I thought this submission was timely considering the post I wrote about curb appeal just a few days ago!
Saturday morning, I woke up and decided to paint the front door. I kinda envisioned getting it painted that day, but deciding on a color took an entire day. I have been pinning yellow doors like crazy lately because I think they look so cheerful, but once I got the swatches up, I just wasn’t feeling it. And then I told Chris, “I know that I want green.” The top one on the right is called Lemongrass by Behr and I thought it looked great with the gray brick, but I started worrying that it would be lost with all of our green shrubs. So, I declared once more that I definitely wanted a red door. Specifically the red right underLemongrass, Bijou Red. Red is classic. Red definitely doesn’t blend in, and if you didn’t know it–I am a total sucker for red.
Earlier this week, you learned that we bought a new door and Monday night I got to work. I thought I would be done by the time the Bachelorette was over–wrong.
After two coats, it looked like this, and I settled in for the long haul. The long haul being 11 coats of high gloss paint in Bijou Red. And although I got frustrated and shed a few tears along the way, I honestly couldn’t be happier with the results. Let’s check out some befores and afters:
What a difference, right? Gah! We love it. And an added bonus that we didn’t even think about was the extra light we gained indoors:
So my advice to anyone with a white/boring/dull front door–why not paint it? If you are going to use high gloss paint, leave 90 minutes in between coats at least. If you are itching for a red front door (how could you not?) plan on lots of coats–but also count on a big pay off. Speaking of pay, this whole project definitely cost more than we anticipated because we bought a new front door, but here’s the rundown just in case you are planning on tackling your own door soon: Front door: $197 1 quart of high gloss exterior Behr paint in Bijou Red: $12 4 new house numbers: $5.99 each (these first three items I had a 10% off coupon for–score!) New doormat: $6.97 Grand total: $200.47 (plus tax) …and worth every penny in my opinion. What do YOU think?
Check out these posts for more exterior update ideas:
Cassity Kmetzsch started Remodelaholic after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Interior Design. Remodelaholic is the place to share her love for knocking out walls, and building everything back up again to not only add function but beauty to her home. Together with her husband Justin, they have remodeled 6 homes and are working on a seventh. She is a mother of four amazing girls. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.
