As you can tell from the post title, I picked red. Actually, my boyfriend picked red. I went to Home Depot after work on Friday and grabbed paint cards in all the colors I was considering. I narrowed down all of the choices to one paint card per color. Then I couldn’t decide because I liked them all, so I let my boyfriend pick. The poor guy gets very little say in how the house is decorated, so I figured it was his turn…especially since he uses the front door more than I do (I park in the garage, so I come in through the laundry room).
Here’s what we started with – straight from the factory white:
As always, prep work is key. I taped off the window (which took for-ev-er) and removed the deadbolt and door knob. Yes, my drop cloth is an old bed sheet…
I’m not going to lie…I was freaking out a little bit after the first coat. I was super bright and almost hot pink-ish. But I just kept telling myself it would dry darker and look better after a couple more coats. Oh, and I should note that the paint is Geranium by Behr.
Three coats later, the door was bright red perfection (although, this picture looks almost exactly the same as the first picture)!
But you can’t paint your door all spiffy and then put your nasty old brass knobs back on, so I went out and bought all new deadbolts/door knobs. If you’re wondering why I didn’t just spray paint them, it’s because they weren’t worth saving. The deadbolt on the security door was one of those double key ones and we thought it was a pain (although I’m sure some people like them) and the door knob was finicky. Sometimes you could turn the lock just fine and then sometimes it would stick and you’d have to wiggle it a few times to get it to turn. The door knob on the front door was missing the lock piece, so it was pretty much just there for show. Sketchy…I know! (Don’t worry - we still had plenty of working locks and were safe…they were just inconvenient.)
Anyway, here’s the big finale – red paint and new deadbolt/door knob:
And just for fun, a before and after comparison:
The security door definitely helps tone down the color and hides the change from the HOA. From the street you can see the red, but it doesn’t stand out so I’m thinking I’m good. We’ll find out!
Oh, and not counting the new locks, this project was less than $20. So, if you’re thinking about painting your door, DO IT! It’s cheap and easy. You just have to start in the morning and plan on being home all day (since your door will be wide open for the paint to dry).
