We’re back as promised with the whole front door shebang.
First, here’s what we started with:
Yup, it was an old maroon storm door with three issues: 1) the grids didn’t match up with the six paneled door behind it, 2) it was always jamming, and 3) it didn’t latch closed very well, so it would bang open in a storm.
It was nothing but a nuisance to us, so we opted to go storm-doorless (just like we chose to do in our first house) since we didn’t use it once in eight whole months (we have a screen/storm door on the side of the house that we occasionally use along with screen doors in the living room and sunroom that we use a lot more often). It’s definitely not a choice that everyone would make, but we’re psyched to go storm-door-less so we can appreciate our awesome six-paneled solid wood door that was hiding behind it:
So off came all the hardware that held our slammy-jammy storm door in place. Then all we needed to do was spackle those holes and use some exterior paint to touch up the trim (thank goodness the previous owners left that in the basement for us).
Oh but before we did any spackling we got to the fun part: picking the paint color. We held up a ton of options in all colors of the rainbow (plum, turquoise, navy, lime green, and beyond), but kept coming back to a happy yellow color. Here are the final four contenders (they look pretty similar in this pic but they varied slightly by how much white or orange they had in them). After looking at them in all types of light (morning sun, afternoon shade, artificial porch light at night, etc) we ended up choosing the top one: Full Sun EB1-1 by Valspar’s Eddie Bauer Home collection.
But removing the screen door and spackling & painting the trim wasn’t the only prep task we took on. We also decided that our awesome original door knocker (which was rusting and peeling) could use some love.
So we carefully removed it with the hope of bringing it back to its former glory and reinstalling it on our bright yellow door when we were finished painting.
Then we sanded the paint around those areas, just to get everything nice and smooth.
We also opted to remove the rusting brass plate on the bottom of the door and spackle and sand those holes. We didn’t have one in our first house and prefer the uninterrupted look of one big boldly colored wood door (but it’s definitely another one of those personal preference things like nixing a storm door). Oh and we also took off our door handle and lock too – since we had hopes of sprucing them up while they were removed like the door knocker.
And now for a shot of sunshine in a can:
We mentioned that we chose Full Sun EB1-1 by Valspar’s Eddie Bauer Home collection as “the one.” So we talked to the paint pro at Lowe’s about what exterior primer + paint she would recommend (sadly none of which are no-VOC yet). She recommended Valspar’s Duramax since it has a built-in primer and is formulated to be extra durable since it’s exposed to the elements outside. So we had her color match our Full Sun paint chip to the Valspar Duramax stuff and grabbed a quart of it in semi-gloss finish for around $15.
Oh but before we applied a single coat we used a liquid deglosser (Next Liquid Deglosser by Crown since it’s non-flammable, biodegradable, and low-VOC) to remove any oil, grease, or other paint-adhesion-saboteurs (I’ve never typed that word, and I have to admit I liked it). Basically it’s a shortcut when you don’t feel like sanding something you’re about to paint (albeit not as thorough, but usually good enough to get ‘er done). You do definitely want to sand any areas that aren’t smooth before deglossing though (like the nail holes from the brass plate and other places we removed hardware or spackled) since liquid deglossers don’t smooth things, they just remove residue that might mess with paint adhesion.
Then it was time for coat one of our yellow primer + paint, applied with a small foam roller (to cut down on brush strokes) and a 2″ angled brush (to get into the frames of the six paneled door). Of course one coat didn’t do the trick, but for yellow paint going over deep maroon it was actually a pretty impressive showing for just one thin coat:
And four thin and even coats later (yes, there I go with the “thin and even” thing again), honey was looking miiiighty fine:
As in, I couldn’t stop staring at her and smiling. So glad we chose such a happy color to wake up our drab brick and cream wood-sidinged exterior. And it looks just as cute from the inside as it does from the outside:
Mmm, glossy yellowy goodness. It came out really smoothly, partially I think due to using good exterior paint, and partially due to those thin and even coats that were carefully applied with a small foam roller and high quality 2″ angled brush. Not globbing it on (and waiting for each coat to dry before moving onto the next paper thin one) is the key to no visible brush strokes when things dry.
Oh yeah, and you might notice the hardware is all sorts of spruced up. We’ll be back with a dedicated hardware-upgrade post full of photos and instructions when it comes to that part of the process (there are too many pics and not enough time to squeeze that in here).
In the meantime, here’s the door from outside (I couldn’t completely close it for pics because it was still drying – but if you paint something in the morning, by evening it should be all cured up and ready to close).
Isn’t our porch happier without the old broken maroon screen door + dark hidden front door combo?
