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Painting the Interior Doors Black

Going Dramatic with Black Interior Doors

I fell in love with the look of interior black doors months and months ago, but didn’t know if I would love them in our house. Painting the interior doors black would create quite a statement, but was it a statement I was ready to make?  If you follow me on Pinterest (and you really should be!) you know that I have a board called “Black Doors”.  I really do love black, used either on walls or doors, or even floors. It’s not like I haven’t taken a baby steps in this directions, as I did paint the inside of the front doors black a long time ago. You can check the front door out here in the post about painting the floor tiles.

I wasn’t sure about painting all of them though… I was especially worried about it in the hallway to the kids bedrooms, since there isn’t any natural light in there at all. But after months of deliberation, and much trepidation,  I finally said “What the heck?! If it’s not everything I imagined it to be, I can always repaint every. single. door.”

So I said a quick prayer that I would love them because no one in their right mind wants to repaint over black doors…and  proceeded to paint all the interior doors in the house black.

I painted them Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams in satin, to be exact. Except for the bedrooms and the bathrooms, the rest of the house is painted in Mindful Gray by Sherwin Williams, and Tricorn Black is the perfect shade to go with it and the white trim.

Here are a few before shots…

Kitchen pantry

Kitchen pantry – we just have a few aprons…

hallway white doors

Bedroom and bathroom off one side of the hallway

Oh, how I abhor those floors! I can not wait to replace it with wood, but for now, I silently curse the nasty grout lines and broken tiles when I vacuum. Unfortunately it is in the entire house, except for the bedrooms, so that’s a lot of cursing.

hallway laundry room white

Hallway leading to laundry room and bedroom

And finally, the doors to our master bedroom…

master bedroom white doors

Doors to the master bedroom. Can you spot the cat?

 

Of course, I wiped down all the doors before I started. I did not sand them, but I did prime them.

primer started

Primer started…

According to the paint gods, the gray primer is supposed to help the black paint cover better. It still took three coats of black paint to get a solid black door, so I can’t even imagine how many coats it would have taken if I didn’t use the tinted primer.

Primer started on master doors

Primer started on master doors

I was trying to make sure to document all the steps I took, including started the primer in the insets of the doors, you know, so I could write a proper how-to post… yeah,  that didn’t happen. I didn’t take any  more pictures until after I was completely done with the last door. Sorry!

There are a total of eleven doors, so the priming was done on one day. Then the three coats of paint took a few more days. And finally, this is what we ended up with.

Master bedroom black doors

Master Bedroom Doors

black door hallway

Hallway doors…

The interior doors in the hallway were painted black - LOVE how they turned out!

The other side of the hallway looking at the laundry room and bedroom

Here’s a view of the master bedroom doors from the living room.

Painting the interior doors black - with a gorgeous fiddle leaf fig tree.

The master bedroom doors from the living room

In the kitchen…

kitchen pantry door black

The kitchen pantry door. Can you spot Gracie in this picture? I swear, they photo bomb on purpose

 

Kitchen pantry painted interior black door

This is the other kitchen pantry… Elvis had to get into the action again…

Let’s just say that the kitchen cabinets are on my list of things to paint too. And getting rid of those knobs. UGH. If I could, I’d re-do everything about the kitchen, except for the black doors 🙂

I was playing with the camera on a tripod today, and got a pretty good shot of the living room, with the kitchen reflected in the mirrors showing off the black door above…

Hollywood regency chest in glossy black, black interior doors and fiddle leaf fig tree in the living room.

I love all the black in this shot – the black shades on the Stiffel lamps, the black faux bamboo chest and the black pantry doors in the background.

I was pretty excited to finally get some not so blurry pictures in the house. That tripod made all the difference!

Can’t you just imagine how fabulous the kitchen will look with white cabinets?! As you can see, I still haven’t moved the red cabinet to it’s new spot in the breakfast area. I’ll get there eventually. 🙂

So, what do you think? Do you love the black doors as much as I do? I think they add so much drama to the house – and this house needed a little drama.

Thanks for stopping by!

Eliesa

Comments

    • Thanks Sue! It’s in my living room 🙂 I actually reupholstered that guy myself 🙂 It has a twin that isn’t done yet. I should probably get on that, huh?!
      🙂

      Reply

  2. Great job Eliesa!! That’s a big job, especially considering all the coats you had to do… but the end result looks worth the while 🙂

    Reply

  3. These look great! I’m working with a friend to turn all her doors black. Actually a grey black. She has grey walls like you do with white trim and this post gets me excited to finish hers out! Great job.

    Reply

    • Thanks Karen! I really do love how they turned out! I hope you share how your friend’s turn out – I’d love to see them!

      Reply

    • Thank you, Kirby! It’s still quite a work in progress – this area is pretty much the only one that is even a little “done”.

      Reply

  8. Hi! I came over from That DIY Party and love the doors! It looks great with your living room. And you kitchen cabinets would look good in white next to all the black doors. I feel ya on tile floors. Our kitchen and bath were both done by the previous homeowner and are in horrible shape!

    Reply

    • Thank you! As far as the tile situation goes… usually I’m all about “just do it!” but when you are talking about taking that much tile OUT – ugh. We would have to move everything into a storage container. Makes my head spin just thinking about it.

