You've seen the shutters go, now time for the matching front door! The door was the same color as the old shutters, that maroon color I just couldn't live with anymore. Using Sherwin-Williams' Color Visualizer on their website, I uploaded a picture of the house and played around with the shutters and front door to find the colors I wanted. Since our house is basically cut in half in the front view with the garage, the color was going to be very concentrated on one side and then the garage is all white on the other. I wanted to balance it out a little more, so I decided on the color Greek Villa for the front door instead of matching it to the shutters. Supa fresh. Here's the process, my first time painting a door. FYI, my door is wood, not steel. Using a sprayer would probably be a better idea for steel.
Supplies:
Exterior primer and paint (Quarts will do)
paint brush
4" foam roller (best type of roller ever!)
power sander
wet rag/sheets for clean up
 |
| Original door, sheets down for sanding, doorknob not removed yet. |
 |
| power sander! i used a very rough grit, don't remember what number, it was low. you should also use a fine grit to smooth it out before painting. |
 |
| Just look at this nonsense!! Supposedly this was painted by a professional? Ugh. I also used this opportunity to clean this mess up by painting the side. |
 |
| Door is sanded. It's not necessary to take off all the existing paint, only to take off the gloss of the existing paint and smooth the surface. You can use individual sandpaper pieces to get in the crevices, like the picture below. |
 |
| crevices! |
 |
Be sure to wipe all the debris off of the door with a wet rag between sanding and painting!
|
|
|
|
 |
| This is where the fun begins! I took a 2" wide, thin artist brush and put on 2 thin coats of primer in all the crevices of the door. You can't let the paint pool anywhere, or it will dry that way and you'll have bumps, that's why the thin layers are important. Do this anywhere the roller won't fit with the primer and paint. |
 |
| close-up of crevices |
 |
| This is the primer I used. I used primer because my door was so dark, and I wanted the paint to come out as quality as possible! |
 |
| THIS is the important part!! I'd never used or heard of these foam rollers before, but they are AWESOME. I'll be using them for many other things, I'm sure. Sorry this one is blue, I used it for something else, incidentally- this is the roller I would've used for the shutters if I'd known before! You'll find the handle in the same section of the store. |
 |
| STEPS: |
|
|
1) Use brush to prime crevices.
2)Use roller to prime door. Repeat 1 & 2 for another coat.
3) Use brush to paint crevices.
4) Use roller to paint door- thin, smooth layers, going in different directions as if you were painting a wall. Repeat 3 & 4 for another coat.
*BE SURE TO dry each coat before painting another**
 |
| Here's the painted door, behind my hideous storm door lol. I thought it looked too plain! A friend suggested I paint the door yellow, and I loved that idea, but I just thought it would be too much. I decided to just accent it with yellow. |
 |
| I took an artist brush and painted the ridges and accented the architectural elements of the door. This took way too long. It was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. But I am very happy with the result! |
 |
| Close-up! |
 |
| Checking it out from the front. Gah! That door. |
 |
| Not only did I re-paint the door, I ordered a new handle set that is GORGEOUS compared to my old one. LOVE. |
 |
| TA-DAAA! Finished front door with the old one gone. New storm door coming, but definitely enjoyed this look while it lasted! Couldn't be happier with it, it's so different! |
 |
| Would you ever take on changing the look of your house, now that you know how EASY AND FUN it is? Ha! |
