How to Paint a Door

Well, I promised a how-to on painting doors, and I’m here tonight to tell you lucky ducks how it’s done. Hold on to your seats, this is probably the MOST exciting post you will ever read.

Evah!!!

I showed you my front door transformation here:

I also painted the inside of that front door months ago, and I showed you that project here. I’ve painted a few doors in my day, and there’s a few things I’ve learned along the way. Hopefully this post will help you if you decide to do the same!

OK, so the first thing you’ll want to do is test to see if your current paint is oil-based or latex paint. I’m not sure about interior doors, but I’d be willing to bet most exterior doors are oil-based. The thing is, you can paint oil over oil and latex over latex, but not latex over oil.

Got it? ;)

But, I don’t do oil-based paint. I just don’t – latex is SO much easier to work with. Oil takes longer to dry – and that was the kicker. I didn’t want to take the door off the hinges and I knew I’d need to shut it (at least a few times) during the process. Oil-based would make that harder to do.

Not to slam oil paint though -- it is probably best for an outdoor surface. It holds up great! But I wanted to stick with my latex, so I needed to do a couple steps first. To make sure the door was painted in oil, like I thought, I used denatured alcohol:

You’ll just need a bit – rub some on the door with a rag, and if the paint comes off, it’s latex. If it doesn’t, it’s oil-based paint. I knew once I tested it that ours was the latter.

Because of that, I needed to prime with shellac-based primer:

I use BIN for just about everything now – it is VERY thin and it goes on easily because of that. It’s stinky – so make sure to ventilate the area you’re working in.

I love it because it dries CRAZY fast – so it is perfect for a door. And an impatient do-it-yourselfer. ;)

When it comes to doors, I have a plan of attack that works for me – it cuts down on brush marks:

(source for door pic)

This is my method – I have no idea if this is the right method. ;) I start with the areas around the panels by using a good angled paint brush:

The folks at Purdy sent me a set to use and I was in heaven. ;) I used the 1.5 inch angled brush for the little insets in the door:

Purdy brushes are the best – hands down. And I’m not saying that cause I got a set. ;) I love them and use them all the time!

The BIN primer is so thin, you don’t have to worry too much about brush strokes:

I didn’t take the hardware off to paint the back of the door – I just taped around it and it worked out pretty well. I wish I would have taken if off, but that’s a whole other post. ;)

I finished up the door with the primer and let it dry:

I use a small roller for the raised panels and the area around them. (Steps 2, 3 and 4 on the pic above.)

I started the same process again with my black paint. I use Black Suede from Behr for all of my black paint projects and LOVE it:

My friend Kate has mentioned to use Floetrol to cut down on brush strokes:

I used it about half way through, and it was weird -- I didn’t notice a difference at all:

 

(One side had it, one didn’t – I’m pretty sure the left didn’t and the right did.)

I added the exact amount it called for, but it didn’t help much, as far as I can tell. I will try it again though. It sounds like it (usually) helps tone down brush strokes quite a bit!

Even with the tinted primer (I have my BIN tinted a tad), it still took a total of THREE coats to get it completely covered:

But it was SO worth it. So worth it, in fact, that I am going to try out a few more black doors inside. ;)

When I did the front of the door, I made sure to clean it really well before starting:

I just used my cleaning wipes, and then wiped it down with a damp towel after that.

I also took off the hardware between coats:

I left them off as long as possible after each coat, but you’ll see later why I had to keep putting them back on. ;) I believe I took that hardware off about 15 times. Gah.

I used the same process with the primer as the inside, and if there were any brush marks, I just knocked them down a bit with some sanding between coats:

        

Then…my lesson in reds started. ;)

I don’t know what lesson I learned, other than the one I already knew. Get a sample of your paint! Paint it on a poster board, then hang it on your front door.

SAVE YOURSELF people!!

