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Yellow Marigold & Kendall Charcoal Front Door

Yesterday I told you that the poor state of our house’s trim forced me to choose new paint colors.  Although you know I love a good painting project, painting outside trim is not on my list of favorites!

After visiting with my local Benjamin Moore store designer, I chose the colors Yellow Marigold for the door and Charcoal for all the trim.

The Basics of How to Paint an Exterior Door

I decided to ease into the process by starting with the front door.  It ended up being a quick & easy transformation. Here’s how I did it:

1. Watch helpful video tutorials on how to paint doors.

I started by watching this helpful video on the step by steps of painting a front door.

Update: I later painted a metal exterior door with plastic trim. You can read & watch how that process by clicking here.

2. Clean the door and sand it lightly.

Then, I got busy.  I first emptied the whole space and cleaned off the siding around the front door with a broom and a garden hose with the sprayer attachment.  It was amazing how much better the entryway looked minus all the cobwebs and dirt on the siding!

Yellow Marigold Front Door

{I also discovered that if you spray enough water in that area, it runs down the foundation and into the basement… Lovely.}

Then I scrubbed the door and trim thoroughly with TSP, dried it, sanded it lightly with a sanding block, and taped around the door handle.  (I think that picture above was taken after I finished sanding it.)

3. Use a good quality primer.

I tested the door and discovered (no surprise) that it was painted with oil based paint.  My awesome Benjamin Moore paint lady had suggested that the Aqua Lock Primer would work even over oil based paint, so I used that as my primer ~ and rejoiced that it didn’t need to be oil based!

Yellow Marigold and Kendall Charcoal Front Door

Now that all that prep was done (Whew!) it was time for the fun part!

4. Paint the door panel edges first with a brush, and roll on the rest of the paint.

I dropped the ball completely in taking pictures of the next few steps.  I was just too busy painting!  I painted the trim first in Benjamin Moore’s Kendall Charcoal (low luster finish) and the door in 2 coats of Yellow Marigold (semi-gloss finish).  I followed the recommendations of the video above and used both a foam roller and brush to paint the door.

So, after all the details, here’s a reminder of where it started:

Front Door Reveal

And, here is the stage it’s at this very morning!

Yellow Marigold and Kendall Charcoal Front Door

I just love it!!

Yellow Marigold and Kendall Charcoal Front Door

It’s as happy and fun as I was hoping it’d be.

I still have lots of plans for this area ~ including a new light, doorknob, and maybe a few decorations.  But, for now, when I come home after a long exhausting day…

it welcomes me in,

Yellow Marigold and Kendall Charcoal Front Door

and makes me smile!!:)

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