True Blue – My Newly Painted Front Door

The exterior of my front door got a shiny new coat of paint over the weekend (the inside was painted a few months ago).  The color I chose was Naval by Sherwin Williams, a beautiful deep navy blue.

I had rollers, a paint brush and a sanding sponge already, so this was a pretty cheap project ($23 total) that actually made more of a difference to my curb appeal than I realized it would.

I’m not sure when this door was last painted, but it looked very faded and honestly, kind of dirty too.

When painting doors (and pretty much anything else) it’s essential to wipe them down first, removing and dust and dirt.  Then, give everything a quick sand. I used a sanding sponge but sandpaper is fine too.  Then, once more, wipe it down to remove the sanding dust.

Now, the logical next step would be to remove all the hardware. However, I’m pretty lazy time-strapped these days, so I just taped everything off…not even with painters tape (because I didn’t have any to hand) but with masking tape.  I’m as resourceful as ever!

I like to start by painting the panels first. They need to be done with a paintbrush so that you can really get into the grooves. Then using a roller, work on the rest of the door.   This shade of blue made me nervous at first, because it went on a really bright blue – almost purple. However, it does dry to a quite a deep navy.

I’ve never worked with exterior latex paint before…but it seems to be more latex-y and doesn’t cover as quickly as interior paint.  Even with an existing base of blue, I needed three coats before I had a streak-free finish.   If you were trying a more severe color change, I would recommend using a primer first.

Sunday was such a gorgeous day here in Boston and my door was dry in no-time!  Here’s the before and after shot for you:

 

Of course my lovely navy blue door now makes all my shutters look extremely dilapidated and in need of paint. Typical! *Adds yet another item to “the list”.*

On Thursday I will share all the fun paint colors I didn’t choose for this project (because I’m boring like that)!!  There’s some seriously fabulous front doors for you to gawk at!