How To Paint Your Front Door!

Painting your front door seems like a pretty straight forward thing, right? Roll on some paint and ta da? What I did not think about when painting my front door was all the dings, dents, dirt, and weather that it has withstood. Not to mention the old "Welcome Home" sticker that was basically glued and faded to the middle of the door. It is most likely the door the house came with and I do not know how many little hands have touched it, but we have been here for over a year now and it was time for some TLC.

I just happened to stumble upon a tutorial on Pinterest about a month before I painted. It must have been meant to be! When I went to paint the front door, I followed the tutorial step by step and ta da! A clean and new found front door!  I couldn't get rid of some of the bigger dents and this is a rental, but you get the idea! Our newly painted blue front door....

Before

After

Painting your front door isn't any harder than painting a wall, but there is a technique that makes it look flawless! Here is the link to the tutorial:

http://www.theidearoom.net/2012/06/how-to-paint-a-door.html

Supplies:

1) Your choice of colored indoor or outdoor paint. I used the color Indigo Clothe by Valspar in a Satin finish from Lowe's. I only used 1 and 1/2 of their sample jars! Total of $6!

2) A roller brush

3) Regular angle brush 2 inches wide or so.

4) Sand paper

5) Painters tape

6) Possibly primer if you need it.(I didn't use it on this project. My door is under a large area of house and porch so it doesn't get a lot of sun or weather, etc.)

How To:

1) Tape off any areas that you don't want paint touching. 

2) Remove what hardware you can. If you can't remove it, cover it well in tape.

3) Remove anything from the door such as old tape or stickers.

4) Sand any rough areas down.

5) Clean the door well with water and soap. Let dry.

6) Now that you have a nice clean and smooth front door, paint! Starting with the indented areas first. Use the angle brush.

7) After the indented areas are painted, paint their raised middles. Now each panel should look painted.

8) Now using the roller brush, paint the very middle strip of door that runs top to bottom. Paint in up and down with vertical strokes.

9) Next, Paint the very middle area that runs horizontal with left to right brush strokes. Now all the panels and middle areas should be painted with only the outer door areas exposed.

10) Starting at the top area of the door, paint all the outside edge areas. The top and bottom areas are left to right strokes, while the sides that run top to bottom are up and down strokes. 

11) Repeat coats in the same manner until the door is nice and even.

(See the original tutorial for more photos)

Side tip: If you are worried about brush strokes you can use this stuff you mix with the paint that makes the paint dry slower. Ask your local hardware store! I didn't use any, but some of you may have really nice flat doors that would look amazing with some extra umph!

This project cost me less than $20. It only took about 2 or 3 hours and most of that was coats of paint drying. It didn't take much effort and really changed the look of the front door! If you just want a simple front door change, grab some paint and switch it up! Have fun with it, but keep your HOA in mind. Ha!

Have a great week and happy Pinning!