Shucks, it just makes me giddy. And John loves it too. Oh happy day.
So there it is. A front door makeover that involved:
- checking out swatches taped on the door at all times of day (to ensure nothing would change from something we love in morning sunlight to something we hate in evening porch light)
- removing the screen door and spackling/sanding/painting those holes left in the door surround
- removing the hardware and sanding those areas to smooth them before painting
- permanently removing a rusted brass plate at the bottom of the door and spackling/sanding those holes
- thoroughly deglossing the entire door
- refurbishing the hardware (we’ll be back with all those details for ya soon)
- applying four thin and even coats of exterior primer + paint in semi-gloss for a nice shiny finish
- reattaching the hardware when the paint was dry enough (but not completely closing the door until evening, so it can fully cure)
Woot. Love it. As for the budget breakdown, whoop, here it is: one quart of Valspar Duramax paint in semi-gloss from Lowe’s: $15. Das it. Oh and if someone didn’t have spackle and a deglosser on hand those might be around $4 each on top of the cost of a quart of paint. We still have tons of paint leftover bee tee dubs, so a quart for a front door should definitely do it – even if you’re painting both sides of it (we left the back of ours white like our interior doors).
Have any of you recently painted your front door? Any plans to if you haven’t? Is it crazy that this is the fourth time I’ve painted a door in five years (and the second time I’ve gone with a happy yellow color)? It’s just so dang cheerful. Here’s hoping it spurs us on when it comes to about a million other exterior upgrades that we want slash need to tackle (including the possibility of painting the cream siding around the door, and even trying something with the brick exterior down the line). I guess time will tell where we’ll end up with that stuff. But you know we’ll keep you posted…
Update: There were a bunch of requests for some wider shots from the curb, so here they are. Remember that nearly everything else in the pics besides the yellow door might be on our change-that list down the line (so it’s all a work in progress)…
… especially the big barricade o’ bushes that makes the door nearly invisible from certain angles…
Wouldn’t the power to move bushes with the point of a finger be an awesome superpower? Methinks I’d pick that over flying and reading minds.
Barbara says
I’ve never thought about yellow, but it looks fantastic! So cheerful! I’ve always wanted to paint my porch ceiling blue, and think that a cheerful yellow door would look so fun with it! One day :-) Nice work!
Jennifer (iffles) says
Oh my gosh, I LOVE it! You’re making me want to paint my door yellow, even though it totally wouldn’t match the exterior paint color of my house! …then again, I still haven’t figured out what color DOES go with a khaki-green-ish house…
Nat says
I love that color. Awesome job. I was dreaming about painting the front door of my new house (which I just bought today;) bright happy yellow!
Georgia says
I really like the yellow door. You selected a very happy shade!
I have refinished quite a few doors in my life (66 just in the current house we are living in). I ALWAYS take them off the hinges and lay them down on saw horses. That way I can sand and fill holes and make them perfect before the paint, varnish or other finish goes on. That way you don’t have to tape hinges and there is less chance of drips that run, etc. I just have found it the best way to do it. My husband and my Dad did it that way, but my brothers disagree and apparently you do too. Have you tried it both ways and prefer painting a hanging door? Just wondering if I’ve been doing it wrong all these years…
YoungHouseLove says
I definitely think it’s a personal preference thing. I like that the door is movable so I can swing it (by touching the unpainted back) to access the sides, and I can almost completely close it between coats so bugs don’t fly in.
xo,
s
Brenda says
That looks amazing!
leatitia says
Love it, it looks amazing! :)
Raelynn says
Shut the front door….
The color is awesome. I love that you two are not scared of a color like this to make such a great statement. If I came up to your front door (not selling, maybe offering apple pie) I’d be so curious as to what the rest of your home looks like!
Another great project! Love it!
Sarah K says
Looks great!
Angela says
Yay!! Love the new header!! So fresh and bright.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! Is it weird I keep picking up my laptop when I should be watching Jeff Lewis to stare at it?
xo,
s
Karen says
Lovely!
I plan on repainting my red door a dark purple. Unfortunately, the door jamb was also poorly painted red, too. Whomever painted the place managed to always get paint on the brick throughout the house.
I think I’d still pick flying over bush-moving finger power :)
Lexi says
Love the color.
I must ask, though: What is UP with “bee tee dubs”??? Is it a reality-TV reference that I’m not getting?
I mean, “bee tee dubs” is not only longer than “btw,” it’s longer than “by the way.” I don’t understand expanding an abbreviation to something that is itself longer than the thing that was originally abbreviated. Sorry, I realize I’m being totally pedantic. Just had to get this off my chest. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Just a weird thing I say. Like awesometown instead of awesome or woo to the hoo instead of woohoo. Of all things, I’m definitely not known for my brevity. Haha.
xo,
s
Heather F. says
I actually love it. It cracks me up everytime I read it! :)
Brianne Franklin says
The $herDog is what cracks me up.
