Stripping and Painting the Front Door

The next thing to do to complete the front was painting the front door.

This is what it looked like the day we saw the house for the first time. Not very impressive.  The door itself was in good condition but the paint jobs through the years had done a number on it.  It was very lumpy, paint drips and then obviously it needed a second coat.  As far as I know this door and our door on the side of the house are original.

I got to work and what started out as me just doing some sanding to even things up turned into me completely stripping the door.

Don't be fooled by the smile. This is the look of "what in the hell did I get myself into but I'm going to act like I know what I'm doing?"

It took about three days.  I used stripper on all of it and used tooth picks to get into the detail work. It was also the end of June.  Hot.

After stripping and sanding here's what I had:  A beautiful door ready for it's proper paint job. (the other side is stained. I recently re-did it. More on that later)

After priming and the first coat..

After the second coat...

I was actually not thrilled how this turned out.  The side door looked good with the color:

The bullseyes looked great:

What the what what happened?

In the picture above it actually looks more salmon which it wasn't but it seemed to have a mauve tint to it.  I left it because I needed to move on to the West side of the house.

That was until today!

I found the most beautiful red when I restored the laundry room:
Laundry Room Reveal

It's Posh Red by Valspar

Remember how the door's doorknobs were ugly and the deadbolt stuck out like a sore thumb?

I used this awesome spray paint:

Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze

The view from the outside

So happy that's done!!

Now excuse me while I celebrate finding the perfect red with an adult beverage and Little Red Corvette cranked up!

For more details on my exterior painting project please visit these posts:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four


I joined a party at
My Romantic Home

Linking to:
Mod Vintage Life
DIY Showoff

Painting The Front! June, you were a hot SOB

June was not my friend.  Totally my fault though because I should have started on the front in February or March.

This was one of the forecasts and actually for Texas it isn't THAT bad.

One of my FB status' was:

June 6, 2012

I have paint in my hair, a pulled muscle in my neck and shoulder, a possible hairline fracture where I got hit from the baseball and busted up knuckles and knees from working on the house. This woman is going to go take a nap. The kids are old enough to fend for themselves!

I slowly made my way around the porch.  With it being somewhat of a Victorian style home I wanted three color combinations.  I already had the yellow then went with a light green and a red.

The green that is on this door was painted by the previous owners and it was too dark for  what I wanted.

Notice all the dust and trash.  Boy was this a mess.

I wouldn't say I'm always a detail person.  Well, I would never say I'm a detail person but this porch brought it out in me.  This is my daughter helping paint the side of the trim.

This is what happens when you're working in temps that are in the hundreds.  You jump in the pool with your clothes on and on occasion with your phone in your pocket.  Still hurts...

After getting the porch walls painted I had this to deal with:

The bullseyes aren't original but they were put on sometime in the 50's or 60's.  I debated whether or not to keep them.  Then I decided to paint them red.  It turned out great.

Me in all my glory

I really had to get a grip and conquer my fear of heights.  I had to get on the roof.  There was no way around it.  I wish I could say I was like this:

But I was actually like this:

Trim and bullseyes painted!

I still had the top to contend with  but it was really really high and I had to work up some courage for that one.

The next thing to conquer was the porch ceiling.  Like with a lot of old homes the custom is to have porch ceilings painted blue.  Some say it's supposed to ward off evil spirits.  More practically it is said to fool yellow jackets and mud daubers from building nests because they think it's the sky.  For the most part it seems to work.

The following pictures are actually from the day we first looked at the house.  This will give you an idea of how bad it was.  No one could tell me when that ceiling had last been painted.  Unlike the siding which had layers upon layers of paint this seemed to only have about two.  When I touched some parts of the boards the paint just seemed to disintegrate although the wood itself was basically in excellent condition.

 God seriously smiled upon me one day in Lowe's.  I walked in and went straight to the oops section in the paint department like I always do.  Before my eyes sat two cans of blue porch paint for five dollars each.  They were two different shades so I bought a paint bucket and mixed them together.  

My FB status after:

"Porch ceiling PAINTED.  It only took a coat of primer, a coat rolled on, a coat brushed on, pulled muscles in my neck and an aching back.  But it looks so pretty."

The next step was to re-paint the porch floor.  Between the dust, paint splatters, scrapes and everything in between it was a mess.

I know it looks like Victoria is a very hard worker.  And she is.  For about 30 minutes but I'll take it.

Paint colors:

Snowcap White Valspar

Flax Olympic

Cooper Montera Valspar

Green Tea Leaves Valspar

Other posts related to painting the front of our home:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Painting the Front Door
Painting The West Side
Painting The Front Peak

Linking to These Parties:

Coastal Charm
Handy Man, Crafty Woman