;)

I started with a random match to a red that had the word “brick” in it – and it was not brick. It was more of a corally orange. I never knew what coral-orange was before, but this is it:

The photos don’t do it justice. It looked like the entrance to a seafood restaurant. :)

Because I got the paint at my local True Value, I got it mixed in an exterior Porter paint. And because I had a Porter paint nearby during this debacle, I went to them to see if they could adjust it:

I found a Porter color that was more what I was thinking. The Porter guy was SO helpful and spent a good 20 minutes adding to it, (for FREE!), and he got it to the “new” red – a color called Brick Dust.

Well. Brick Dust was more like Pink Sunset Dust:

It was at this point that I was about to give up and live with a pink front door. ;)

These were just first coats, so they would have darkened and deepened with more coats – but I just knew they weren’t right.

So I gave it one more try – this time I started from scratch. I checked out the Martha Stewart colors from Home Depot and found The One – Chocolate Cosmos:

Finally! The brick red I was after from the start!

I normally use small sponge rollers to paint doors and furniture:

But for some reason the Behr paint I used for the exterior side (I had the Martha Stewart mixed in exterior Behr) was SUPER thick. I don’t know if it was because it was exterior or what, but it was acting all wonky.

I ended up doing a final coat in a mini version of a regular 3/8 inch nap roller:

That size works great for the panels on the door, and the thicker nap covered much better. I’ll be using that again for the future doors.

So…there you go. The most exhilarating post yet. I bet you are totally JAZZED right now to paint some doors! Really, it’s not a hard project at all – it just takes some time and patience.

Two things to remember – figure out if you’re dealing with oil or latex-based paint (that you are painting over), and get a sample of your color – mainly for an exterior door. The color on the swatch in the store will look different in your house and will look even more different outside.

Believe me. :)

So have you painted your front door? Did you get the color right the first time? Any fun front door colors out there? Do tell!

Great white!

Well, first of all, thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes! And everyone who guessed 26 was RIGHT!! I am 26! Plus 10.

Everyone who guessed 32 and younger has a check coming in the mail. ;)

As many of you know, our new hardwood floors are being installed this week. I’m a jumble of so excited I could pee and totally dreading this – I’m so confused.

They start Tuesday and at least for right now, I’m definitely leaning toward the excited part. Actually, I’m GIDDY at the thought of lovely hardwoods throughout our main floor. By Thursday, when we’re covered in an inch of dust, I may be signing a different tune. ;)

Check out all this hardwood waiting patiently!:

I’ve been trying to get a few projects done before they get started, especially since I won’t be able to get much accomplished this week. One project I’m ITCHING to get finished up is the office.

I started painting the board and batten six weeks ago – just days before the water issues and the kitchen island was placed in the office for a week and the whole house basically imploded.

At least that’s what it looks like. ;)

So I haven’t gotten back to the painting. Because it’s just not been a priority and OH YEAH, I despise painting board and batten. For reals…it is one of the most dreaded activities EVER.

I’m exaggerating. A wee bit. But not much.

I was out with my friend Beckie the other night and she reminded me that she used her paint sprayer to spray her (awesome!) board and batten project. I kept pushawing it though – whining about taping off walls and protecting floors and wah wah wah…

And then I realized I didn’t need to worry about the floors. Cause they were comin’ out! I could spray right over them and it wouldn’t matter one bit! WHOO!

And then Beckie told me about this awesomesauce plastic stuff for the walls:

The bottom part is painter’s tape. You just tape it along the surface, and then the plastic opens up and sticks to the wall all by itself.

It was not cheap -- $8 for the roll. But it was the best eight buckaroos I’ve spent in a long time.

It worked like a charm!:

Then it was time to bust out the sprayer. My Dad got me one for my birthday, at least a year ago – if not two. I just used it for the first time two months ago.

I kept putting it off cause I was sceered. Not sure why, cause it is SO easy to use, and it works GREAT! Mine is the Wagner Paint Sprayer:

You can see it on Amazon here. The reviews are mixed, but I LOVE IT. There’s a few tricks I’ve learned as I’ve used it, and I’m doing a post about it shortly. So far I’m very happy with it!

Even though I use primed mdf, I still start with a primer when painting it. I used that in the sprayer, and I couldn’t believe the difference after just that coat!:

When I did a wall by hand a few weeks ago, I did one coat of primer and two of white. It still looked like it needed another coat. It was driving me MAD.

