"Without black, no color has any depth."

"But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there's shadow - no, not just shadow, but fullness. You've got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that's real." Or so said Amy Grant! Finally, the front door is done!  Okay...maybe a small fix in the Spring, but for now it.is done. Warn you now this is a bit wordy.

Just a little look back.  Remember the Wineberry? Uhmmm...well...very Wineberry or Whine-berry in my case.  Just. Not. Me. 

So I started a little adventure that involved painting the brass lights and the shutters...and the frame of the storm door. So much better! I was on a roll!

Then I asked a group of DIYers what color to paint the front door. I knew I didn't want yellow or orange or brown. Ahem...I really wanted Periwinkle Blue! But no one agreed with me. 

Several people mentioned black. I resisted with "That would leave me with a black rectangle blob in the middle of my small house" or "Would that not be as boring as white?" Because I acknowledge I have no design degree, I went to Sherwin Williams paint site where you can upload a picture of whatever space your painting and try out different colors. I tried reds, blues, greens, even some oranges...of all shades and intensities. I even tried a Raspberry.  Uh-huh...I did. Nothing was giving me the "Oh my! This is it!" response.  Even my favored Periwinkle Blue has lost its charm. (Hear me sob.) So what did I do?  Well, of course, I went to another paint site (Benjamin Moore) and did the same thing.  Guess what? No "gotcha" moment. Don't ask why I thought a different site would make a difference.  There's no nice answer. 

That left me with very reluctantly trying black in the wee hours of the night. One particular person (from that group of DIYers) said that(gloss) black would look "rich and elegant". Okay...I', very skeptical stubborn, but because I am who I am, I had to give it a chance.  

"GOTCHA!"  Seriously? Maybe I'm just tired. Not trusting myself, I dragged my cousin to my house the next morning telling her the WHOLE story on the way over.  We stood in the middle of my large front lawn and stared at the front door.

We looked at each other. Then...looked at the door again.

Audible sighs from both of us.

"Yeah, black is it."

"Yeah...I know."

So here is the I-never-thought-it-should-be-black front door. Please ignore the dying gardens...we had a hurricane ya' know!

And a close up. The panels still show! 2 coats on...1 to go!

Three coats later and with some Fall decor! It certainly looks more colorful this year!

And finally the night shot with the orange lights on! Gotta love battery powered lights.

I didn't take any "during" shots because I wanted to get it done and quickly before Nature could derail my plan...again (and which created the little fix-up in the Spring).

I used Sherwin Williams "Tricorn Black" in gloss. The first coat went on with a brush (Purdy) and the 2nd & 3rd coats with a 4" foam roller. The only difference in color for the storm door and the front door is the sheen.  The storm door is a satin sheen and the front door is gloss - both are Tricorn Black.

I'm actually loving the formality, elegance & richness of the black - Yeesh! Did I really say that?! Gonna have to let the DIYers know they were absolutely right! Now to get the white pinecone Christmas wreath made that I've been drooling over for a few months! Got the pinecones...got the paint...got the cardinals for some red ...I'll soon be immersed in that!

The little fix-up in the Spring will be peeling off...yes, I said "peeling"...the black from the plastic frame around the arched window. It will most likely survive the winter, but it peels off like a piece of cellophane. My plan is to get it off...tape all else off ... and get my trusty Krylon Fusion for Plastic out and spray paint it. A couple of light coats and it'll have plenty of time to cure as it's protected by the storm door. By the way, the inside of the door remains white...one risk at a time people. The next update on the outside will be window boxes!  Ooh...lots of red wave petunias (or hot pink) and lime potato vine - maybe a bit of white something or other! Be still my heart!

So what do you think? Rich & elegant or black blob?
!