How to paint your "woodsy" Front Door

We are currently reno-ing ( is that a word) or DIY as we call it in New Zealand our kitchen come lounge come dining room, it is all open plan with a light wooden floor. The Front Door is very "woodsy", this is a word my friend Keri and I use, she is not woodsy, everything in her house gets upgraded to white and modern, I am also not woodsy, everything in my house gets painted. BUT some people really like wood and think you are partaking in a crime if you paint wood, which is what most of my friends and family thought when I told them I was going to paint the front door .....black.
Everyone was very polite and said "are you sure?" which probably really means, "OMG you have a lovely wood door and I think it will look terrible painted black, it might even be Rimu, and why black, why not white like most things you normally paint?!"
So I did think on it for a while and taped it up and left it like that for a week, and then I undercoated it.... and left it for another week

Before - all taped up and waiting for a colour decision

Before - All taped up and undercoated

When I started to paint I thought, gee this is really really black, it might look a but harsh...maybe I should paint it white to match the rest of the windows after all??

During - with Poppet and Rosie the cats helping out

During - Black going on, eek!

And then it was finished and I love it - phew! The door looks really dramatic and is a focal point now, the door panels all have lead lights in them and it makes these look funky and interesting instead of dated and old fashioned, let me know what you think? Luckily the family all like it too.

After

After

After

After - peeking outside

After - all finished