But when I used the sprayer, I did one coat of primer, and one coat of white – that’s IT.

(I use semi-gloss or high gloss white on all of my moldings.)

It was so, so, SO much easier and quicker than brushing it on! THANK YOU BECKIE!! ;)

I am so in love with the crisp white against the walls!:

It’s exactly how I envisioned it 18 months ago all that time ago when I started this room redo!

I’m such a sucker for contrast – I could eat it up with a spoon. I can’t get enough of it:

It feels so good to finally have this done. And now I never have an excuse again to paint the board and batten. Which means you’ll probably see it in every. single. room. :)

I realized after the fact that taping off the floor wouldn’t have been a big deal – next time I’ll just get another roll of that plastic and use it along the floors. I did the whole room and used it on the windows and doorway and still have a ton left.

Now you know why I’m giddy – how fantastic are the floors going to look up against all this white??:

Even MORE contrast! Be still my heart.

Here’s an idea of the difference the white paint makes:

  

It took all this time, and it was so easy to get done. I should listen to my bloggy friends more often. ;)

And this room WILL be done this month. I don’t care what it takes – it will be done. It’s soooo close already…just a few or 15 things I still need to do. ;)

Now, I’m off to bed because I need to be up at the bum-crack of dawn to start moving stuff to the basement. The contractor we’re using covers all of the moving of the furniture, but there are a few delicate items I want to get out of the way myself. :)

I will give you some updates on the progress soon! I hope to post on why we picked this installation method and how we decided on all the other details – stain, width, etc. – this week. It was a lot to figure out so hopefully it will help some of you too!

Wish me luck! ;)

P.S. I always get asked about that drum light, and you can see the how-to for that here!

When DIY Goes Oh-So-Wrong

This is the story of a fun, free DIY project gone very, very wrong.

Fun…snort. Free? Whatever.

It has a happy ending, thankfully.

It was ALL my fault, and there may have been a few tears because of that. :)

It started with my love of black interior doors. I’ve been smitten with them for years now, but I’ve always been just a teensy scared to get out the paint brush.

But then I noticed a trend in some of my pictures on Pinterest:

(Tommy Smythe’s amazing kitchen.)

And this one:

THIS one!:

OK, those aren’t doors, but whatever, they’re gorgeous.

I thought the atrium/french doors were particularly striking in black. And then I thought…HUH. I have one of those!:

Why don’t I try it?!

DISASTER WILL STRIKE, SARAH! THAT IS WHY!

Gah. Learn from my mistake people.

I figured it would be super easy (YEAH!) – would just take the plastic grid off and spray paint it, then paint the door. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about taping and cutting in and all that jazz.

I took the grid off the door:

I couldn’t get the little jobbies that cover the screws out, so I used a drill bit and screwed it into them to pull them out:

It worked great!

They were ruined, obviously, but I figured a few bucks for new ones wouldn’t be a biggie since this was going to be a FREE project.

Ha.

I noticed a couple things when I took the grid off – one was that some water had had seeped in through the door at the bottom somehow:

I made a mental note to use some silicone to seal it up real well when I put the grid back on.

Then I noticed that the window was a little loose. I realized that the screws that went into the interior plastic grid held the whole thing together.

But there was a bead of silicone or glue that was used when it was installed, so it was still fairly secure.

Huh, thought me. I should be a little gentle while painting this.

You see where this is going.

I went out to the garage for just a few minutes to spray prime the plastic grid.

I came back in to this:

Did you catch that?

Here you go:

That would the glass in a meeeeellion peices. A hole in our door. A hole in our HOUSE people.

I think I was in shock. I didn’t hear it happen. I had no idea.

In the few minutes I was out in the garage, the wind had picked up just a bit. A storm that was supposed to go over us was heading our way.

FANTASTIC. Awesomesauce!!!

Massive storm coming, and I have a HOLE IN MY HOUSE.

Think Sarah…THINK!!!

