How to paint your front door in 7 (mostly) easy steps

The unvarnished truth about painting your front door

Want the unvarnished truth about painting a front door? I’ll give you the inside scoop on the best way to complete the job and be happy with your results. Even if you’re not planning this project anytime soon, stick around. Hilarity ensues.

What do a mischievous dog, hordes of mosquitoes and trick-or-treaters have in common?

I had to deal with all of them in my two-day project to paint my previously stained and varnished front door.

This door had become an eyesore. I’d refinished it two and a half times in the 20

This was the sad state of my front door after 2 1/2 refinishing episodes and a couple of decades of Texas sun.

years we’ve lived in our home. The first time, it looked pretty good. The second time, the stain didn’t take so well around the new door handle. Then we had to replace that handle because the newish handle broke and I tried touching up the finish. When that started to fade and flake, I decided it was time to cover over past mistakes and neglect with paint.

Here’s what I learned in the process:

Cost

In Cash: $50

On the Clock: 7 hours over two days (includes some drying time between coats but not the six months spent trolling Pinterest for the perfect color that ended up being lighter and grayer than you expected)

What you’ll need:

– sand paper (100, 150 and 210 grit)

– soft cloth

– mineral spirits

– painter’s tape, if you have any glass (or couldn’t remove hardware)

– primer-sealer tinted gray if going to a dark color

– quart of paint is plenty

– 2 sponge brushes (one for primer, one for paint)

– angled 1-inch or 1.5 inch brush

– 2 small sponge rollers

– tools to take off door hardware

Other items that might come in handy:

– reading glasses to see allen wrench hole behind the handle

– patience to test a lot of allen wrenches before finding one that fits

– flash light and reading glasses and more patience to see the holes inside the deadbolt to line up impossibly long screws

– mosquito repellent for the hundreds of mosquitoes swarming on the porch and going into your house through the wide open door

– anti-itch ointment

– carpet spot remover

– time out location for disobedient dog who may or may not have tracked spots of gray primer on the carpet after eating queso from the kitchen table

Here was my process:

1. I spent a few months gathering color ideas and tips for painting doors. Several sites suggested taping paint chips to the door and leaving them there for a few days so you could see them in different light conditions while you made up your mind.
2. I decided to go blue because I thought it would look good with the pink brick and cream trim. At first I was going to go dark with Benjamin Moore Hale Navy. Then I chickened out and went a shade lighter with Newburyport Blue. The finished product looked like the next lighter chip, Van Deusen Blue.
3. I removed the handle and deadbolt.
4. I sanded with 150 grit sandpaper except for a few rough spots where I started with 100 grit, then 210 grit and wiped it down with a soft cloth dampened with mineral spirits.
5. I taped off the inset leaded glass windows with painter’s tape.
   

   I started with the insets and molding around the panels and windows.

6. I primed the door with two coats of gray-tinted Zinser, following the order suggested in this post from … Then I let the door dry over night.
7. I painted two coats of Newburyport Blue, allowing an hour in between coats, then touched up a few areas and let everything dry for four hours before re-attaching the handle and deadbolt (which took a REALLY long time and made me think I might have to resort to a bungee cord and broom).
8. (Optional) I greeted trick-or-treaters with my creative costume of frazzled painter, complete with splotches on my ratty jeans.

Here are the lessons I learned:

Lesson 1. Don’t leave unattended queso on the kitchen table while you sand the door. Your dog will put her paws on a chair and lap it like gravy.

Lesson 2. It’s easier to take something apart than it is to put something together. Time to take door handle and deadbolt off the door: 20 minutes. Time to put the handle and deadbolt back on the door: 60 minutes.

Lesson 3. Most DIY jobs will take longer than you think, so don’t start refinishing your front door the day before Halloween. The color came out a shade lighter than I expected, but it might have been right on target if I’d had time for four or five coats of paint rather than two and-a-half, but I didn’t want a wet door left open with no handle during trick-or-treating.

Verdict: I’m happy with my medium gray-blue front door. It looks a lot better than the uneven stain and worn finish. It’s not perfect. I found a drip at the top left corner of the window molding and a tiny bit trim paint came off around a few edges, but all in all, a nice change.

The unvarnished truth about my DIY projects is they usually come out with a few flaws, but that’s okay. I want to be open about the trials and triumphs, both to amuse and inspire you, my friend. Laugh and learn from my mistakes. Don’t let fear keep you frozen! Now grab a paint brush and a can of OFF.