I have thought about painting the interior side of our front door for a very long time. There was some mental dialog that kept me from doing it. I don’t love the design of our front door. Ideally I would like to change it and install a pricy beautiful door. There are a couple reasons why that isn’t going to happen. All our interior doors are white but a different design that is farm house modern that I absolutely love. They are doors I pick out at the design center. When you settle on the home elevation they have a full design set up for what you pick including the front door. There was no option to change out the door. It is a definite give and take. It is mostly deciding what you like the most and live with the rest.
The deciding picture
I love so many elements about my entry. The shiplap ceiling, the crown molding, the barn doors and chandelier are just dreamy. I don’t remember why I was taking this picture but after seeing the front door I thought, ‘why haven’t I painted this door yet’. Painting the door black was something I had thought about for a long time. I think I was worried about the end result.
After seeing this pic I was all in. I pulled out my Benjamin Moore paint fan that I’ve had for years. I highly recommend purchasing one. They aren’t expensive and are nice to have around. There are a few of them available. I am drawn to the Historical Collection colors so that is the fan I purchased. There weren’t any blacks in the Historical Collection so I had to look in a different section. After deciding on a color I was off to Home Depot to pick up the paint.
Did I make a mistake
I started by taping off the hinges and door handle. Side note. I would love a different handle as well but right now I’m working with what I have. I used a brush to paint the interior bevels of the door and the edge by the hinges and bottom. My preference would be to use a roller so I didn’t have paint brush strokes but that just isn’t possible unless we pulled the door down and used a sprayer.
After I got started the door looked worse and made me question my decision. For a few minutes I was thinking ‘I messed this up, this looks terrible’. Then I gathered myself and knew I needed to settle down and keep going. This is how the door looked after I got all the paint brush work done. It actually reminded me of my grandparents house. I can’t remember if their front door looked like this or if it was a house in the neighborhood.
I then got going with the roller. This was a quick project. It didn’t take too long to brush the bevels and the rolling was really fast.
One concern I had about painting this door was the faux wood grain that came through the door. I wasn’t sure how this faux wood would look painted black. The wood grain that showed through the white paint was something I disliked about the door. Here it is after the first coat of paint. Still looking like a bad idea. Thankfully I was able to hold it together and knew it was only going to look better.
Another coat of paint
After the first coat of paint was good and dry I was anxious too add a second coat. I love the effects of paint. It is such a budget conscious element that can make an amazing change to a space. Its nice that the second coat of paint goes on easier and always looks better then the first. Because I was painting this white door black I decided to give it a light third coat. That final coat was super simple to do and wow what an amazing change.
It looks so good. After seeing it I didn’t mind the faux wood grain being visible with the black door. I was 90% sure that the faux wood grain would still be visible which was part of my apprehension. The door was painted while slightly open because I wanted to paint the white inner edges which would be visible when the door was opened. The outside of our door is a very dark brown that I don’t love but will be staying as is for now.
Finished look
I am so happy with the way it looks. It went from a boring white door that didn’t do much in the space to a stunning accent to an already stunning space. I absolutely love the way it looks.
My favorite thing about a painting project is how quick and inexpensive you can make a small change to the space. For under $30 I was able to make an incredible improvement to our entry.
It is easy to do and makes such a statement. For the first week or so when I would walk past our entry the front door stood out and was extremely noticeable. Now a few weeks in when I walk by sometimes I notice it and admire its beauty and am so glad I took the plunge and painted the door. Other times it doesn’t even register that I painted the door and is now just beautiful piece in my entry.
The overall cost was under $30. I had a good quality bush and roller so I didn’t need to purchase supplies to paint the get this project finished.
If you have a space that needs a little refresh but you don’t have a large budget I’m a big advocate of paint. Whether it is a door, trim or adding a feature wall. They are all projects that make and create so much charm without costing a lot. If a room is dirty and dingy a fresh coat of paint will change the space. I am not afraid of color but I also love black and white for a classic clean feel. Don’t be afraid to do something different. If the result isn’t what you wanted you can fix it easily with another coat of paint.
