Choosing a window frame colour

Start with the house and the street

Window frames, windows and doors never stand alone. Together with the brickwork, the roof tiles and the neighbouring houses, they form a single picture from the street. A 1930s house in Amsterdam-West calls for different frame colours from a traditional Zaan timber house or a new-build home in Purmerend. Look at the architectural style, the colour of the bricks and the colours that recur in the neighbourhood. In the Zaanstreek, green with white is a recognisable tradition for timber houses; you do not depart from that lightly.

With terraced houses, the whole row often looks best when the frames stay within the same colour family. A front door in a different colour can then add a personal accent without throwing the row off balance.

Practical points when choosing a colour

• Heat: dark colours on frames and doors get hot in the sun, making timber shrink and swell more.
• Dirt and growth: very light colours show green growth and street dirt sooner.
• Coherence: frames, windows, door and fascia boards form a single palette that works with the facade.
• Sheen level: high gloss makes a colour deeper, satin looks calmer.

If you are torn between two shades, have a test piece painted on a board that you can hold against the frame. Look at it in the morning, in the afternoon and in cloudy weather. A colour on a small card almost always looks different outside than on a whole frame next to your own brickwork.

Rules and permits

For an ordinary home you can usually choose a frame colour yourself. For listed buildings and in protected townscapes and village views, requirements are often laid down in the municipality's environmental plan or design guidelines. Check this before you go for a new colour. An owners' association may also have agreements about the colour of window frames and doors. Read more about old buildings on painting a listed building.

Inspiration from Oranje Kwast's work

A colour does not need to be daring to make an impression. On the grey front door in high gloss, it is the crisp finish that creates the modern look. Oranje Kwast thinks along with you about colour and sheen level and advises which product suits your frames, windows and doors. Also read choosing colours for your interior if you want inside and outside to match, and see under exterior painting how the work is carried out.