Why didn’t I do this sooner y’all?! Last week when I posted about some inspiration doors I really had a hard time deciding which route to go for our pantry door, but you all did help me with my decision. And in the end I went with….
A pretty charcoal grey color! I was close to doing a “fun” color, but I went the classic route instead and knew I wouldn’t grow tired of this one nearly as quick as I would if it were a color. Greys are just so calming to me anyway. I absolutely love it and I really can’t believe I didn’t do this when I redid the entire kitchen.
Here is a before picture where it was all white, the same color that our cabinets were painted.
There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but I knew it could pop more, especially since I didn’t want to repaint the walls (which are Sherwin Williams Balanced Beige), and since all of the cabinets were now white. I’m still very much loving neutrals these days and being able to change out my accessories on a whim is crucial to me, so going with the neutral charcoal door suited me best. :)
I also didn’t want a full-on black pantry door either because I thought that would have maybe been a little too much in our all white kitchen, so I used the color Iron Ore by Sherwin Williams and it’s a great dark grey color.
I also used a satin finish (not glossy), and used SW’s All Surface Enamel in latex, the same paint I used for our coral vanity in the master bathroom. I also just used a brush for the entire door and didn’t mess with a small foam roller. Those foam rollers just soak up too much paint for my liking. I painted the panel insets first, then just followed the grain of the door to do the outside areas. It’s very easy. I did not sand the door or anything first (wasn’t necessary for this door), but I did clean it well with some TSP before I began. And I painted 2 coats. That enamel paint is very thick and covers well. There are a few more areas that could use a touch up, so maybe 3 coats would be best.
I taped off the hinges so they could stay white, and also taped around the knob.
I really love how the new door compliments all of our stainless and black appliances, and most of all, my black quartz sink.
I know I’m probably biased because I really love my white kitchen, but I really really really love it now with the new door. You will also notice that I put back up my grey Ikea curtains in the office that I’ve had for several years now. I got tired of the velvet mustard curtains and the grey just flows great now, don’t you think?
Here are a few more.
So what do you think? If you have a few bucks to spare on some new paint and a few hours of your time, this is such a fun and easy project to do that makes such a big difference, and improvement, in my opinion. I think it’s going to look really sharp when I can get all of our interior doors painted this color. I’m hoping to use my new paint sprayer on them too!
Oh, and if you have questions on the white kitchen, the cabinets, the countertops, the black quartz sink or anything else you see in these photos, please check my kitchen makeover post because all of the information should be provided in there. Thank you so much and thank you for all of your help on helping me choose a color! :)
xxoo,
Decorchick!
Let’s Connect!
Great choice! I love it! Perhaps it’s time for me to move beyond the interior side of my front door to others. Pantry next?
At first I thought it would be turquoise or yellow – but I love the dark gray! Your kitchen is beautiful!
Haha thank you Becki. :)
Fantastic choice of color, it looks so much better than the white and really adds a touch of class to your kitchen.
Thank you Bobby!
Love it. I am thinking I might want to do something like this to break up all the white in our kitchen.
Yes you should! :)
I love it! The color really works well with the stainless appliances.
Oh my gosh. I absolutely LOVE it!!
Thank you Pamela!
Awesome color, love it.
Wow, it is always amazing to me the difference a little paint can make. It looks great! I think you picked just the right color to complement your kitchen, it really pulls it all together. I’m big on balance when it comes to design and that door definitely helped to balance out the kitchen. Nice job.
CanNOT believe the subtle, RADICAL difference this makes. AMAZING!!
g i n a
Very nice!!! I am so tempted to paint my inside doors!!
Do it!! :)
It looks fantastic! I think it also pulls out the colors in your backsplash.
I just love this! I have been going back and forth over whether I should paint my pantry a dark color like that.. but I also have a door in my kitchen that leads out to the back yard, and a coat closet door in the kitchen area. Would I paint them all? Or just the pantry. Seems like I’d need to paint them all… and then if I did that, I’d feel like I would need to all the downstairs doors so they flow. What do you think?
I’d probably paint them all–I plan to do the same. :)
Michelle, I painted all my doors downstairs dark because we have a open concept house. It looks so great! Wish I did it sooner. It looks especially good because we have dark accents, furniture, accessories. I urge you to do this…you won’t regret it. It gives the house a ‘richer’ feel. Good luck! :)
Thank you both for you replies! I think I will go ahead and do that!
Love the dark grey against the white. Just one question, did you sand the door first? And a second one (sorry!) how many layers did you do? :)
Hey Olga, sorry I should have stated that. I did 2 coats with the brush (that paint is really thick paint), and there are still a few spots that could stand to be touched up. And no I didn’t sand the door. It’s not a wood door. I did clean it with TSP first though. Guess I better update my post and mention all this! haha. But you do want to know if your current door is latex or oil paint though before painting on top to ensure you buy the right paint.
Great! Thanks for your immediate reply. My door is a laminate one, never been painted before, so I don’t really know how to treat this kind of fake wood. Any suggestions?
Hmm, maybe just add a good bonding primer first just to ensure it will be ok.
Thanks so much! Keep up the good work!
Love, Olga
Love it! Love the color and how bold, yet subtle it is. If only I had a pantry! Then maybe I would have room for all my stuff.
Looks great! Changing out the curtains was a good idea; the flow is perfect. I am contemplating painting all the trim (there is no crown moulding) and doors in a guest bedroom gray. Iron Ore is one of the colors I am considering. Your door is helping me make up my mind.
So glad Sylvia, and thank you!