I grabbed some trash bags and some duct tape to start covering the hole:

Just in time for it to start POURING.

I called a few hardware stores, thinking I could just go pick up a replacement window. Easy, right?

Nope. NO ONE carries them. They are special order. A week at the very least.

Did I mention it’s pouring?

Or that our power went out about ten times while I was on the phone with the hardware stores?

I was laughing hysterically, just so I wouldn’t cry.

Did I mention hubby wasn’t home?

I decided I would just have to buy a new door. So I texted hubby and while trying not to freak him out, told him WE HAVE A HOLE IN OUR HOUSE, (and a picture of it) so come home, like now.

Or something.

My precious husband, the most patient man I know, the man I love with all my heart, just said “Coming home now. Don’t worry honey, as long as you’re OK, it’s no big deal.”

Did his miss the HOLE part?

No, he is just that good. :)

I needed him to come home cause I wasn’t going to leave the house with plastic covering the door. Hello – come on in crazies!!!

But when I called to get pricing, I realized something. You can’t buy just a steel door – they come in the actual framing. That is a huge DIY project. It would mean taking our whole frame out, replacing it, then reinstalling the door.

That’s when I started to panic a little. :)

Thankfully we have a small overhang over our door, so it wasn’t getting super wet. We were able to tape up some lawn trash bags on the outside. It was pretty airtight.

But I wouldn’t call it secure. And that’s when I started to get really upset. I felt like I had put us in harm’s way with a silly project. I was SO mad at myself.

A friend suggested using plywood to cover the door, so at 10 p.m., we started screwing in the boards from the inside:

It made us feel a lot better – even if it wasn’t the most secure job ever.

Notice the extra boards leaned up against the door, to keep out the crazies.

:)

We don’t have a plethora of crazies around here, but you dream up quite a bit of them when there’s a gaping hole in your house.

Long story short – we called no less than 20 businesses, and not ONE carried the insert. I thought it was nuts – we were going to have to wait a week for the order to come in, when it would take five minutes to install a new one if we could just find it!

I was on my way to Menard’s to order the insert yesterday when I got a call back from a place I had left a message with Saturday night. No, they didn’t have it, but she gave me a number for a lumber supply company that might.

I thought there was no way a lumber company would carry it, but I called anyway. And they HAD IT. With delivery, it was half what we would have paid at Menards.

All in all it was a $90 mistake, for the insert, delivery and plywood.

Because I had already primed the door, I had to finish the job.

And I love, love, LOVE it:

It is SO sharp looking! Oh my, why did it take me so long to do this?

Don’t answer that.

And dare I say it – the shiny brass looks pretty darn fantastic against the black!

Was it worth it? Now I think so, but when all I could think about were crazy people, it so was NOT. :)

I love the transformation, though – and it would be free if you weren’t a total GOOF like me.

Live and learn, right?

Here’s the bay window before:

The door just kind of disappeared.

And now it POPS!:

I like how it kind of balances the black pantry door too. I absolutely love it!

I BETTER.

Had any major DIY catastrophes at your place? Please share. Make me feel better. :)

**Double thump to the chest to Marty at Hall and House in Westfield, Indiana! Thanks for your help!!

Office update and the plan

Well hello! I’m back with another update on my office redo. I’ve mentioned before that I had only one goal in mind when redecorating this space – making it BRIGHT.

And whooowee, it’s working! :) I’m SO thrilled with the direction it’s going.

Last time I updated, I showed you the difference a coat of primer and a couple coats of white did to the space:

OH my. Night and day. Get it? Dark room = night. Light room = day. Har.

Anyway, next up was to paint the ceiling and the upper third section of the walls. After visiting the paint section at True Value, I found what I just what I was looking for. It took a while though:

Yowza – HUGE selection.

I used my inspiration fabric and found two colors that matched perfectly! The first was the ceiling:

I have to tell you – I hadn’t used Dutch Boy paints till I started this redo. But I am in love. I am SO impressed with how well it covers.

