned competition, lol. I can’t wait to see how your door turns out!
Have you checked out Yolo paints? We used their orange as our accent wall and LOVE it. Search for the post ‘Atomic Orange’ on the blog to check it out.
Brandy
Check this link for doorknob suggestion:
http://redneckmodern.typepad.com/redneckmodern/2012/07/glen-and-mollys-front-door.html#more
I love this! Very cool. Thanks for sharing.
I have a single front door very similar to the one in the first picture you posted – the circles on mine are much larger. I painted it turquoise with some beige to accentuate the design. It’s the original 1953 door and I love it.
Painting your own house is a huge undertaking. Enlist all your friends/family. We did the scraping/powerwashing ourselves and got folks to band together for a one weekend paint-a-thon. Definitely consider a sprayer! And get plenty of paint as dye lots change (trust me on this one!). We went with Behr – the all in one stuff with primer and all and have been super happy with it. Good luck!!!
I am so jealous of those original front doors with the carved wood. They are gorgeous and you are SO lucky! Adn thanks for letting me know about Behr. That’s where we are leaning and it’s good to know it’s worked out for you. Paint-A-Thon! Great idea!
The door is fantastic – I loved it from the moment I saw it. Definitely needs new hardware – so that’s next on my list. I love LOVE the orange – it’s my fav color, but didn’t work with our color scheme. Can’t wait to see your new door.
PJ, what is your color scheme? Would it include turquoise? That is my 2nd favorite door color!
Our color scheme – trim is raffia ribbon (a taupe/beige), main body is ancient root (a deep brown) and the front door is caribe – a deep turquoise blue. Our house has brick halfway up most of the body and horizontal siding. Typical mid-century ranch.
I would love to see a photo if you’d like to send one!
You seem to be reading my mind – or I’m reading yours. I just replaced my front door with a plain slab, painted orange (Dunn-Edwards Exuberant Orange, to be exact) and installed the Titan door knob and door bell from Rejuvenation. I’m so jealous of your house and now I get to feel a slight pang of pride in knowing that my house will share at least one trait with yours! I can’t wait to see how yours is transformed with the new door and paint.
Hi Erik,
I just looked up that color and it’s lovely! There is something about a beautiful front door that changes everything about a house. Congrats!
Brandy