Should Your Interior Doors Be The Same Color As Your Walls?

Deciding on the perfect shade to paint your walls is a difficult choice in and of itself, but when it comes to interior door color, it can get even more complicated. If you're one of the 39% of homeowners that decided to take on a DIY home improvement project in the last year, you know the struggle of trying to create a space that looks both personalized and cohesive, via Nerd Wallet. The color of your doors, something that's often overlooked despite their size, plays a major role in creating that perfect finished product.

Luckily, whether or not you should paint the interior of your doors to match your walls actually has a simple answer, and it all depends on the desired effect you want to create in your room. Keep reading to learn what method you should go for, hanging on the space you're working with, and take some of the stress out of your home improvement decisions.

If you want to maximize your space

If you're living in a smaller house or working with a room that feels a bit cramped, picking a door color that matches your walls can help create the illusion that the space is bigger. According to Tinted by Sherwin Williams, keeping everything consistent allows the lines in the room to flow more freely and makes it look like the wall continues. If you want to take it a step further, paint your trim the same color as the walls, making your ceilings look a bit taller.

If you still want to maximize your room but don't want it to look too flat, try mixing and matching finishes. Most walls are more on the matte side of the sheen spectrum, so consider picking up a satin or gloss to add some contrast without breaking anything up too much. Higher-sheen finishes also have the added benefit of being more resistant to wear and tear, an important characteristic when it comes to frequently touched and scratched doors.

If you want to add visual interest

If your room is a little sparse or lofty for your liking, painting the doors in your home a different color can add interest and break up the space. Traditionally, doors are painted white or a slightly lighter shade of the color on the wall, which breaks up lines without drawing too much attention, via Frenchic Paint. There's nothing wrong with this — most people still want to maintain a room's airiness without things looking too monotone — but if you want to go decorative and create a bit more drama, doors are a perfect canvas.

If you're not quite ready to commit to an accent wall, consider just painting your door a different color; it will add some coziness and depth without dwarfing the size of the room. Even a subtle shift to a slightly darker version of your current wall color can impact and add fun to an otherwise simple space.