Julie says
Love it! Can’t wait to hear about the hardware.
Annie@stronghealthyfit says
Love, love, love this! I think it looks fabulous and you guys are awesome for being so bold with a front door color :-)
Marie says
wI love the yellow door! Cheery sunshiny yellow…what a difference and so easy!
Katie says
LOVE the front door makeover! I just recently made over my coffee table with a similar bright yellow color and I love it! It makes all the difference in my living room :) I attached the web address to my blog, scroll down to check out pics!
Happy decorating!
Katie
Blog address: http://www.faithgracelove.tumblr.com
YoungHouseLove says
So cute and sunny!
xo,
s
Hilary says
The hardware rocks! I love the new banner. Awesome!
coley says
I. THINK. THIS. WAS. YELLOW. DOOR. FATE.
We just bought our first house (yay!) and it has a boring, white door. I told the hubs that it must be painted yellow asap. I <3 yellow doors.
I've totally been googling for inspiration. Then, I come to check out what's going on with you guys and…BAM…I'm greeted with a big dose o' sunshine =)
LOOKS FANTASTIC!!!
Quick question (I've got a bit of a dilemma). Our door has those two long windows on either side of it…would you paint those yellow, too or leave them white?
Thanks, and carry on ;)
YoungHouseLove says
I think I’d leave those the trim color so the door’s the star. Have fun!
xo,
s
ashley says
Oh I am so excited you chose yellow! I actually have had the 3rd picture in your previous entry pinned on my Pinterest for a while as that is exactly what I want to do with our door. What a relief to know it’s so easy (and adorable)!
Robin O says
Thank you for adding those wider shots. I was going to request that too. Definitely gives a MUCH better perspective. Love the new yellow!
Paige says
It must be Yellow Week in blogland. I’ve been seeing it all over the place (not that I mind). The door looks great! It’s much easier to see now, since the maroon just blended in.
Thresha says
I absolutely love the yellow door!! It looks amazing! :)
Lux says
I love the yellow door! The style of our house makes it more difficult to do something fun like that I feel like, though I could be wrong. We have a white stucco mediterranean with orange spanish tile roof and brown trim. I was thinking of doing a lake green door maybe. I’ve also been trying to convince my husband to paint our house pink, but that’s not going to happen.
Faye says
Congratulations on your smoothly finished happy yellow door! I am just finishing painting my front door blue to go with a pale yellow with white trim living room and exterior. My door has 8 panels plus a little window with spindles and took longer to paint than my entire living room. Yours looks much smoother than mine. I think all your door experience really paid off.
Rhiannon says
It’s beautiful! Sigh!
freefalling says
Wolf whistle!
That is one SEXY door!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha. Wolf whistle = hilarious.
xo,
s
Gina says
Totally off topic but Sherry- have you been doing some modeling? This looks just like you!
http://www.acuvue.com/products-acuvue-2-colours.htm?flowid=1&rc=PCG017&skinid=s101&promoid=ps
(its in the popup)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- nope. Not me! But I see the resemblance. I think I have one of those faces that’s so generic it looks like a lot of people.
xo,
s
OwningSingle says
Great job. Painting my front door is on my in the future to do list.
Miranda Williams says
Love, love love the door! It looks great in a bright cheery yellow! We are doing our baby girl’s nursery in yellow/gray & touches of aqua blue and this yellow door is making me very excited to see our yellow/gray combo. :)
Gianna says
Well I may be the only person who disagrees but I don’t like the yellow. I’ve always loved pops of yellow in my wardrobe or when decorating,however it just doesn’t work for me here. Although, you do have a master plan that I am sure will turn out lovely
Sherry from BC says
I am actually going to paint 2 new basement doors that I just had put on. They are only factory primed & I didn’t get them painted before installation due to being busy. I think I will take of the knobs & locks like you did to make it easier. I am just opting to go for black as they are not too visible, side and under porch doors and I want them to fad away rather than stand out.
Amanda says
I LOOOOOVE the door. Pinning it now. :) I love that you didn’t take it off the hinges, and I love your new header. :)
Yellow is one of my favourite colours, that doors is sure going to make you smile in the winter!
Beth says
Your new door is BE-YOU-TI-FUL! I’ve never painted a door, but my HOA recently sent some hack to repaint everyone’s doors. I could see every brush stroke and in several places it looks two different colors. I complained. They sent the same guy out again but it didn’t get any better.
