How to Choose the Right Color for Your Door

Friday July 19th, 2019

Every day I am amazed to see hundreds of doors being shipped out of Rustica's door shop in Springville, Utah. Each barn door, front door, dutch door, or interior door is created from scratch and starts with unfinished lumber or raw metal. Customers have options to order our doors raw and unfinished or to pay a little extra for us to finish their door. Rustica offers many color choices for both wood and metal doors. Each color has a different effect on the space for which it functions. It is important to understand the color wheel and the relationship between complementary colors when choosing a finish for your door.

Understanding The Color Wheel

In 1642 a bright English physicist, Sir Isaac Newton was born. He was fascinated with light. He discovered that color is light. All the colors of the spectrum are within sunlight; therefore, when we see color, we are actually seeing colored light. An item may look like it has a colored pigmentation, but in reality, that pigment is reflecting or absorbing wave lengths of light.

Due to this discovery, a "Color Spectrum" was created. This color spectrum was bent to create a continuous circle that holds inherent color relationships used in all creative fields of interest, including design, physics, and psychology. Interestingly enough, the Interior Design Color Wheel was designed specifically for artists, interior designers, and decorators to help them understand color relationships and establish color schemes.

Color Terms

Let's learn about color terminology. Here is a list of some of the most important terms to be familiar with:

Hue–Another word for color.
Tint–The addition of white to a color.
Tone–The addition of gray to a color.
Shade–The addition of black to a color.
Value–The lightness or darkness of a color.
Monochromatic–Any color scheme that uses any shade, tint, or tone of one color.
Complementary–Any color scheme that uses any two colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.
Split Complementary–Any color scheme that uses a main color and the two colors on each side of the main color on the color wheel.
Related (or Analogous)–A color scheme that uses any three to five colors that neighbor each other on the wheel.
Receding (or Cool)–Colors in the greens, blue, or violet family.
Advancing (or Warm)–Colors in the red, orange, or yellow family.

Psychology of Color

The psychology of color is a major consideration when choosing a certain color for your door. This also applies when re-modeling or re-decorating a space. Here is a list that shows the emotions that certain colors create or emotions that are linked to particular colors:

White–Purity, Peace, Faith, Joy, Cleanliness
Red–Passion, Anger, Warmth, Gaiety, Martyrdom, Revolution
Blue–Restfulness, Coolness, Sky, Constancy, Truth
Black–Darkness, Despair, Sorrow, Mourning
Green–Spring, Hope, Restfulness, Coolness
Yellow–Warmth, Cheerfulness, Fruitfulness, Jealousy
Gray–Humility and Penance
Purple–Justice, Depression, Suffering, Church
Gold–Royalty, Luxury, Power
Blue–Male Child
Pink–Female Child

Look at these different barn doors, front doors, and interior doors and pay attention to your emotions as you notice their different colors.

For a complete list of all our doors click here to view each door and its associated color options which are found under "Select Door Finish".