Paint the door white or not?

[sassenach]

This is the door leading from my kitchen to the garage. It was painted like this when we moved in. I do not have touch up paint for it. I am about to do a refresh of all of the trim in the living areas and I can either paint it white like the trim or go purchase touch up paint for it. 

What shall I do?

 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

White.  Semi-gloss, so you can clean it.  Garage doors tend to get very dirty.

 

[Tap]

I hate our white door to our garage. Even though it is washable, I have to wash it so often that it has worn the paint uneven. I say stick with green.  

 

[Pawz4me]

I'd paint it white. I'm not a big fan of colored doors.

[Liz CA]

2 hours ago, Suzanne in ABQ said:

White.  Semi-gloss, so you can clean it.  Garage doors tend to get very dirty.

 

 

I have a similar conundrum except we just moved and the door is in need of immediate help. And it is very dirty. I am half tempted to paint it black, haha. But only half tempted...

Edited June 15, 2019 by Liz CA

[Storygirl]

I would paint it white. I think with the trim outlining it like that, and the color of the door seeming to match the walls, it highlights the white trim color too much, like a white rectangle is drawn on a gray (green?) wall. Even though it seems like a white door would stand out more, I think it would blend in better if the door matched the trim.

Edited June 16, 2019 by Storygirl

[klmama]

White. 

[gardenmom5]

if you had paint the same color as the wall/door, you could paint the trim that color.  depends how much you want the door to stand out.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

18 hours ago, Plum said:

I’ve thought about painting ours. It’s a fire door and I’m not sure, but I think there is a special paint to use or something. I looked it up at one point but don't remember exactly what I found. That’s the only thing that made me hesitate. 

 

Fire doors are sometimes specially treated with fire resistant paint, but you can paint over it.  

[May]

I’d paint it a white semi-gloss.

[sassenach]

22 hours ago, Liz CA said:

 

I have a similar conundrum except we just moved and the door is in need of immediate help. And it is very dirty. I am half tempted to paint it black, haha. But only half tempted...

 

How have you moved already?! Wow that went fast.

 

16 hours ago, Storygirl said:

I would paint it white. I think with the trim outlining it like that, and the color of the door seeming to match the walls, it highlights the white trim color too much, like a white rectangle is drawn on a gray (green?) wall. Even though it seems like a white door would stand out more, I think it would blend in better if the door matched the trim.

 

Yeah, it struck me as odd when we moved in, but it's amazing how quickly you can get used to stuff like that. Like our bathroom faucets were installed backwards (we have to turn the lever away from us to turn it on). It bugged me for 2 days and then I completely got used to it. 

[sassenach]

On 6/15/2019 at 1:46 PM, Suzanne in ABQ said:

White.  Semi-gloss, so you can clean it.  Garage doors tend to get very dirty.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, May said:

I’d paint it a white semi-gloss.

Would gloss work? The leftover trim paint that I already have is gloss. Too heavy handed or ok for a garage door?

[Suzanne in ABQ]

2 hours ago, sassenach said:

 

Would gloss work? The leftover trim paint that I already have is gloss. Too heavy handed or ok for a garage door?

 

Gloss paint is typically used on wood trim. It's nice because it's highly scrubbable. It might be a bit over-bearing, though, if the door is highly visible. How visible is it from the room?  It's hard to tell from your photo whether it's tucked away behind the refrigerator (and the room is off to the left), or if the room is behind you as you face the door. Also, where is the window? IOW, how bright is the light that shines on it (will it reflect light into my eyes when I'm sitting at the dining table)?  How white is the paint?  If it's a cream or beige-ish white, it would be less glaring than bright white.  Is the door a focal point of the room?

It would also depend on what kind of paint it is -- if it's enamel paint, it won't work over latex paint. 

If the door is tucked away, out of direct sight, and if the paint is water based, it can work on the door.  

Just work quickly as you paint.  When working with gloss paint, you must keep a wet edge. If you let the paint start to dry and then paint over it, the wet paint will either lift the semi-dry paint or cause it to dry super shiny, or have brush strokes.  The higher the gloss, the more this is happens.  It's just small surface, and the door is smooth, so you should be fine.  Just commit and go for it.  Don't stop until you're done. 