Kim says
It looks awesome! Great job! Off topic question – how do you guys keep your grass looking so weed-free without using herbicides? We are having serious issues with Crabgrass and Creeping Charlie…
YoungHouseLove says
I think we just inherited grass that was weed-free with herbacides, but for the past 8 months we haven’t been using them and so far the “detox” has resulted in some yellow patches but not many weeds. Who knows if they’ll creep in this fall or next spring though. Our method is just to weed by hand (since we don’t like using any chemicals with the baby and the dog around).
xo,
s
Ambica Srimal says
I love yellow. It’s so fab to make dreary feel better. I would love to do this at my place but I live in an apartment and a rental that too… don’t think the owner would appreciate that. loved your old house. loving what you are doing here too.
Gwenalyn says
Oh, I love the yellow door! Ours is a forest green color (as are the shutters and carpet in the master bedroom… ew) and I want to change it so badly! This gives me the motivation to find a new color though, so thank you! :)
deeda says
Amazingly good job. It really looks well-done. I actually like the shots from the inside view best. I’m not convinced the yellow goes with the brick though … from a distance it almost looks a bit day glo.
Appreciate the inspiration.
Par says
Looks fab!! Will you be keeping the brick of the exterior as is or painting that as well down the road? Let us know and did i mention that this blog is fabulous? :)
YoungHouseLove says
We’re not sold on painting the brick since it goes from being no maintenance to high maintenance, but we have a few ideas when it comes to other tweaks to the exterior. Not sure where we’ll end up, but you know we’ll keep you posted!
xo,
s
sarah says
Hey Guys :)
I love the door color!!
What color are you thinking about painting the white siding to help make the yellow door pop out more?
WIDLove,
SP
YoungHouseLove says
But of course- it’s definitely on our down-the-road possibility list!
xo,
s
Cassie says
I would put the storm door back on just so I could see the beautiful pop of yellow all day. Great choice of colour!!
Misty says
Completely unrelated to the door (which is a great color), but just wanted to share this with you in case you hadn’t seen it already:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/79248976/richmond-va-city-map-art-print-choose
YoungHouseLove says
So cool! I love it!
xo,
s
Julie G says
Didn’t think I would like a yellow door but I love it! Some have asked you if you ORBed your hardware-what does that mean? Will it hold up? Can’t wait to read what you did to it. Looks brand new.
YoungHouseLove says
We’ll share all the hardware details within the next 24 hours for ya (too many pics and details to squeeze into this post)!
xo,
s
Reba says
Wow guys, it looks great! It really makes your house smile, especially against the white siding and the brick. We just painted our front door a bright red called Cut Ruby by Valspar, and we’re loving it!
kristin says
you’ve already updated your header in your blog. so lovely!
Mary says
Love ALL that you do to your wonderful homes! Can’t wait to see the hardware update. Just stripped wallpaper and painted two bathrooms. Hardware is brass (25 years old) and needs help! Contractor friends advise not to paint the hinges, but replace them. All bath fixtures are chrome…..which color to paint and what about the hinges. Noticed the ones on your front door resemble the condition of the ones in my baths. (Concerned about the “domino” effect” painting hardware could create for the rest of our home!) Need suggestions…..
YoungHouseLove says
We’ll be sharing all those details tomorrow for ya!
xo,
s
Brianne Franklin says
Gosh, I’ve commented 2x already on this post. (I NEVER comment on other blogs; seriously, love y’all.)
ANYWAY! Now that I see the curb shots. The white areas under the porch are BEGGING to be grey. I just know it. LOL.
This brought to you by the unsolicited opinion association. UOA, all day bay-bay.
;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- it’s all part of our down-the-line plan!
xo,
s
Tabitha says
I must admit I was a bit sceptical when you mentioned yellow. I kept coming back for an updated picture, and was happy this morning when I saw the new header pic! I LOVE THE YELLOW!
I’m actually painting my front door red in the coming weeks. I’ll have to get some paint swatches and decide what to buy :).
Diana says
Another idea, black house numbers in the middle horizon section to dress it up more.
Love the look and appreciate your paint advice!
YoungHouseLove says
That would definitely be fun to add!
xo,
s
laura says
Looks GREAT! I love the dark hardware against that bright yellow!!
Linda says
I noticed your outside light matches the one in your guest bath. I love it both places!
Heather says
I love the yellow door on your new banner! What a bright refreshing color. :) I wish I could paint my door a beautiful bright yellow but alas, HOA rules are against it. Oh well, I will just have to settle for big changes on the inside of my place where the rules don’t apply.