Hi there! Love this. Quick question? I notice you didn’t prime the door first. Is that not require with the paint you used? I know most doors are painted with either semi or high gloss paint as a standard so I’m wondering if its ok to paint over it in a satin latex paint without running into peeling issues at some point? I’d like to paint mine so it would help to know if I can save myself the priming step? Thanks so much
It all depends on what kind of paint is on your door now, so once you know that for sure, then it’s easier to say if the latex is fine or not. But from my experience, a latex satin over a latex semi-gloss is fine. You could always lightly sand the door first, then clean well with TSP and you should be fine without a primer. But again, it just depends what you have on there now.
love the way the door came out and a dark color to put some pop is a great idea.
Love it! It’s amazing what a little color can do. And now all the kids handprints won’t show up on your pantry door. I painted the inside of my door that leads into the garage a medium grey and the small walls around it chalkboard paint. Love it. No more handprints. Great job and what a difference.
That sounds lovely Lesley! And thank you so much!
Love it! The beautiful charcoal color has me reconsidering whether I really want to paint my back door a bright color.
Yes! I painted mine dark too – I went with black. and I did the closet door which is right next to it, and in the main hall of the house I did the powder room door (and the door to the basement and the inside of the front door) I am working on getting all of my doors painted black. I absolutely LOVE them. Love, love, love. Yours looks wonderful, especially with those curtains in the back ground! Great color too :o) So, I gotta show them to you – http://kellitfox.blogspot.com/2013/01/doors-doors-doors.html What do you think???
Such a simple idea but it came out great. Might have to try that and its so cheap too.
Wow Emily the color is fantastic! I’m so happy you went with this color it really does compliment the rest of your kitchen and the gray curtains in the office with the pantry door work so well together! I can’t wait to see all your doors like this now :) and I love that it will be easy for you to continue to easily decorate around the new charcoal color!!
Wow!!! Love the color!! Looks fantastic!
I love this look SO much Emily ~ it turned out great! And I love, love, love your blog design!!! :-D
Honestly, when you mentioned you were painting your door, I didn’t think I would like it…but now seeing it; it looks great! I also think putting up the curtains was a good idea as well and it does make it “flow”. Good job!
I LOVE this color choice!! It looks really sophisticated. I may be inspired to add a little charcoal to my home somewhere now! It really turned out beautiful. I bet you are just loving it every time you walk into the room!
I also recently painted some interior doors. If you’re interested, here’s my post about it:
http://fairytalefrosting.blogspot.com/2013/05/emerald-green-doors.html
Wow! It looks so much better painted a dark color! I really wouldn’t have thought it would make as big a difference as it did. Great job!!
Really is amazing what a difference it makes to change the paint color of the pantry door to be different than the walls! The door really POPS and creates a whole new look. Very nice!
Looks great and perfect color choice. I like how the wall, molding and door are different colors. It gives the room so much depth and interest. Now you can paint all your doors!
I’m in love with this idea, I’ve been inspired. Question now, what color to use. My kitchen walls are a blue/grey color, looks blue in some light, grey in another light. My cabinets are still oak, but want to paint someday. I have stainless steel appliances and a black sink with dark brown/black granite counters. Any suggestions would help.
So chic! I just painted all our interior doors black. I think it’s so rich. Really makes a bold statement. Good choice!
Ooo I love the gray much better than the plain white! Think I might do this with my own pantry door!
Love it! Makes me want to do this in my house…but that takes convincing the hubby.
Wow, just a little color on the door really adds a lot more character to the kitchen. Great job!
I love the color you choose, it looks great! Such a simple task but such a major difference!
Ok, you have converted me. My husband has been wanting to paint the hallway doors black or slate grey & I was WAY hesitant, but much to my delight I LOVE your pantry door. My husband thanks you Emily :)
Blessings
What a striking contrast Emily, looks great!
Love it! Never really thought about painting my pantry door, but now I am {giggle}. p.s. I won’t tell the hubs it’s your fault! It can be our little secret. xo
Great post! I have so many things on my to do list this summer. Most of them are done, but others are such a pain to finish. Like the kitchen, we’ve been thinking about re doing our kitchen for quite some time, never thought about painting our pantry door before, but since we recently did the garage door and still have some left over paint, I say why not?
Looks good! Great accent. Not too, much – not too, little!
I love this! I painted my pantry door Benjamin Moore’s ‘Espresso Bean’ to go with our dark cabinets. It looked so amazing that I painted ALL of our doors on the main level this colour as we have an open concept house. LOVE your kitchen….the dark grey just pops. Good choice.
I jumped on the bandwagon and painted my pantry door this week. I love it. You can see my project there: http://myheart4him.com/painted-pantry-door/
I can’t believe what a difference it makes!
Shannon
Absolutely fabulous! Love it!!
Great decision on the pantry door!! I painted the interior side of my front door as well as our french doors. Now I’m thinking the pantry doors are next. Thanks for the inspiration!
The Pantry door looks great! Love the Charcoal!
Did you paint both sides of the door or just the one?
This post is several years old but I just stumbled upon it while browsing Pinterest for painted pantry doors which I’m now sold on doing! I found this particularly help though as we just had our cabinets painted white, have similar appliances/sink, have been wanting to paint the walls balanced beige AND I have almost a gallon left of iron ore from the stair banister and chair legs job we did..point being thank you for showing me exactly what my kitchen will look like finished…love it!!! Now just to get those Quartz countertops😆
Thank you Rachelle, glad it helped you! I would love to have some quartz, but I’m totally happy with our Formica! :)