There’s something so classic and timeless about a black exterior door. But while it may be a wonderfully simple addition to an exterior color palette, choosing a black paint color isn’t always so simple. To make the process easier, we’re breaking down the best black front door paint colors.
We’ve chosen paint for hundreds of front doors in our work as paint color consultants. And while some palettes use the front door hue as a pop of color, a timeless black door is one of our favorite recommendations for many of our clients.
Keep reading for our full breakdown of the best black paint for front doors – including photographs from real clients’ homes.
*This post contains affiliate links for products I use and love. If you click on some links and make a purchase, I will get a small commission at no cost to you. This helps pay for the costs of the blog, so I can continue to offer great content to our readers.
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Picking a Black Front Door Paint Color
Black may seem like a straightforward paint color, but there are so many options with varying undertones and LRVs. What looks gorgeous on one home could look discordant on another. As paint color consultants, here are our top tips for choosing the right black exterior front door paint color (Article) for your home.
Pay attention to your roof.
Your roof color often sets the tone for your whole exterior, so you’ll want your black door to complement rather than clash. A warm brown roof may look better with a softer black, while a cool gray or slate roof pairs beautifully with a crisp, deep black.
Match to black or bronze window colors.
If your windows are already black or bronze, matching your front door creates a cohesive, intentional look. This tie-in keeps your exterior from feeling disjointed and gives your home a custom-designed feel.
A little goes a long way.
Black is bold, and too much of it can overwhelm your home’s exterior. Using it sparingly – like on your front door – adds contrast without making your home feel dark or heavy.
Sample Black Front Door Paint Colors
We always recommend that you test paint colors on your home because lighting can change a color completely, both with interiors as well as exteriors.
In the old days, this meant we painted a large poster board with sample pots and a huge mess.
Now we have a better way to test paint, with Samplize Peel-and-Stick samples!
- Samples pre-painted with 2 coats of real paint from the manufacturer.
- Large 9” x 14” samples to see the color better in the lighting.
- Delivered overnight
- Colors are accurate
- Less expensive than painting a large poster board with sample pots
- No mess, and no toxic paint to dispose of
I use these in my color consulting practice for exact results. Discover Samplize peel-and-stick paint samples:
11 Best Black Front Door Paint Colors (Picked By a Paint Color Consultant)
Below are some of our favorite black paint colors that we’ve used for exterior front doors and – in some cases – dark exterior trim and garage doors (Articles).
Sherwin-Williams Black Magic
SW Black Magic (Sample) is typically considered a true black. With an LRV of 3, it’s one of the darkest black paint colors featured in this post. Black Magic has slightly warm undertones, and pairs well with exterior color palettes that include other warm hues.
We used a Black Magic front door on the client’s home pictured below, which perfectly complemented the home’s SW Green Onyx siding and SW Oyster White trim.
Sherwin-Williams Tricorn Black
SW Tricorn Black (Sample) is another very dark black paint color, with an LRV of 3. It is very similar to Black Magic, but its undertones are even more neutral, leaning toward cool. Tricorn Black is absolutely stunning as a black front door paint color and one of our favorite dark hues to pair with red brick.
On our client’s home below, we paired a Tricorn Black door with warm brick and SW Intellectual Gray siding.
Benjamin Moore Black Beauty
BM Black Beauty (Sample) is another gorgeous black front door paint color. This color is very dark and has a touch of warmth, with an LRV of 5.32. While this front door paint color could work with a lot of exterior palettes, I especially love it in a moody exterior color scheme like our client’s home pictured below.
This will look like a dark, crisp black.
On this home, we paired a Black Beauty exterior front door with Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain siding.
Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore
There’s a reason SW Iron Ore (Sample) is one of the most popular black paints of all time. It’s a gorgeous, deep black color with warm, invisible green undertones. The only time I’ve ever seen the green in Iron Ore was when I was testing at very high altitude in the mountains of Colorado. In that very bright sunshine, I could see the green undertone. Otherwise, even in Denver or Texas, all you see is a soft black. With an LRV of 6, it’s just slightly softer than the very dark black paint colors featured already in this post, but still deep and beautiful.
If the light is very bright, Iron Ore will look more like dark charcoal. This is a great front door color if you have very shady conditions because it won’t look too dark.
I love to pair an Iron Ore (Article) front door with lighter exterior color palettes like we did on our client’s home below.
Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron
BM Wrought Iron (Sample) is nearly identical to SW Iron Ore but is slightly softer, with an LRV of 8.17, and a blue undertone. Wrought Iron is muted and cool. It’s a gorgeous black exterior front door color. I also love to use it for dark exterior trim and shutters.
I don’t recommend Wrought Iron as a crisp black. It can also look like a charcoal color in the ery bright sunshine.
In the photo below, our client’s home features Wrought Iron (Article) shutters. An exterior front door would look very similar and could be paired with matching shutters or trim.
Benjamin Moore Cheating Heart
BM Cheating Heart (Color Review) is a soft black paint color with deep blue undertones and an LRV of 8.79. It’s too blue to be a true black and too black to be gray. It’s a complex color that changes in the light throughout the day and looks much brighter outside than on the page.
