The Front Door

The second part of the painting project involved the front door. Here is a pic of what it used to look like.

In it's day it was a beautiful, oak door. Actually, it still is on the inside. But years of weather exposure has done a job on the outside. It was faded and rough and even slightly cracked in a few small places  I even used a picture of it in the Weathered and Worn Brenda Photo Challenge a few years ago! Plus the handle that used to be brass was tarnished and ugly!

My first intention was to sand it and stain it back to it's original color. That would have looked nice enough. But after thinking on it for a while, like a couple of years, I decided that our house needed some color. So painting the door was the best option. The color, called Merlot, was a easy decision because I have seen several houses with this color door and always loved it. Beautiful and rich looking without being too bright.

I also wanted to keep the original door knob. It still worked well and I didn't see any reason to replace it. So I decided to take it off and spray paint it.

That's where we ran into a little problem, like the darn thing wouldn't come off the door! We, and by we I mean Rich, unscrewed a bunch of screws and removed most of the inside, but the actual lock part, where the key goes in absolutely would not come apart! We didn't want to force it  and risk breaking it so it was either leave it the ugly brass that it was, or spray paint it on the door! So I taped it up really good and carefully spray painted it. That was nerve wracking!

I used Rustoleum primer and metallic silver spray paint.

I also removed and painted the door knocker and the little peep hole!

Then put two coats of paint on the door. I used Behr Exterior Paint and Primer In One on both of the doors. I love Behr paint.

It took me all day on Tuesday with the painting and drying between coats, but the end result was worth it. We love it! That was just what the front of the house needed.

So I got everything accomplished on my days off that I wanted to and actually was glad to go back to work and rest!!

Oh, and I'm thinking that mailbox could use a spray of paint too!!

See you Saturday for the Brenda Photo Challenge!