Ahh... The wonders of spray paint

Jen over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam (one of my favorite blogs you should check it out) had a post up about spray paint. She is a woman after my own heart! I love spray paint and think that it is under utilized. She inspired me to make a post about my front door redo. This was done last September, aka the breaking point. You see my front door used to look like this, very BLAH! I do have to say that I had already sanded down the door frame, it didn't look that bad to start. Although, it wasn't far.

There were days I didn't want to enter, or even admit this was my door. I had gone shopping for a new door and the one I fell in love with was over $500, no thank you! I plan on moving away from this house and I'm not putting that kind of money into a door. Things like flooring I'll splurge on, a beautiful finish underfoot can make your whole day better. If you think I'm kidding save up and buy new carpet, tile, etc. and see how good you feel! I digress... Although I do not like the little window that has flowers etched into it, I'm not a flower etching kinda girl, I figured I could live with it. Being that my door is metal I know it was in great shape (not rot or termites) it just needed a spruce up. I armed myself with my trusty spray paint, this time in Cardinal Red Gloss by Rustoleum. Of course my spray paint and cleaning supplies.
We took the door off of the hinges and laid it flat in the front yard. I gave the door a good scrubbing, sanding, and taped off the window. One final once over with a damp cloth and let it dry. Then I went to town, making sure to do light coats so my paint wouldn't pool, it takes forever to dry if spray to much. I also fixed any holes and gaps in the door frame and sprayed with a regular white spray paint. Here is the after.


A door I actually want to come home to! As you can see the door isn't in perfect condition but it looks so much better! And from the street you can't tell it has any imperfections.

A few tips if you decided to tackle your front door.

1. Spray paint is just plain better, short of a professional spray job. Brushes leave brush marks. and you don't want that, trust me.

2. Take the door off of your hinges, it makes it a quicker job. You would think leaving it on would be best because you won't have to rehang it. It doesn't work like that.

3. Take the knob off, it is easier than spraying around it. Or do like I did and get a new one, we had one for a while so why not use it.

4. Do a good job of prepping!!! Yes I yelled, it is worth it to spend a little extra time doing a great prep job. Nothing would be worse than the paint starting to peel later because you didn't take the time to clean.

Following those tips my door still looks great and it is almost 7 months later.

We have almost finished our front porch redo. I'm still scouring for the perfect pieces for sections. Once it is complete (minus the spindles and post, I can't stand ours but that will take time to change) I'll let you take a look.

Check back next week when there will be more spray paint goodness, this time with brass!

This post is linked to Hooked on Houses, what are you hooked on?