Make a statement with your front door!
Get inspired by other home decorators for a front door transformation of your own...
When choosing the colour palette for her new home, Georgia Skiffington and her partner faced the challenge of working with a very small space.
"We needed it to be as bright and airy so it felt as big as possible," she says.
They chose neutral colours such as white, brown and green. But then they decided it needed a little brightness and fun.
"We debated over colours and narrowed it down to orange as it's a favourite of both my partner and I," Georgia says.
"We were a little concerned because it's such a strong colour. But then we fi gured, why not – we'll make it a fun visual focus."
The colour they landed on was Resene Daredevil, a vibrant red-orange shade that creates a fun bonus eff ect.
"The fact that it's a recessed door means the orange is only a sneak peek when the door is closed," Georgia says. "I think it's quite cool! › view pdf
These three-metre standing doors once adorned the Ōpōtiki Town Hall. With panels attached to each and stainless steel screws and washers to give a Chesterfield effect, the doors were taken to live in their new home in Cambridge.
The new owners, Calum and Charlotte Jamieson, first painted them white, then brown, but they never looked quite right. Then the couple focused on the colour green.
"We decided (my wife decided) to add some colour," Calum says.
"We talked about limes or the back of citrus leaves, we wanted the brightness but not anything fluoro."
A week before the country went into lockdown in February 2020, the doors were given their new coat of green in Resene Koru, the colour symbolising health and safety. Couldn't have been more apt. › view pdf
In a cobbled Northcote Point laneway where all the character houses look similar, Juliet Sharper wanted her home to stand out.
Overwhelmed by the huge amount of choice in the colour charts, she asked close friend Ange Weir to help her pick the perfect palette.
"We chose a colour scheme that is fresh and fun and gives the place personality," Juliet says. "Resene Hullabaloo is vibrant, warm, welcoming, and perfect for the style of our house and front door."
The contrasting trim, verandah and roof colours were chosen to suit the home's character while remaining sympathetic to its heritage look. "I think the door pops against the weatherboards and I am thrilled with the final result." › view pdf
An idiosyncratic restoration was always on the cards for a couple of clever creatives working and living in the lakeside town of Taupō. Holly Spooner and Brett Cameron are mid-makeover on their small yet perfectly formed cabin, transforming the formerly run-down weatherboard cottage into a vision of voguish charm that would look right at home on the set of a Wes Anderson film. "Brett and I are upholsterers and we have a bold, eclectic style," says Holly of the labour-of-love project, which has progressed at a cracking pace over the last nine months and is due to be finished later this year. The exterior painting was completed last month and has been a head-turner among the neighbours. "I picked the Resene shades after sampling a lot of different colours, and I really wanted to give the house a coastal beach-hut vibe," says Holly. "Taupō is typically a summer bach town filled with quirky monopitch-roof homes, so I wanted to play that up and create a classic retro holiday home feel." We can't wait to see the final result! › view pdf
Inspired by an image she'd seen of a geometric wooden feature wall in a café, Papakura resident Mallory Hoffman decided to jazz up her old front door in a creative way – and save herself the cost of a new door in the process. She began by painting the door with Resene Black, then bought 7mm plywood and cut it into strips. She worked on the design totally freehand, and the intricate pattern took her a few hours to finish. "I think it was well worth the effort," the Auckland woman says. "It feels like an artwork rather than a front door." Now, the much admired door is a hot topic of conversation for visitors. "Usually, they haven't seen anything like it," she explains. "We even get comments on it when it's in the background of Zoom meetings. We love it!". › view pdf
When first homebuyer Emma Gradden moved into her cute cottage in Cambridge, she immediately started thinking about colour. "In March 2020, my partner and I were lucky enough to move into our first home, but the front door and surrounding spaces were bland and uninviting," she explains. "So last summer we painted the house and concrete block and steps." As for the run-down front door, inspiration came from a colourful issue of Haven. "I was inspired by the magazine's 'colour' edition," she says. "I loved the pops of pink, and started colour-testing." In an effort to save both money and the environment, she decided to do her best to refresh the door rather than replace it, and prepped it with Resene products before settling on Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss in Resene Gelato. "I find the colour so warm, inviting and relaxing." Other colours: weatherboards: Resene Double Black White, porch: Resene Tuna › view pdf
When it came time for a new front door, Wellingtonian Brenda O'Hare looked to her garden for inspiration. "We commissioned a stained-glass panel of our favourite flower – the iris," she says. "We bought a recycled-rimu door, then painted it using Resene Rouge in Resene Super Gloss to match the pink glass in the iris. Two years on, we still love it!". › view pdf
"I wanted my door to feel a bit magical, so I chose Resene Belladonna as the colour," says this month's winning homeowner, Aucklander Tanya Smith, who plans to paint her home's exterior in a complementary Resene Quarter Bokara Grey. It was love at first sight when Tanya moved in two years ago. "This is our forever home," she says. "As we live in Beach Haven, I had a plaque made for the door that says 'The Haven'. › view pdf
The front door of Scott Simpson's home in Greenhithe, Auckland, was never going to be boring. Scott and his young family – this month's winners in our Resene My Colourful Door Competition – are big fans of bold, vibrant art. Inside the house, the walls host murals and artworks ranging from an enormous octopus to a huge geometric kangaroo and a ninja cat chalk drawing. Scott says it took a bit of time to pick the perfect hue for their entrance, but Resene Bullseye hit the spot, as it would pop next to the black surround. "We are big fans of colour and have things around our home that make us smile, so the door is a taste of things to come when you enter." › view pdf
Rachael Evans, the inaugural winner of our Resene My Colourful Door competition, painted the formerly white front door of her 1960s Christchurch home as a birthday present to herself. "We bought the house in November last year and didn't have much budget left over to update it," she says. "My birthday money bought the paint and the equipment. My husband said he didn't care what colour I painted it, as long as it made me happy, so I chose Resene Colour Me Pink. I love the door. Women who visit our house also love it. Men ask if it was like that when we bought it and when we are going to paint over it." Rachael's cat, Princess Marmite, seems unperturbed. › view pdf