I’m finally jumping on the painted door bandwagon! As long as people have been painting their doors bright colors, I knew I wanted to join in on the fun. But we couldn’t since we lived in apartments with boring brown doors. For some reason, I don’t think they would appreciate me painting the door.  Now that we have a house I knew that painting our front door was definitely a project I wanted to tackle. This is not one of those projects where I had to hem-and-haw over over the details. I’ve had this planned for quite some time. Red front door and oil-rubbed bronze hardware.  I learned a few things while painting my door so I wanted to share a little tutorial on how-to paint your front door. I know we all love a good before and after, so let’s just get that out of the way up front. The front of our house seriously lacks personality and curb appeal. That was another reason I wanted to paint the door STAT. The door used to be hidden behind a storm door. We removed the storm door partially because we rarely used it and mostly because it was broken and would let bugs into the house… hence leading to the rarely using it.

Plus I wanted to be able to see my gorgeous red door from the street! The front porch is nice and big. But there is a huge space to the right of our front door that was drawing a lot of attention, simply because it was so empty. I’m still working on that, but the first step was to tackle the door. It was a lovely shade of hunter green with bright brassy hardware. Our first stop was at Home Depot to pick up some paint chips. exterior house design programs freeI was actually quite surprised by the lack of bright reds there were. wall decor living room diyI grabbed all of them. home decor store in austinSee how many there are?? painting exterior wood front door

4. I taped them all to the door and lived with them there for about 2 weeks until I picked one.  We decided on a luscious shade of red called Red Delicious by Glidden. Make sure when you buy your paint that you get an exterior paint since your door will be exposed to the elements. Start by removing all the hardware from your door. Tape off the hardware holes from the inside of the door so the sanding dust won’t get inside your house. home decor los angelesThen sand down your door with 120 grit sandpaper. christmas tree decorations ideas 2013Focus on any imperfections to get it nice and smooth. Wipe down your door with a wet cloth to remove all the sanding dust. Then prime your door. I used my favorite Kilz latex primer. I did only 1 coat but, in hindsight, I should have done 2 since I was going red.

This is the way you paint your door. The order does make a difference. Doing it in this order will result in a nice and smooth finish. The other key is a high-density foam roller. So here is how you do it: Repeat this for as many coats as needed for good coverage. Red is particularly hard to get good coverage so my door took 7 coats. Hence why I wish I had done 2 coats of primer. Give the door a good 2+ hours to dry before you close it. Otherwise the door can stick to the weather stripping. If you don’t have a storm door… great! We just had to unscrew a bunch of screws to remove it. Fill in any holes with wood filler and sand smooth once dry. I would love to replace all the hardware but that isn’t on the bill quite yet. So instead, me and my bestie {spray paint} went to town on all the hardware. I also did a quick makeover on the doorbell. I wasn’t diggin’ the weathered yellow look. Reassemble your hardware and be so happy that the brassy-ness is gone!

And be thrilled that that paint covered the previous owners’ engraved name on that knocker!I absolutely love it! It makes my little heart happy! Obviously I added a pot of flowers and an old chair. It isn’t complete but it is way better than it was! {I know, I know! But why spend my time painting it when I just want to replace it??} I’m going to upgrade to a larger door mat. I’m also thinking of adding some fancy house numbers to the right of the door. What do you think? Any recommendations for that empty space? Here is a little progress report on the front porch: Have you ever painted your door? What color is your door right now??Lead paint can be nasty, and laws enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2010 are designed to prevent contamination from lead-based paints. Simple testing determines the presence of lead-based paint.If you have lead-based paint, you have several options for removal. Although some states allow you to do the work yourself, a contractor who is certified in lead paint removal is trained to do the job safely and will determine the best abatement strategy.

According to the EPA, professional lead-based paint removal for the following three options costs about $8 to $15 per square foot or about $9,600 to $30,000 for a 1,200- to 2,000-sq. ft. house. The average removal project costs about $10,000.Encapsulation. Typically the least complicated and most affordable method, encapsulation involves brushing or rolling on a specially made paint-like coating (search lead paint encapsulation online) that creates a watertight bond and seals in the lead-based paint. However, opening and closing your doors and windows eventually may wear off the coating.Encapsulation products start at about $50 per gallon. Expect to pay about $800 to $1,400 to cover surfaces in a 1,200- to 2,000-sq. ft. home (not including labor).With this method, the old surface is covered with a new one, such as putting up new drywall or covering windowsills with aluminum or vinyl cladding. If the enclosed surface is ever removed, you’ll have to deal with the exposed lead-containing surfaces underneath.

A variety of approaches are used to remove lead-based paints, such as wire brushing or wet hand scraping with liquid paint removers. Your contractor may opt to wet sand surfaces, and must use an electric sander equipped with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtered vacuum. Another option is stripping off paint with a low-temperature heat gun, and hand scraping.Forbidden methods of removal include open flame burning or torching, machine sanding without a HEPA attachment, abrasive blasting, and power washing without a means to trap water and paint chips.This more radical strategy calls for taking out the offending surfaces or features and installing new windows, doors, woodwork, and other surfaces.If lead-based paint in your home is in good condition—no chipping or other damage—and no children under the age of 6 live there or visit regularly, you may safely opt to leave the paint untouched. You will need to disclose the presence of the paint if you decide to sell.However, if the paint is peeling or chipping, or if intact lead-based paint is on window sills and stair rails and children under 6 are present, begin with a cleanup and find out how lead-based paint is regulated by your regional EPA office.