an easy and inexpensive front door makeover

After our big renovation awhile back, our front door and porch were a little stressed looking.

We've never really done anything to the front of our home. It just sat there sadly, looking all worn out and tired. We want to do some major landscaping at the front and build a new porch. I'd also love to do something with that angel brick. Maybe paint. Oh and the siding. I'd love to go dark.

So, until we can do more, I wanted to paint the front door.

Here is the before shot. 

Don't judge. It keeps the burglars away ;) (fingers crossed, knock on wood).


and tada! the after...


I still need to find a new exterior light fixture and I want to stain the porch a charcoal/black colour . But don't you think it looks SO MUCH BETTER!?

The initial plan was to paint the sidelights etc., Benjamin Moore's Wrought Iron and paint the door another shade of gray with a blue undertone --> Smokestack Gray.



I loved the Wrought Iron right away. I knew I would because we used it at the back of the house. Unfortunately, the gray came out more blue and just didn't work for our house. I think if it was darker it might have provided a nice contrast. So a little exterior paint lesson for you is to go darker than you think you need. I've heard as much as 50% darker. 

This is what the door looked like with the Smokestack Gray.


We played around with mixing some of the Wrought Iron in the Smokestack to try to get a darker shade but in the end I didn't like it on my door. 

Lesson learned. Test! (I was in a hurry) and go darker than you think you need because outdoor light will inevitably visually lighten it.

Debra

1 comment

  1. The transformation of the door looks great. The lighter grey color opposed to the black is less harsh and is more inviting. Painting can be challenging because you do not want it to look splotchy. This takes practice for sure. I am not the best painter myself. I do not have the most patience in the world.

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