First of all, why? Why should I paint my doors?

If you’re wondering how this interiors trend can work for you and your home – read on! There are three main reasons why painting your internal doors is worth doing:

• Doors are a great place to make a statement. We’re often forced to pause and take engage, and therefore give extra attention to internal doors. 
• They’re a cool and more creative alternative to accent walls.
•  Low risk, low commitment, high colour payoff. It can also add up to a lot of savings when you’re painting doors rather than whole rooms! 

You can give doors a flat coat of colour, or try one of the following ideas for more creative ways to paint your doors!

1. Square Parts

This is one of the coolest paint ideas on our list for refreshing your room without repainting entirely. Literally cool because Paris Grey (on the walls) and Cambrian Blue (on the door and doorframe) both contain a hefty dose of cool-blue pigment, which Canvas (used for the squares) really emphasises. Figuratively speaking, it’s cool because this design is edgy, avant-garde and directional. There’s something about the playful subversion of staying within the lines here that brings real design kudos.

How to Paint A Cool Door Design:

1. Choose a colour which differs from your wall and door so the cuboids really stand out. This will work even if your door and wall are the same shade, although for best results we recommend shopping our Annie Sloan Satin Paint range and painting your door a contrasting colour.
2. Use FrogTape to mark out your shapes. The “random” effect achieved here was actually the result of some quite careful planning and flexibility around the placement of each square or rectangle. Too close together and the effect will be chaotic, too far apart and the effect will be lost.
3. Paint using a Flat Brush which will lend itself well to sharp lines and crisp edges.

Annie’s Tip:

 “Take a photo of your door on your phone before you begin painting. Use the editing tools on your phone to practice drawing where the shapes will best lie to get a good idea of placement before you start. Much easier to plan it this way than further along! If you don’t know how to do this with your phone you can also easily sketch a door and draw the shapes by hand”.

Character Arc

Painting a semi-circle in the shadow of the path of a door handle is a quick way to add some extra colour and interest to your home. This rounded arc shape is soft and friendly and contrasts pleasingly with the straight lines and square corners of a door. It also only uses a very small amount of paint, which means you could use leftovers or even a tester pot!

How to Paint a Semi-Circle Door Design:

1. Choose a colour that contrasts with the door. Ideally, if your door is painted a cool colour (such as Annie Sloan Satin Paint in Cambrian Blue) then use a warm colour (such as Annie Sloan Satin Paint in Pointe Silk).
2. Remove your door handle before painting, but not before making a mark where the handle starts and finishes.
3. Use these guide points to tape a straight line. Then create a semi-circle from the top to the bottom. Use a bowl or a pencil tied to string as a guide if necessary.
4. Fill in your outline with a small flat brush and a small amount of paint at a time to avoid squidging outside of the lines!

Annie’s Tip: 

“Repeat this motif on every door in your home, reusing the same few colours in different combinations to create a cohesive flow from room to room. This reflects the intentional, significant, precise Bauhaus use of colour which was used to aid orientation, allowing threads of colour to lead through rooms and create a flow”.

Paint Outside The Box

This high-impact painted door is as delightful as it is easy to pull off! If you’ll excuse the pun, this design hinges on the use of strongly contrasting complementary colours. 

We’ve used Annie Sloan Wall Paint in Piranesi Pink on the walls. Piranesi Pink is the earthy nude pink wall paint colour inspired by raw plaster and ancient organic building materials. This warm and charming pink shade is then emphasised by the use of Annie Sloan Satin Paint in Pointe Silk on the skirting. Annie Sloan Satin Paint in Pointe Silk is an elegantly pretty pink, named for the tulle pink of ballet slippers. Pointe Silk is the perfect works-everywhere soft pink, and has been specifically formulated using lots of light-reflecting white pigment. That means this is also a pink that will help rooms seem bigger and brighter! 

To contrast, we need a shade that has depth. Step right up, Knightsbridge Green. An almost peacock green shade, this handsome rich green has a profound depth of pigment. The end result is an evocative jewel-toned green with a pleasingly blue undertone. The perfect complement to elegant pinks, and directly opposite them on the colour wheel. You could use other complementary colours, for example, black and white, blue and orange or yellow and purple for similar contrast.

How to Paint a Wiggle Door Outline:

1. Choose a colour which strongly contrasts with your existing wall paint colour. You can use an Annie Sloan Wall Paint colour card to help you work out which colours are complementary. 
2. Tape off a border about 10cm from your door. This way you can freehand your wibbly lines knowing they won’t grow and take over your whole wall. 
3. Begin freehand painting at the top and work downwards – it’s much easier to paint down than it is up.
4. Remove tape and round out any bumps or curves which may have been affected by the placement of the tape. 

Annie’s Tip:

“You may be tempted to use a guide to create this design but the free-flowing nature of the curves around the door really add to the charm. Just be brave and let your brush take the lead! If you do use a bowl to create perfect semi-circles consider adding extra interest with dots, lines or other Charleston Farmhouse-esque details”

So, there you go. Three ways to use Annie Sloan Satin Paint to quickly and easily transform a room. All of these ideas are cheaper and quicker than repainting a whole room – without compromising on impact! Please tag us on social media using @anniesloanhome or @chalkpaint to show us your own painted doors. We’d love to see your interpretations of these creative door hacks!