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Our ‘front’ door has always given me problems. To start with, it’s at the side of the house. This in itself is not that unusual and it does lead in to the entrance hall, ensuring its status as the main entrance.

Front Door

However, we do have a much grander and more beautiful door at the front of the house and visitors naturally gravitate towards it. But this door leads in to the kitchen so I refer to it as the back door. Are you still with me?

Well none of this is particularly relevant other than highlighting another small issue with a quirky French house.

My real point is that a front door should be a statement. The first thing your visitors see as they enter your house, it should be welcoming and stylishly in tune with the rest of the house.

But, out of all the really beautiful doors you can find in France (generally speaking I think the French do doors much better than us English!) mine was a sad story indeed.

Yes, the second problem with our ‘front’ door was that, at best, it could only be described as ugly.  And I mean ugly!!  Fading dark brown stain over a carved wood veneer, a design I have never seen before and hopefully never will again, and the cheapest chrome door furniture you can imagine was the last element to ensure it’s No 1 ranking on the Top 10 of ugly doors. However, I was keen not to spoil the ancient stone feel of the house with a modern addition and, actually, trying to find something in its’ non-standard size was proving difficult.

If you’ve been following my previous posts you will know I’m trying hard to carefully manage a fast diminishing budget and I do love a spot of up-cycling… so out came the paint cards!

Now, choosing a paint colour was not an open and shut case of selecting a colour I liked. There were many considerations. First and foremost, the brown stained shutters are also going to have to go so it made sense to be choosing a colour for both.

Then there was the colour of the stone, obviously it had to compliment the grey and neutral tones of the walls and I wanted something subtle, neutral and definitely not garish. But it didn’t end there, what about the plants and flowers in the garden, I didn’t want any major clashes…this was when my partner truly thought I’d lost the plot!  But, actually, he had to agree with me when the huge hibiscus tree next to the entrance burst in to gorgeous purple blooms and I made my inspired choice. A soft lavender grey was the answer and the bright pinks of the roses and other flowering shrubs would look fantastic against it.

finished Front DoorSadly I don’t have a before picture but here is the painted door that I’m already quite pleased with. It’s still a work in progress and I’m now on the look out for second hand door furniture.  This is where I see it’s biggest transformation, it’s like putting on jewellery over that plain old jumper don’t you think?

 Maybe this is a little OTT but you get my point?

Decorated Front Door