Now the black plague has moved to the front door. While I think the "rustic" and "distressed" look has its place, I don't think it should be in the form of sun-faded, scratched up wood. Here is our door before:
You can see how half of the door is faded from the half-window storm door we had on before. Now that we have a full glass storm door, the faded area is really noticeable.
We added the new door handle a while ago for multiple reasons. First of all, the original one was still on it and I guarantee there are some spare keys floating around out there. Second, I wanted a stronger lock as opposed to the kind that you push in and turn to lock it. And third, the old one was ugly and this is fabulous!
Now the front door with the new storm door on it:
We removed the front door to start the sanding process. Since the door will be exposed to a lot of sun, we wanted to make sure we had a good surface for the paint to stick to so it wouldn't peel easily.
We even took off the threshold and other brass looking things and painted them.
I spray painted all the brass stuff a chrome/platinum color.
After I washed off the cob webs and mud daubers nests, I was surprised at how well they've held up over the years.
I spray painted them the same color as the threshold and hardware for the door.
Pretty amazing, huh? All for about $8 in spray paint.
Ehren finished sanding the front door - it took quite a while as it was pretty weathered and rough.
I painted it with an exterior paint.
I did 3 coats to get good coverage and then let it dry for several days.
And while we were painting, sanding, and spraying, Cozy was… well… being a lazy dog.
We added the spray painted hardware. Doesn't it look better than 70s brass?
Then we finally got to hang the door!
And our brushed nickel door handle looks much better against black compared to old, weathered wood.
And when you look at the freshly painted front door along with the "new" porch lights, it makes quite an impact! It brought the house to the current decade and we couldn't be happier!
As a housewarming gift, my Grandma McCauley gave us something to put on our front door, made all the way in Ireland.
It says "Cead Mile Failte" which is an Irish expression that means "100,000 Welcomes". It basically means you are really, really welcome here.
And with that final touch, I think we'll call this project done! A front door face lift that only required painting. It's amazing what a can of paint can accomplish!
Cozy was just excited to have the attention back on him.
