We were so lucky when we bought this house that the sellers had done a lot of the work to fix the place up. They painted almost every surface, and I mean EVERY surface..even door knobs in the bedrooms! I think they got a little carried away...They painted the front screen door but left the rest in terrible shape so it's been on my goal list to re-paint it all and replace the screen. The screen had a gaping hole and was rusty and nasty looking.
It's an old house built in 1909 and the screen door may not be original to the house or it may be but I wanted to try and save it. Mr. B thought we should just replace it but I was determined to at least try. And of course I've always wanted a red front door. Did you know a red door is supposed to bring luck? I honestly thought it would take some convincing to get Mr. B on board but it wasn't too hard..I just had to find a house that was the same color as ours and replace the front door with some color options I liked..And he thought red was it!! Well we took off for the nearest hardware store to get screen, paint and all the supplies I'd need for my 'easy' little project.
Getting the screen door materials was easy enough, I just needed to pick an aluminum screen that I liked. Of course it only came in a big roll but now I have some in case I need it. Then came the paint. I wanted a white for the screen door and I figured while I'm at it I should paint the ugly back door too so I got enough white for all that. I thought picking a red might take a bit but I knew as soon as I saw Martha Stewarts 'Barn Red' it was the one for us!
I'm not going to get into the screen door process (mostly because I was so excited I forgot to document it) but long story short I re-painted both sides white and had Mr. B help me replace the screen. We cut it to size, then stapled one end, and then using scrapers we pushed it into the grooves. I decided to leave the original hardware for now. I may replace it someday if I see something I like.
Left is the old Right is the new.
I also painted all the aluminum trim around the door as well.
For the door I got Glidden exterior paint and a fancy Wooster brush that was promised to not leave brush strokes. For the first step I washed the door down with soap and water and then I used a magic eraser sponge (those things are truly magic!!) to get all the scuffs off.
I should tell you that on Monday I tried the stupid brush and it took me 3 coats to try and achieve the rich red I wanted and that matched the chip card. Oh! And that fancy brush?? Left crazy brush strokes. So I called Sherwin Williams to ask their opinion and the guy said to save the paint I already had add Flocoat to it...and that I should prime the door...Whoops! I technically knew that but was told there was some primer in my paint. Not true! Glidden Duo is what I should've gotten. In my defense I went with what the "expert" at the big box store I went to told me to get. I went to Walmart Monday night and got a roller that was for super smooth application too.
Okay, clean door check! Next I taped off the hardware. Next door I do I will just take it all off. And I also left my door on its hinges because well..I'm short and its too hard to remove on my own!
My plan was to roll all the flat surfaces and then brush all the bevels. I found guide that said this is the order you should paint a door for ease and as little brush strokes as possible.
Plan failed!! The roller left little stucco marks (not super smooth like it promised) and of course the brush left stroke marks. BOO!!! So I ended up just rolling the whole darn thing.
Oh and did I mention that in this whole process my 8 month old baby was crawling around checking the process out..Like my baby "fence?" I couldn't close the door and of course the screen door was still off drying..
5, yes I said FIVE coats later I have a nice red door..It's not smooth but I rather like the look..at least it's growing on me ( I need to be honest with myself).
This is after the first three coats. The top two little squares are darker than the rest but it's above my eye level so I don't care!!
I figured while I was in the painting mood (I'm a little surprised I still was after all that I went through for my beautiful door) I wanted to paint a 'Welcome' sign on it. I know using vinyl is all the rage but I don't have a big cricut mat let alone a nice cursive font that I liked so painting it by hand it was! First I designed it in Word on my computer. I printed out three font styles I liked and then picked one. Next I rubbed the back with chalk. I then taped it to the door and traced it lightly. Now my paint was dry but still a little tacky and it being a latex paint I was afraid if I pushed too hard it would leave marks and then if I didn't like the look I'd still be stuck with it..Know what I mean??
I've been doing this a lot lately with pallet wood signs around my house so I'm getting pretty good at it and I like the hand painted look.
I then used my white paint and a little brush to paint it. After it dried I wiped it down to get all the extra chalk residue off and Ta-Da!!
Gosh you can really see the "texture" of the door in this picture...
I had fun doing this whole project and it really spruced up my front porch. But next time I say to Mr. B "Honey, lets paint that white door red.." Who am I kidding that's just never going to happen again!! The back door is going to be plain white!!
Next up a cute 4th of July craft with little C! Happy summer all!!
