I used to think accent walls were the most genius design idea – as a teen, I practically begged my mother to let me paint one single wall in my childhood bedroom a vivid shade of purple. But as I grew up and refined my taste (and began to hate that purple wall), I realized they are, in fact, the quickest way to date a room. To me, they feel a cop out – you didn't have the confidence to take the color over all the walls.
However, I understand wanting to add just a pop of a color to a room, but in 2026, accent walls are out of style, and there are far more subtle ways to bring a bolder shade into a room. Enter: accent doors.
1. Choose a Soft, Serene Color
Accent doors don't need to be bold or vivid (like my bright purple accent wall). They don't need to make a strong style statement or become the focal point of a room, either. In fact, sometimes the best accent doors are the ones that whisper with elegance – like this accent door in a soft shade of blue.
Here, the accent door quietly contrasts the otherwise white hallway and seamlessly complements the wallpaper within the bathroom. Decorating with blue has a way of making a space feel more calming, and that's certainly the case with this blue door, which is painted in a similar tone to Benjamin Moore's Breath of Fresh Air. While the door itself provides a level of color, it does so in a tasteful, elegant manner – proving that accent doors don't need to be as loud as an accent wall.
2. Work With the Rest of the Room's Color Scheme
If the long reign of the accent wall taught us anything, it’s that a bold focal point isn’t always the answer. An accent door offers a subtler approach – adding a pop of color that enhances your interiors rather than overpowering them.
'The combination of colors is key,' Robin and Jen explain about accent door color choices. 'Not all colors work together. We generally stick to colors with all the same intensity.' That's just the case in this cozy bedroom above. When open, the green accent door tastefully complements the light blue painted room and its existing decor. It's not too soft and not too bold – the door's balanced tone adds just the right amount of visual interest and contrast to the room's design scheme.
3. Call Attention to a Utilitarian Spot
Pantries have never been considered a glamorous spot in the home. Quite the opposite, actually – they're a space that serves a purpose, needs to be functional, and most times, stays hidden. However, colorful pantry ideas have turned these utilitarian spots into style statements, and accent pantry doors can do the same.
In the modern farmhouse kitchen above, the Reseda Green painted pantry door turns this otherwise practical spot into a focal point for the room. Along with the colorful kitchen island, the accent door adds personality to the neutral kitchen. The door itself breaks up the neutral cabinets and shelving, and its fresh color creates an unexpected design moment.
Aside from pantry doors, this idea can work for other utilitarian spaces – laundry rooms, utility closets, and even coat closets. Just a bit of color can turn these unglamorous spots of the home into exciting statements of style.
4. Create Contrasts That Don’t Overwhelm
What better way to greet guests as they enter your home than with a foyer complete with yellow accent doors? Decorating with yellow can create a sense of warmth and joy in a space. As shown in this entryway designed by Sarah Storms, the two bright yellow accent doors do just that.
'I often like to paint closet doors a pop color in foyers and mudrooms to give those often overlooked spaces a little something extra,' Sarah explains. As a playful contrast to the traditional architecture in this space, the yellow accent doors add a level of excitement to the foyer's design. And since the bold doors are supported with other bold features like the Missoni Zucca Staircase Carpet and the Hallie Stool, nothing feels out of place. Instead, the accent doors and the complementary statement decor features create a sense of vibrant rhythm within the space.
5. Turn a Transitional Space Into a Design Moment
If you consider yourself a color enthusiast, there's no reason to limit yourself to one color for your accent doors. Like in the hallway above, designed by Robin Heller and Jen Levy of design firm Surrounded by Color, more vibrant colors equate to a more vibrant impact.
One of the reasons why the multi-color accent door idea works so well in this example is because of the doors' location – the hallway. Unlike a living room that might already feel busy with colorful furniture or rugs, this hallway is simple in design and presents an opportunity for colorful accent doors to become the stars of the show. 'It’s fun to be bold in spaces that are separate from the main living area, like this second-floor bedroom hallway,' the design duo muses.
Balanced out with a neutral backdrop and grounded by a simple rug like this Handspun Jute Rug, the pink, red, and green accent doors add a level of excitement to this space and demonstrate the ways in which color can impact even the most transitional parts of the home.
6. Add Visual Interest to an Otherwise Neutral Room
In a simple white dining room, like in the image above, an accent door can make a world of difference – not only by adding visual interest to the space, but by turning the transition from one room to the next into a focal point of its own.
'I love a crisp white room and have found adding interesting doors not only breaks up the space but it also adds a design feature with loads of opportunities,' interior designer Pilar Proffitt tells me. Despite the subdued, blue color, the accent doors create a subtle focal point in an otherwise neutral space – just in a calming, peaceful manner.
In an otherwise simple room, an accent door (or doors) can help guide your decor choices to create a cohesive, unified scheme. Vice versa, too. If your room feels as if it's missing something, consider drawing a shade from its existing color scheme to paint the room's doors. This is an easy, low-commitment way to transform the space, and it's not nearly as overwhelming as painting an entire wall in a colorful shade.
7. Don't Forget About Cabinets
Accent door ideas don't only pertain to traditional doors. In fact, the same ideas can be applied to cabinet doors to create a stylistically unique design scheme anywhere in the home. Do you have a bathroom cabinet that could use a facelift? Or what about a built-in mudroom cabinet that's full of untapped potential? Consider painting these doors in exciting colors to totally transform the rooms in which they exist.
In the space above, these brightly painted mudroom cabinets contrast with the wood-paneled walls, but they tastefully enhance the overall modern rustic aesthetic of the space. They add a level of personality to the space, too, and make the mudroom look and feel more dynamic.
8. Create an Unexpected Surprise
Pocket doors are an unexpected surprise in their own way, but colorfully painted pocket doors take the surprise to a whole new level. Like in the dining room above, these pocket doors slide out and inject a level of style into a space, just by means of their slate blue color.
Because pocket doors can be hidden when not needed, there's no reason not to paint them in an exciting color. They can be a focal point when pulled out, making the room feel fresh and different. Push them into the wall, and their color stays hidden. Consider accent pocket doors the perfect design feature for indecisive decorators who like the idea of color, but don't want to commit to something as permanent as an accent wall.
Accent doors take what was good about the accent wall – the ability to add a pop of color to a room – but feel more intentional than their clumsy predecessor. An accent door can serve as a subtle, unexpected focal point that feels far more considered than taking one shade over just one wall.
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