Need a new front door color? As spring finally winds its way around after a cold, dreary winter, many people get the urge to clean, repair, and renew their homes. This includes cleaning up the front yard, doing a bit of spring landscaping, and spiffing up the front of the house. You may want to shape up the bushes, trim back a few trees, add some floral color, and even pressure wash parts of the house that have gotten murky or mildewy. As you do this, make sure not to neglect the most important visual factor — the front door!
Many folks don’t realize that this often-ignored part of your home makes a first impression on all who see it. If your front door is properly maintained and painted, it will make your home stand out, generating comments and admiring stares.
Why not kick off springtime this year by painting your front door a fresh new color? Not sure where to start? Here’s all you need to know about updating a front door.
When Updating a Front Door, Go Bold with Color
The good news is that even if your home is a more conservative color, you can still choose something bright or flashy for your front door. Updating a front door offers you an opportunity to have a little fun with a color that’s bolder than you’d use for other parts of your house. Even if funky purple or florescent green wouldn’t go well in your kitchen or on the entire outside of your home, you’d be surprised at how it may look on your front door. For a popular color choice with a classic appeal, think about painting your front door a bright red.
Even if you’ve decided to go boldly in the direction of a new color, committing to that color can still be anxiety-inducing. You’ll likely worry that you may be making a color mistake that you’ll regret for years to come. To avoid this, it’s important to get an idea of how different colors will look on your door from up close, far away, and at different times of the day. Rather than painting squares different-colored paint all over your front door, go the convenient route by using SureSwatch temporary paint swatches.
SureSwatch is a snap to use. After applying two coats of paint to each one (and allowing the sheet to dry in between coats), place your SureSwatch temporary paint swatches on the front door, step back, and compare! Once you’ve decided on a color, make sure to choose a glossy paint in order to make your front door really pop.
Prepping and Painting
Updating a front door with a new paint job sounds like hard work, but it’s really quite simple. While you can remove the door from its hinges if you’d like, you can also paint it right where it is. It’s important that you prime and paint in an area that’s free of dust, so make sure you’re not painting on a day when the wind can blow in any debris that may mess up your paint job. Speaking of dirt, make sure you thoroughly clean the door before getting started. You’ll also need to remove all the hardware. If there’s something that can’t be removed, use blue painter’s tape to protect it.
Next, apply a coat of primer. SureSwatch also has a section on each sheet that can help you choose the right primer. Once the primer has dried, you’ll want to start with a paintbrush to work around any detailed areas such as hard-to-reach designs in the wood or areas near hardware you have covered in tape. To finish off the job, you can use your paintbrush or switch to a foam roller.
Make sure to allow the paint to dry completely before reinstalling any hardware or removing the painter’s tape. Now step back and admire your handiwork!
Want more great ideas for updating a front door? Check out our painting tips for ideas and inspiration!
Find SureSwatch at Home Depot, and Ace Hardware.