A few months ago I encouraged readers to get out and paint those white straight-from-the-factory front doors and I’m hopeful that some of you have done just that. I lived up to my promise and I painted my front door. And, I’m going to be driving around Juneau looking for other front doors that have been painted recently too.

I know I presented some of the challenges I faced in the first article but let’s revisit that a bit. It’s hard to decide on a color for the front door. When considering the siding and trim colors it can be difficult to find the right balance. My siding is dark green and my trim is black, which ruled out lots of the trendy doors on Pinterest and since there is no way I’m repainting my house or trim this year, I have to work with these parameters in mind.

In the end I picked a fairly neutral color for a few reasons. First, I didn’t end up liking the more dramatic colors with my home color scheme. Second, I wanted to paint the door the same color inside the house as it was outside the house. And finally I knew if I painted it neutral and didn’t like it in a year, I could paint it again.

What to do with the trim around the door can also be a challenge. Personally, I normally like all of the house trim to match so I opted for the same trim color as the rest of the house. Luckily our local paint store still had my trim color and house color on file so I could have both on hand in the event of any mishaps. It turns out I needed both colors for touch ups as there were some challenging lines around the trim.

I’m happy with how my front door turned out, it’s subtle but it looks polished and finished to me which is a great improvement. While reality TV transformations are all about drama and intrigue, I wanted my house to be practical and pleasant to look at on a daily basis. I’m OK that my front door doesn’t inspire a reality TV show. I’d rather have it be reality.

Susan Stopher currently serves as office manager for Stopher Construction, LLC. She’s an avid traveler, adventurer and lover of art and design. She enjoys running and outdoor activities with her husband and two kids in Southeast Alaska and beyond. She enjoys cooking, canning and the great outdoors!