The kind I got had a primer in it, but I still thought I’d have to use two coats. I had only used one coat of white primer over the (red) ceiling, (yes, red), and didn’t think there was any way one coat of blue would completely cover the red/primer:

(YES. The ceiling was red.)

But it covered in in one coat, easy peasy. I painted it at night, (hence the bad night picture) and was sure when daylight came I’d have to do another coat.

NOPE! Love love LOVE!

I chose a beautiful light blue called Purify. Here’s the formula if you’d like to try it out:

(By the way, remember to always use a flat paint on your ceiling!)

I gotta give more props to “my” True Value – every time I get a paint mixed there, they keep record of it under my name. No more looking through the blog to figure out what the color of my walls are!  ;)

Then it was onto the upper part of the walls. I picked a sand color that matched the brown in the fabric exactly. Again, I started painting at night, and right away I knew it was way too dark:

It was a true sand color. I mean, like the beach was on my walls, sand. I stopped at one wall that night so I could see it the next morning. But when I saw it in the light, I was still sure it was too dark.

We had the Bub’s birthday party a couple of days later, and I was completely outvoted – everyone loved the darker tone. :) I tried living with it, but it just wasn’t what I was going for.

A friend suggested maybe I should try the color of our family room:

It’s called Sisal and I big fat puffy fluffy heart love it. It’s my favorite neutral. So I had it color matched, but lightened 25 percent.

Helloooo! It was perfect!

It’s hard to tell in this picture, but the new, lighter color is on the left, the darker version is on the right:

I know the colors don’t look that different in the picture, but trust me. Or it could be just me – very possible. :)

Here it is against the lovely blue ceiling:

Sigh. It’s so PRETTY. (Don’t worry, crown molding will cover that red.)

I love the colors with my DIY pendant light:

Giddy. :) :)

So, here’s the low down on the changes to come in this space…as you’ve seen, I moved my farmhouse desk to this side of the room:

Before it was squished into the other corner. I love this set up -- I can be on the computer or working and still see what’s going on in the family room and kitchen.

This is the plan for the bottom two thirds of the wall:

(source)

Be still. my heart. :)

The window corner will get the following:

I’ve tried moving my rattan chair over there, but then I can’t get to the windows to open the shades and let the light in. :) So my dream plan would be to build a set of window seats in that spot.

Not sure how that’s gonna happen.

Dad? Hello?? ;)

Of course, the windows will get treated with this beautiful fabric:

I can’t remember if I got enough of the stripe or the paisley for the windows. It will be a surprise for all of us. :) (By the way, I got the fabric at Joann’s.)

My Pier 1 chair sits where the desk used to sit:

When I bought that chair years and years ago, I wanted the ottoman but didn’t have the money. Guess what I found a year ago at Goodwill? Awww yeah – the matching ottoman! For $10!

Once I get those cushions covered, I think that rattan texture will be perfect in the space.

Finally, the Bub’s old dresser now serves as storage:

And now that it’s up against the white, I know I want some contrast. Just not sure what color it will be.

I did find a gorgeous, stunning dresser on Craigslist, but it’s much wider. If I get it, the chair would have to move to the window corner. It’s a sacrifice I may just have to make, cause it is GORGEOUS. Ack!

That is, if it’s not sold already. Crossing fingers and toes! For now I’m planning on not having it, just in case.

So that’s the plan for the rest of this redo! I put off the painting for eight months, and now I know why. :) It took one coat of primer on four walls and the ceiling, two coats white, and a coat on the ceiling and upper walls. Yikes. That’s a lot for me, who usually does one coat and done. :)

But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a trillion times – paint absolutely transforms a room! The before:

And now:

Fear not color lovers – there’s plenty coming. I plan on adding punches in the art -- I’m so stinking excited about that part! And I’m thinking about one more accent color…haven’t decided on that yet.

And I am SO looking forward to having such a serene space!

I need it. This is what I look at as I type tonight:

Ummm. Wow. Just…wow.

(Think we have enough remote controls??)

A Christmas/toy store/trash bin BOMB went off in my family room. Actually, my whole house. Glad I’m done painting the office – I’ve got plenty to do. ;)

 

*I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.*

 

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