MATCHING YOUR HARDWARE & FRONT DOOR COLOUR
Knowing your preference on mixing or matching cool and warm colours, will help you find the combination that gives you the door of your dreams.
There's a little bit of science behind matching your hardware finish to your door colour which is all do do with warm and cool colours. Although there is no wrong answers here, you will probably have a strong preference so its good to have a think about it when planning your new door. Read on and see which is your favourite combo...
What are cool or warm colours?
Colour temperature is a powerful tool when it comes to decorating. It can create a mood, evoke an emotion, and attract the eye.
Simply put, warm colours evoke feelings of warmth, such as red, yellow and orange.
Cool colours evoke cool feelings, such as blues, green and greys.
The diagram below shows the breakdown of cool and warm colours on the colour wheel.
Metal Finishes - warm or cool?
When choosing your hardware finish its important to understand what part of the colour spectrum the metal you like sits on.
Brass is a warm toned metal. Gold and bronze would also sit in the warm zone.
Nickel is a cool toned metal. Silver and chrome would also be cool metals.
Now that we know that, lets move onto paint colours!
Paint Colours -Warm or Cool but not so simple!
From using the colour wheel its pretty easy to figure out if the front door colour you like is warm or cool.
Oranges, Reds, Yellows, Terracotta, Browns and Reddy Pinks = WARM COLOURS
Blues, greens, purples, lilac, greys = COOL COLOURS
However, colour temperature is not absolute and its worth mentioning that if a colour has a particularly strong undertone, it can shift it to the other side of the colour temperature e.g. if you have a pink with strong blue undertones, you may find it feels cooler than warm.
Now we'll show you examples of matching and contrasting cool and warm colours and metals for you to decide which look is the one you love!
WARM METAL ON WARM COLOURS
If the look of brass door hardware on colours like Paprika, Berry and Sunshine Yellow fill your heart with joy, then WARM ON WARM is your preference. You prefer to compliment and commit to a a warm, cosy vibe.
WARM METAL ON COOL COLOURS
If the contrast of warm brass on icy cool colours is the combination that feels right in your eyes, then WARM ON COOL is the aesthetic that you will love on your front door.
COOL METAL ON WARM COLOURS
Cool nickel against the toasty shades of pinks and orange is a striking combination. If you love this above the others, you like the contrast of a COOL ON WARM vibe.
COOL METAL ON COOL COLOURS
If you prefer your nickel matching to the cool, calming shades of purple, blue and minty green, then COOL ON COOL tones is the combination that speaks to you.
SPOT THE UNDERTONE...
We spoke earlier about how a strong undertone can throw a typically cool or warm colour to the other side of the spectrum. Here are a few examples of those undertones at work!
While pink is generally a warm colour, this shade has a strong blue undertone which actually gives it a cool temperature. So this look is WARM ON COOL.
While green sits on the cool spectrum, the yellow undertone of this olive green means it has a warm feel. This means this look is COOL ON WARM.
FINAL WORD - GO WITH YOUR GUT!
We hope that this has helped you get an idea about what look you would like for your front door. Remember that there isn't any right or wrong, its about what looks good to you!