[KungFuPanda]

Paint the trim green so it all blends and the space doesn't feel so small.

[sassenach]

26 minutes ago, Suzanne in ABQ said:

 

Gloss paint is typically used on wood trim. It's nice because it's highly scrubbable. It might be a bit over-bearing, though, if the door is highly visible. How visible is it from the room?  It's hard to tell from your photo whether it's tucked away behind the refrigerator (and the room is off to the left), or if the room is behind you as you face the door. Also, where is the window? IOW, how bright is the light that shines on it (will it reflect light into my eyes when I'm sitting at the dining table)?  How white is the paint?  If it's a cream or beige-ish white, it would be less glaring than bright white.  Is the door a focal point of the room?

It would also depend on what kind of paint it is -- if it's enamel paint, it won't work over latex paint. 

If the door is tucked away, out of direct sight, and if the paint is water based, it can work on the door.  

Just work quickly as you paint.  When working with gloss paint, you must keep a wet edge. If you let the paint start to dry and then paint over it, the wet paint will either lift the semi-dry paint or cause it to dry super shiny, or have brush strokes.  The higher the gloss, the more this is happens.  It's just small surface, and the door is smooth, so you should be fine.  Just commit and go for it.  Don't stop until you're done. 

 

 

Can you just come over and do it for me? 😂

This is all super helpful. It's very visible. The kitchen is open to the family and dining room. It's a small house so things are pretty tight. The back wall of the living/dining is all windows, but it's north west facing so the light is pretty dim. This is actually what I'm battling. My husband has begged me not to repaint the whole room because it tends to become a production when I repaint. As a compromise, I'm repainting the ceiling and trim, both of which are a light gray- a choice by the previous owners that dumbfounds me. They really had a love of murky rooms because the north facing master had an even darker ceiling and trim.

So even though it's visible, the door will never get direct or bright light on it. The paint is Decorator's White- very bright. I used it on our closet doors. I don't think it'll be too glaring.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by sassenach

[Suzanne in ABQ]

33 minutes ago, sassenach said:

Can you just come over and do it for me? 😂

This is all super helpful. It's very visible. The kitchen is open to the family and dining room. It's a small house so things are pretty tight. The back wall of the living/dining is all windows, but it's north west facing so the light is pretty dim. This is actually what I'm battling. My husband has begged me not to repaint the whole room because it tends to become a production when I repaint. As a compromise, I'm repainting the ceiling and trim, both of which are a light gray- a choice by the previous owners that dumbfounds me. They really had a love of murky rooms because the north facing master had an even darker ceiling and trim.

So even though it's visible, the door will never get direct or bright light on it. The paint is Decorator's White- very bright. I used it on our closet doors. I don't think it'll be too glaring.

 

 

 

That would be fun!  I love painting other people's houses.   

I like at least semi-gloss paint for doors because you can't clean flat paint.  It looks like they used the flat or eggshell wall paint on the door, like maybe it was dirty, and they just used the roller in their hand to cover it up.  Even eggshell/satin paint will start rubbing off if you clean it very often.  It doesn't look right to me, but some folks like it.  I agree it looks funny with the white door frame. If you're wondering what the white will look like, you could hang some paper over the door and live with it for a few days.  It sounds like the gloss won't be a problem.  I wouldn't hesitate, though.  I'd paint it to match the frame.

[Liz CA]

6 minutes ago, Suzanne in ABQ said:

 

That would be fun!  I love painting other people's houses.   

I like at least semi-gloss paint for doors because you can't clean flat paint.  It looks like they used the flat or eggshell wall paint on the door, like maybe it was dirty, and they just used the roller in their hand to cover it up.  Even eggshell/satin paint will start rubbing off if you clean it very often.  It doesn't look right to me, but some folks like it.  I agree it looks funny with the white door frame. If you're wondering what the white will look like, you could hang some paper over the door and live with it for a few days.  It sounds like the gloss won't be a problem.  I wouldn't hesitate, though.  I'd paint it to match the frame.

 

Now you tell us! I needed to know that 4 weeks ago when I was running around the house like a mad hatter with a paint roller spilling paint and flinging paint everywhere.