The Painted Door

Painting Doors

Doors, especially front entry doors are the first thing people notice... Certainly visitors, or prospective buyers. A shabby or outdated front door is a very poor beginning to your house selling story, that's for certain. But here's the good news!  You don't need to replace your door to fix the problem, you can paint it and better yet, Do It Yourself!

What you will need:

• 1 Quart Exterior Paint with Primer Included
• Small Paint Roller and Tray Kit
• Foam paint brush
• Painting Tape
• Craft knife
• Drop Cloth or old sheet

What you will need:

• 1 Quart Exterior Paint with Primer Included
• Small Paint Roller and Tray Kit
• Foam paint brush
• Painting Tape
• Craft knife
• Drop Cloth or old sheet

What you will need:

• 1 Gallon Exterior Paint with Primer (lots of brands to choose from, Behr, Valspar, Sherwin Williams)
• Painters Tape
• Small Roller and small roller tray
• Foam paint applicator
• Craft knife 

How to Paint a Door in 4 Easy Steps

1. First, tape off the hardware and any windows your door may have.  
2. Use the craft knife to cut the tape exactly for nice, clean lines. Use a light touch with the knife so you don't leave deep scratches.
3. Start at the top with the roller and paint your way down the door.
4. Take your foam paint applicator thingy and fill in where the roller couldn't reach.

 Surprisingly the paint dries fairly quickly. Now these instructions are for painting a door that's in good/fair shape and doesn't need any real repairs. For those you have to take the door off the hinges and actually work. ;)  This is just for a quickie paint job to freshen up an old entry way. You'd be amazed at what a coat of paint will do!

In the above photo, the outdated and distracting screen door was removed to reveal a much prettier and modern door. Taping around the hardware takes longer than applying the paint, it's so easy, and look at the difference!  (The nice planters help, too.)

Tip: DO NOT send your husband alone to the home improvement store to pick out your paint.You never know what you'll end up with. I know they mean well, but... some people just need more supervision than others. You tell them you want Black, "But the green was on SALE," they'll say.
Tsk, tsk.

Updating Door Hardware

I live in a house that was built in 1996. It is simply crammed with fake brass. I mean, it is everywhere, from the light fixtures, the sink and tub fixtures, even the door knobs and TOILET PAPER HOLDERS. It's e v e r y w h e r e !  I will just have to replace the sink and tub fixtures, but I found a trick to updating the door knobs that is so easy, you'll doubt me. But I'm 100% serious. The secret:

You got it. Spray paint. Rust-oleum Universal Advanced Formula Paint and Primer in One spray paint. The color I chose was Carbon Mist but it comes in a wide variety of colors, even metallic finishes like nickel and hammered bronze. And it adheres to any surface. MOST IMPORTANTLY, it wears beautifully. I haven't had to retouch any of the door handles painted with this magic in a can.

Now, to paint the door hardware, you do have to remove it. This is a good opportunity to put your husband to work. It makes them feel "like they're helping."  Gotta feed the ego...

At the insistence of my husband, I roughed up the brass metal surface, but it was just to keep him happy. The instructions on the can say you don't need this step. Sigh. But they turned out nicely, so I can't complain TOO much.

So these are tricks I learned working on my own house, but thought they might be useful if you are trying to sell a house and need an easy fix for outdated doors and/or hardware. When selling a house, there can be a lot that needs updating. Tackle the things you can do yourself, and cheaply. See what a difference that makes. It might even make such an impact that potential buyers overlook the bigger ticket items like new carpeting or updated showers. It will at least give you some room when it comes to negotiating: the fewer things that need updating, the better off you are as the Seller.

I think I showed you in another post how I spray painted the light fixtures:

I've even done one of the toilet paper holders, but do I need to bore you with that? You can take my word for it.  I'll snap a shot the next time I'm in the guest bath and show you what a difference it made. :)

Back to doors. How to choose a color?  My favorite is black. Either black, or red. Here are some gorgeous doors I found on Pinterest:

 Love this glossy finish:

A fabulous entry with a red door, very Feng Shui:

And another red door, beautifully done:

Remember to ask for exterior paint, and tell the paint person at the home improvement store that it's for your front exterior door. This will ensure you get the right formula of paint. The wrong formula will end up looking faded or chalky, which can only be corrected by repainting, so be sure to do it right the first time.  Good Luck with your beautiful doors!

Next: Porches