I am fortunate to have someone in my family who is super detail-oriented and who has, over the years, acquired a fair amount of painting skill. That person is my mother – who paints something in her house every year, I’m convinced. But her house looks lovely.
When I mentioned I wanted to paint my front door to my mom I started receiving all sorts of information and tips for how to do it in my email inbox, so I invited her to help. Because who wouldn’t want to come to a door painting party?
I was grateful for the help not only because there were several steps and a recommended painting pattern for a door I had never followed, but because I learned about creating straight lines and using thin coats for an even finish that I didn’t know before.
I’ll share how we did it. First, we wiped everything down with slightly damp paper towels. Who knew a door would hold so much dirt? I was surprised but I don’t know why. Clearly it is exposed to the elements.
Look at this beauty of a door. Yikes.
We next patched the uneven areas and let it dry. Luckily we did this project in very warm weather, so the dry time was a couple of hours. We next sanded to prepare an even surface. Following this we wiped everything down again to remove the dust from sanding.
Before we started priming we outlined our paint area with painter’s tape to try to create straight pain lines the previous owner, by all visual evidence, was not concerned about.
Priming for this job was an important step. Even though I had purchased exterior paint and primer in one, my mom thought the door was in bad enough shape that it needed a little extra TLC. While I just wanted to get the job done and skip the step, I’m glad we didn’t because, well, you’ll see why.
The heat of the September sun started setting in but we are warriors and went back out to start painting. This picture is at the half-way point for a side panel.
Looking better already, isn’t it?
I have shared the few tips I learned about painting doors (and surrounding areas like side panels) below:
- Paint the indented lines of the raised panel.
- Paint the horizontal spaces (here, at top, middle, and bottom).
- Paint the vertical spaces (on each side of the window and panel).
- Paint the raised panel.
- Repeat after allowing to dry thoroughly.
Once we got to the white trim, after the black paint had dried, I began to appreciate the value of the painter’s tape the create the clean lines. Without it, the final product would not have looked nearly as nice.
Below is the finished product. Much better. We’ll replace the old rubber gasket at the bottom of the door. Thanks, mom!
Not Tomorrow 