Last Updated on October 21, 2020 by Stacy Averette
Have you ever wished you could paint your front door? Well, you can! And it’s easier than you think. The hardest part might be choosing the color but I’d love to share how I did it and how you can, too! I love the results and I’m pretty sure my house has the happiest front door on the street.
I’ve been wanting to paint our front door and give it a pop of color for years. Every time I drove by one of those cute homes with the brightly painted front door I knew I wanted to paint ours but I waited until I was certain about the color. One of the reasons it took me so long to choose a color is our siding is a weird color and our shutters are burgundy. I really don’t like either of them but changing them isn’t an option right now. Our front door has been off-white for years and I’ve repainted it once just to make it look cleaner but I never felt like it was a “happy door”. I can’t say that anymore!
My choice of color might not be what you’d choose but the process is the same whatever color you choose. Here’s how I did it:
How to Paint Your Front Door in 3 Easy Steps
- Choose your color. Pinterest is a gold mine of painted doors. Create a pinterest board and pin your favorites until you’ve settled on one you like. I consulted my family about my choice and they all agreed. I bought the paint (quart/semi-gloss) and brushes at Walmart.
- Prepare the door. A clean door is a necessary (but not fun) part of the process. I used all-purpose cleaner to wipe down the door and a brush to scrub some of the grooves. Next, I lightly sanded a few rough places and filled and sanded some holes from where we removed the screen door several years ago. I also added blue painter’s tape around the fixtures.
- Paint the door. I used an angled brush to paint the entire door starting with the middle insets. You could use a roller to paint the smooth surfaces faster but I just didn’t want to have the extra clean-up. The door needed two coats and I allowed 2 hours of drying time between coats.
Our front door is a solid wood door that I’m sure is original to this 1970’s house. If your door is made of something other than wood the process might be different.
A clean, freshly painted front door is a great way to welcome you and your family or guests into your home. But there’s one more easy step to make your front door happy and this works even if you live in an apartment or a rental where you’re not allowed to paint.
Add a wreath
I love a wreath on the front door. It’s such an easy way to celebrate the season and show your home’s personality. But wreaths are expensive! My solution is to make my own and you can, too! Here’s how:
- Pick up an old wreath (or three) at a yard sale or the thrift store for a few dollars. My favorite is grapevine wreaths.
- Gather bits and pieces. Old flowers, plastic fruit, Christmas ornaments, pinecones, birdhouses—you get the idea. I keep a stash of “bits and pieces” that I purchase for a few cents at yard sales and thrift stores.
- Get out your glue gun. Decide which pieces you want to use and stick them in the wreath. (This is why I love grapevine.) Once you’re happy with the arrangement, hot glue in place.
I refer to Pinterest a lot to get ideas for different kinds of wreaths. And the great thing about using hot glue—when your tired of that wreath, the glue just pops off and you can start over.
The “before” of my wreath looked like this:
I’ve enjoyed sharing with you how to paint your front door and make it happy. There will always be things we don’t like about our house but we can choose to love our home. I hope you’re inspired to try it! You might want to pin this: (To pin any image from a mobile device, first tap the image and the red “Pinterest save” button will appear in the top left corner of the image. Tap the “save” button to pin.)