As teachers, we are lucky enough to have our summers off. Because of that, we spend ten months of the year adding to the “we’ll do it in the summer” list. For 2010, one of our goals was to update our front door with a new paint colour. This is the before shot:

Now, of course there was nothing actually wrong with it, but we found it a bit blah. We naively thought that we could just decide to paint it, and then forge ahead. Little did we know all of the questions we would be faced with:
  • What colour? Well, we knew we wanted black. True black, or a shade of black? (The lady at the paint store thought we would love the greenish black she used on her home, but I dug in my heels. I wanted black black.)
  • Do we paint the trim around the window panes? Do we paint the casings? I am embarrassed to say that we spent at least an hour Googling these questions and looking at various before and after photos in order to reach our decision: trim yes, casings no.
  • Do we keep the hardware? It’s a brassy metal, and I am much more into the stainless steel or brushed nickel look, but we weren’t going to get rid of a perfectly functional (and only seven year old)  set of hardware. Plus, there are gold-toned accents in the window panes, so silver tones wouldn’t really match anyway.
Here is the after…do you think we make the right decisions?
Thanks to my darling hubby for doing most of the legwork on this one (the trips to the paint store and the actual painting – one coat of grey primer and two coats of paint). I did do the washing and taping…and the childcare throughout the whole process, which is even harder when you are trying to keep a two year old away from her Daddy and the wet black paint!
One more thing crossed off the list. Next up: remulch the gardens!
by | 29 Comments

29 comments on “Front Door Makeover!”

  7. I've always said I wanted black doors and black window trim when we go to build. I love your black mulch. What color are you planning on going with? I think you should keep the black theme! The door looks great and a very modern look! PS-Thanks for adding my button to your page!

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  14. Love it! I smiled when I saw the post because I've been thinking about doing this since Christmas time. The problem is I also want to paint the pale green shutters black and replace the brown shingles with black. I can't do it all right now, but I'm afraid it will look terrible if I just start with one. Anyhow, I'm inspired to do it sometime.

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    Mama Hen

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  20. Kate, love your blog! Thanks for visiting mine!
    We're thinking of painting our front door yellow..currently it's brown. But, we bought a travel trailer instead and are putting all of our home renos on hold! LOVE the black! Great job! 😀 HAGD!
    [Lindsey]

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  21. I've been driving by daily and I love the black door, but had been questioning myself – was it always black and I'd never noticed? Glad to have the answer!

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  23. It looks awesome! I know what it is like trying to keep the children busy while your husband does some handy work! My husband put on an addition on our deck this summer and it was everything I could do to keep my kids distracted because they so wanted to go out and help!
    Love your new black door and I am so happy you can cross that job off of your summer list (I have the same summer list but mine never seems to get smaller! I bet you can relate!)
    Krista S.

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  25. I love your door. I am contemplating painting my door red but my husband would rather go for black. I was wondering which paint brand and sheen you used because it looks fantastic?
    Renee

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  26. Hey Renee – I dug up the can, but unfortunately there isn't a lot of detail on it. It's ICI Paints, semigloss, and just pure black (no fancy name like Midnight Ebony or anything!)

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  27. Wow! Contrasting colors are really attractive, especially in doors. You've done the best decision for the redo! I'm also amazed that you managed to paint the door neatly. I usually have lots of unwanted stains in the panes when I'm using a black pane. It's been three years now, and I hope you maintained the glamor of your front door. 🙂

    Kindra Ramage @ TheJonesBoys.com

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  29. Are you guys still sporting the same door? It might be a bit late, but I think it looks great, especially with the black door and door windows outlined by the white frames. And it adds a bit of color to your red brick/white paint exterior, so that’s good as well.

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