Avoid This Color if You're Painting Your Front Door

Do you find yourself browsing homes on Zillow and pausing at a home that has a stand-out front door? Maybe it’s a bright red or a sunshine yellow. There’s a reason you paused — and it’s likely because the seller was hoping to catch your attention. And hey, it worked! But not all colors work the same way on the same features of a home.

What colors should I avoid?

Compared to all of the other decisions you need to make about your home, the color of your front door can potentially boost — or reduce — the price of the offer you receive on your home when you’re selling it.

“You want the buyer to fall in love as soon as they pull up [to your home],”  said Dallas-based Zillow Premier Agent Christie Cannon, during a 2023 Zillow virtual panel. “Then they're getting out of the car with their agent, they're walking up to the front door. And that front door matters. It's the pop of the color of the door that shows how much depth, how much personality, and how much sophistication [the home has].”

There are a number of paint colors that may help change buyer perception — for better or worse.

Gray

Gray is a very popular color for a home's interior. In fact, Zillow has found that dark gray is associated with higher offer prices than white in a home's kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom.

But no matter how trendy a color may be, there is a right way and a wrong way to do color. That's according to Mehnaz Khan, a color psychology specialist and interior designer in Albany, New York. he color gray just doesn’t hit the mark for a home’s front door.

Zillow’s research finds that both recent and prospective buyers would offer $3,365 less for a home with a cement gray front door.

Bright red

Going bold or experimental doesn’t appear to pay off either. While buyers are somewhat likely to say they like a home with a bright red front door, they are less interested in the listing and aren't as eager to actually tour the home.

A bright shade of red isn't a very popular color for home exteriors or interiors. Red can be hard to work with inside the home when it comes to furniture and countertops. And outside, it can be too bold and come across as a wild color. However, more reserved shades of red can be better for front doors.

Saturated blue & olive green

In the same vein, front doors painted a saturated blue and olive green are associated with buyers being least likely to want to take a tour. These two shades are also associated with a lower offer price — about $1,300 less.

While these colors are not so popular for front doors, many of HGTV's 2024 Colors and Palettes of the Year pointed to shades of blue and green as very trendy for home interiors. Mind you, this list is made up of colors that the paint companies themselves heralded as their most notable for 2024.

More about blue

The list included Benjamin Moore's 2024 Color of the Year — Blue Nova — as well as Sherwin Williams' January 2024 Color of the Month, pale blue Upward.

Color theory states blue is a calming color, and that's why it's best saved for spaces inside the home, like the bedroom or bathroom. Painting your front door in one of these more reserved shades might be fine, but going with a bright, saturated blue may be too loud and attract too much attention for many potential buyers.

Why not green?

HGTV mentioned Graham & Brown's 2024 color of the year, Virdis — a muted, mossy green. This paint, and similar greens, give off earthy vibes. James Hardie's moody Mountain Sage is similar, reminiscent of the dark-green mountains.

Olive green, like these other two shades, is a more neutral tone compared to many other greens. If the rest of the home's exterior is already pretty neutral, a door in the same family may have buyers seeing a bland front entrance.

Paint your front door these colors

Black

Black front doors not only made a home seem more appealing, but buyers are more likely to follow up for an in-person tour if the door is black. More Zillow research indicates a black front door is associated with the highest resale price compared to other front door colors like red and blue. This shade could boost an offer price by about $6,450 more than the typical U.S. home value in 2022. That’s a major return on investment considering the cost of a can of paint.

Brown

Mid-tone brown is one color that prompts buyers to make a higher offer, likely because this rosy, terracotta hue feels more like an oak wood instead of paint, thus its durability and timelessness could prompt shoppers to offer more for a home. Zillow research found this shade is associated with a $300 higher offer compared to an offer for a white front door.

Additionally, bathrooms painted terracotta brown, a 2023 color of the year, could help a home sell for $1,624 more than similar homes.

White or chalky blue

White front doors, along with those painted a chalky blue, bring higher intentions to tour the home, as well as higher general interest from home shoppers. These are classic colors that don't draw much attention, so you can let the rest of the home stand out.

Once you can bring prospective buyers through the entryway, your interior staging can do the rest of the work.

Of course, just because you chose your front door color wisely doesn’t mean you can guarantee you’ll maximize the price you’ll ultimately sell for. Numerous other cosmetic factors, including digital curb appeal, could skew a buyer’s perception of your home. It’s also important to consider the color and material of your home’s exterior to determine if a paint color is a good fit. Need more color inspiration? Here are the best colors to paint your home’s interior if you’re looking to sell it.

Next: How to bump up your curb appeal to impress home shoppers.