      Reply

      • Have you considered luxury tile? I put it over tile floors and it looks amazing! i GROUTED MINE, BUT WOULD THINK PLANKS WOULD DO OK AS LONG AS THEY HAD THE PROPER UNDERLAY (OR YOU COULD TRY SHAW WITH THE ACOUSTIC BACKING WHICH IS REALLY FIRM YET STILL VERY SOFT) “tHEY” SAY YOU HAVE TO TAKE OUT THE TILE, BUT i’VE HAD ZERO ISSUES WITH CRACKING OR SOFT SPOTS. IT IS A TAD HIGHER, BUT WHO WOULD NOTICE THAT BUT ME?

        Reply

    • Thank you! It was truly one of those projects that I couldn’t stop in the middle of, so I HAD to finish. I was dragging my butt the whole time. But I love the way it turned out, so I’m glad I finally did it!

      Reply

    • Thank you! I think so too! Now that I look at the before pics, they looked so blah in comparison.

      Reply

  12. Love it! I was thinking about doing this myself and I think you just made up my mind! Thanks for sharing the before and after, it really shows off the impact of the black doors!

    Reply

    • Thanks, Doreen! Oh boy! I hope you love them as much as I do! Can’t wait to see how they turn out 🙂

      Reply

  14. First…those are the exact doors we just put in throughout our house. You know that I love love black and I do love your doors painted black. Nice job

    Reply

    • I have to make a date to come see your new abode, Michelle! I can bring the paint if you want! LOL! Miss you, lady!

      Reply

    • I knew you would like the whole black door thing! I am seriously loving your blog, by the way. Totally fun! I am so glad we were able to meet at Haven… having a new blog to follow is one thing – knowing the blogger is amazing and fabulous is quite another! 🙂

      Reply

  17. They look amazing! I have been wanting to do this in my house for some time. This may be a silly question but did you paint both sides of the doors?

    Reply

    • Thank you!
      No, that’s not silly at all! I did not paint both sides, only the side that faces the common areas. The insides of the doors are all white.

      Reply

  19. Wow! Such a transformation! It really made SUCH a huge difference in the look of your doors…amazing! Thanks for sharing how you did it. You have a lot of stick-to-itiveness to get all of those doors done.

    Reply

  20. Oh, wow! The doors look amazing! And you can tell that you have painted a good bit before…they’re perfect! I especially like your bedroom doors next to the decor in your living room. What great inspiration!

    Reply

  23. I must get black doors. That’s it, you’ve just made my mind up. I’ve been wanting them for a while, also pinning pics of them and just haven’t pulled the trigger. Now it’s next on my project list!

    Reply

    • Do it! I love mine, and wish I hadn’t taken so long to pull the trigger. Let me know how they turn out for you! 🙂

      Reply

  25. They are very glamorous as well. Most of the wood work in my house is natural wood so I don’t think black doors will be right for me but I do love the idea.

    Reply

  26. I was wondering if you have any suggestions for cleaning the black doors. I have had black interior doors for about 5 years and love them. I haven’t found anything that removes finger prints well and does not leave streaks or smudges.

    Reply

    • You know, I am just starting to see marks on the door where hands have left oils, etc. I think I am going to have to put another coat of semi-gloss paint on them to make them easier to clean. Anytime I try to wipe off the smudges, it just makes it worse. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.

      Reply

  27. Love your black doors, and after looking at so many different shades of black doors, I’ve decided on the tricorn black too!! Can you tell me what kind of grey primer you used and how they have held up since not sanding….I really would like to avoid not sanding mine so, just wondering if you still recommend priming only?!

    Thanks so much,
    Tiffany D

    Reply

  28. What type of paint finish did you use for the black doors? Love this will be painting all my doors black… also what color dod you use just regulaer black?

    Reply

    • I used a satin finish on ours. HOWEVER… I would use a semi gloss if I had to do it over again. The satin collected just a little too much dust and handprints, etc. They wipe off, but semi-gloss doesn’t seem to hold so much. 🙂 I used Sherwin Williams Tricorn black.

      Reply

  29. I love the black doors (and your before and afters…they’re so helpful) and painted my garage entry door black as well as my front and back doors; however I thought of painting the interior doors too but thought the black felt closed in. I noticed your hallway with the two doors close together. Did it make you feel that way? I think the black is so chic and doesn’t show dirt either. I’m torn.

    Reply

  30. i’M CURRENTLY PAINTING MINE BLACK BUT CAME HERE TO LOOK AT DOORS NEXT TO EAH OTHER (i HAVE TWO AREAS WITH 2 OR MORE DOORS NEAR EACH OTHER….) – i ALSO WAS UNSURE ABOUT WHITE TRIM OR BLACK…. HAVE TO SAY YOURS TURNED OUT REALLY WELL! tHE BIG DIFFERENCE WITH YOURS IS THE BRASS (?) HARDWARE (OR IS THAT GOLD?) – IT JUST MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE! tHANKS FOR THE INSPIRATION 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. […] Some art on the walls – Paint (or stain?) the doors dark or white like the trim – White-wash the ceiling (like this or this) – Refinish the floors (a more […]

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