It’s also one of the best black front door paint colors – especially for exteriors with red brick or other warm stone colors. The brick home below features BM Cheating Heart (Sample) garage doors and siding alongside a red brick finish. A Cheating Heart front door would also look gorgeous on this home.
Sherwin-Williams Inkwell
SW Inkwell (Sample) is a dark blue-black paint color with warm undertones and an LRV of 4. You don’t see the blue unless the sunshine hits it just right. This color looks gorgeous ith warm or cool paint colors.
On the home below, we painted the iron-scrolled front door with SW Inkwell – it looks absolutely gorgeous! This transformed a white iron door that was lost in the rest of the white into a beautiful showpiece.
Sherwin-Willams Cyberspace
SW Cyberspace (Article) is another blue-black paint color. The Cyberspace LRV is 6, which makes it a very dark paint color.
Like most blue paints, Cyberspace (Sample) is a cool color. However, because it is such a deep, muted blue, Cyberspace can be used as a dark neutral and can work well with both cooler and warmer trim and finishes.
On the home below, SW Cyberspace is used on the garage doors. It would also look beautiful as black exterior door paint. In the sunshine it will look like a very dark blue, but in the shade it will look black.
Sherwin-Williams Urbane Bronze
SW Urbane Bronze (Article) is an excellent choice for black exterior door paint if you want something bold but a bit softer than a true black. It really is a bronze color, and sometimes looks brown. But overall we use it as a black color.
Urbane Bronze (Sample) has an LRV of 8 and green undertones that give the color its warmth. As a result, it pairs well with other warm colors and finishes, such as creamy white paint and warm, natural wood.
On our client’s home below, Urbane Bronze doors and trim are paired with warm, SW Shoji White (Article) stucco.
Sherwin-Williams Black Fox
SW Black Fox (Sample) is essentially a darker version of Urbane Bronze, with an LRV of 7. It’s a soft black paint color with warm undertones that looks like a rich, deep brown paint color when used outdoors in bright sunshine.
On our client’s home pictured below, Black Fox was specified for the garage doors, fascia, gutters, downspouts, and crown molding between the soffits and the body of the house. It would also look gorgeous as a soft black exterior door color.
Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain
We featured our client’s BM Iron Mountain (Article) home earlier in this post for its BM Black Beauty front door. But a front door painted with Iron Mountain paint would also be gorgeous! Iron Mountain is the lightest of the black paint colors featured today, with an LRV of 10.96. Outdoors, it looks more like a deep charcoal gray than a true black.
For a front door, it would look very similar to the siding on the client’s home below. I love this idea if you have a softer color palette and want slightly less contrast for your front door.
Sample The Best Black Front Door Paint Colors
Explore all of our favorite black paint colors for front doors and get samples shipped straight to your door with Samplize.
- Sherwin-Williams Black Magic
- Sherwin-Williams Tricorn Black
- Benjamin Moore Black Beauty
- Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore
- Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron
- Benjamin Moore Cheating Heart
- Sherwin-Williams Inkwell
- Sherwin-Williams Cyberspace
- Sherwin-Williams Urbane Bronze
- Sherwin-Williams Black Fox
- Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain
Key Learning Points
A black front door is a timeless choice that works for many different exterior color palettes.
- A black front door is a simple, timeless, and classic choice.
- Pay attention to your roof, windows, stonework and other hard finishes before choosing a black front door paint color for your home.
- There are many different kinds of black paint colors to consider, including deep true blacks, softer blacks and black hues with varying undertones.
- A little goes a long way. A black front door could be enough of a bold pop for your home, while for some homes, matching shutters, garage doors, and even trim to a black door works well.
Remember: NEVER, EVER use paint matches from a different brand than the one specified. Results are poor and there are no standards for the sheens. Even though your painter may truly believe it can be done, don’t do it. See results from paint matching here.
No matter what, always test your paint colors. It’s a standard best practice. Whenever I test my paint colors, they are perfect, and when I don’t test they turn out wrong. Learn how to test your paint colors here.
Online Color Consulting
Still need help picking the best paint colors? Discover our Online Color Consulting Package.
Related Posts:
- Best Front Door Paint Colors
- Best Dark Exterior Trim Colors
- Best Black Paint Colors That Go With Red Brick
- Best Interior Front Door Paint Colors
About the Author
Hi, I’m Michelle Marceny, founder, owner, and Principal Color Designer at The Color Concierge. I believe a fresh coat of paint can completely transform a space. The Color Concierge was born out of my drive to help clients fall back in love with their homes. My clients trust me to help them find the perfect paint color for their home – whether it’s a whole-house paint color scheme or ideas for a single room.
Since The Color Concierge was founded in 2017, we have completed over 3000 color consultations, both online and in-person. I am a Certified Color Expert with 7 years of experience creating interior and exterior color palettes throughout North America.
We love your comments! Please note that the blog is meant as general advice, and it is not possible to give out specific answers to your paint questions. If you want more specific advice, please consider purchasing a color consultation. Thank you for your understanding.
