Front Door Makeover: Long Overdue, But Probably Not The Last One

I have some good news for you (and me). This is going to be one of my shorter blog posts as of late! For once I have a quick and easy project to share rather than a painfully long, drawn-out transformation.

I've been wanting to give our front door a makeover for quite some time, but just haven't gotten around to it with so many other things taking priority. In fact, in looking back through my blog history, it's been seven years since I last painted the front door. (Okay, so that's actually super depressing, but anyway...)

Above photo circa 2010... 

This was also before we installed a screen door.

Last weekend, pre-painting

With the extra couple days off this past Thanksgiving weekend, plus some unseasonably warm weather, the timing (and motivation) was finally right. After a long internal debate between a few paint swatches at Sherwin Williams, I decided on Copen Blue, which is part of their HGTV Home Rustic Refined collection. 

The prep work and taping was pretty minimal compared to other painting projects. 

I was able to do one coat in the afternoon, and then a second coat in the evening. I need more immediate gratification projects like this in my life. A bit of patience was still required since I had to wait until the next morning to see it in daylight.

This color is like a breath of fresh air for our porch, which was feeling awfully dark to me. The best way I can describe it is a pale minty/aqua color (even though it says "blue" in the name). Though I do love it, I'm still wondering if it's a touch too pale... maybe it should contrast a bit more with the white trim? Gah, this blue/green color family is almost trickier than grays! I like the more muted tone, and don't want it to get too bright or saturated. 

So Copen Blue is the color it shall remain, unless I decide to try a different shade later down the road. (I was also eyeing the SW colors Watery, Waterscape, and Tidewater... yeesh.)

What color is your front door? I'd also love to hear your thoughts on the color I chose, or any other recommendations!

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When one door opens...

For quite some time now, we’ve talked about installing a screen door on our front porch. We only have one operable north window in our house, so it would be nice to be able to open up the front door and let in a breeze every once in awhile. On the other hand, it would also provide more insulation, since our front door alone is a little drafty when cold winds blow during the winter.

And after taking notice lately of all the screen/storm doors in our neighborhood, I was really starting to get door envy. A couple weeks ago, we finally turned our talk into action. I had already done some research and decided that the Larson Lakeview storm door was the way to go. This particular model (Screen-Away) has a retractable screen that rolls up into the frame, so you can choose whether or not you want the screen open. Genius!

Menard’s happened to be having a sale on storm doors, so we got the 36" Lakeview for $268 ($30 off the regular price). We chose white with aged bronze hardware, to coordinate with our existing trim and hardware.

Having never done this before, we didn’t really know how long it would take to install the door, but figured at least a couple of hours. Even though it claimed to have “Easy-Hang Installation,” I wasn’t going to be too optimistic.

Although I have to admit, my heart sunk a little when we opened the packaging and saw all the pieces and parts that we had to put together first. I had foolishly hoped the door would be ready to hang right out of the box. But since it was made to be either right-hinge or left-hinge, we had to assemble the hinges and hardware ourselves.

It took awhile to drill all the holes for the screws we needed, but the instructions were pretty easy to follow (and in color, too!). And I have to say that the hinge rail did allow for easy hanging onto the door frame, once we reached that part.

Here is proof that I did more than just take pictures the whole time.

Following the instructions for the hardware was a little more tricky, but we figured it out. The scariest part (for me) was drilling the ½” and ¾” holes into the metal frame. All we had were paddle bits made only for wood, but Luke went ahead and used them and they still cut through the metal (even though it made some awful noises).

Once the hardware was installed, we had to put up the latch rail and mortise on the other side of the door frame, so the door could close and lock properly. And it did! Woo-hoo!

Not quite done yet... We still had to install the bottom of the door, which was adjustable based on how much space you need to the sill.

FINALLY, we had to add the top and bottom closers. With the turn of a screw, they allow you to adjust how slowly the door closes.

All in all, it took about 5 hours from opening up the box to finishing the installation. Okay, so a little longer than we had planned… good thing we started early in the morning. But we really didn’t come across any major setbacks during the process, which is pretty amazing. (Well, except for when Dudley almost swallowed a tiny O-ring that was crucial for the closer installation.)

I’m so glad we have a storm door now, and I think it looks pretty good. It’s been great being able to let more natural light in, and we were even able to open up the screen a few times last month. But when Old Man Winter gets here, the door has heavy-duty weatherstripping to help keep that cold air out. There's also a deadbolt, which is a nice added security feature.

Oh, and I'm not the only one who loves it:

Which means I’ll probably be cleaning the glass every day now to keep up with their snout smudges. Oh well, still worth it!

Frugal Fall Wreath

It’s happening… I’m getting the itch to decorate for the holidays, and it’s technically still summer! I just had way too much fun decorating last winter, and I keep thinking of all the things I bought on sale after Christmas that I haven’t even used yet! I know Hobby Lobby already has all their Christmas stuff out for this year, but even I have to admit it’s a little early to be decking the halls just yet.

When it comes down to it, I really just like the look of a wreath on our front door, and it makes our barren porch feel a little more welcoming.

Then I thought to myself, Why do I need to wait until Christmas to hang a wreath? What about fall, you idiot? Yes, autumn – with it’s cool weather and beautiful colors – is almost upon us. The perfect excuse for some seasonal decorating.

Hob Lob knows this, too. With several aisles dedicated to fall/Halloween decor (at 50% off!), I knew I would be able to find the wreath I was looking for. And I certainly did find plenty of lovely, leafy wreaths… for $99.99. (Hellooo, sticker shock!) Even at the half-off price of $50, I’ll pass, thankyouverymuch. What makes a wreath so freakin’ expensive anyway?

Not to be deterred, I picked my jaw up off the floor and put my eyeballs back in their sockets. I knew I’d just have to channel my crafty side if I wanted a wreath on a cheapskate budget. On a new mission, I headed over to the floral/dried department and found a plain wreath made of branches for $5 (original price). Then I returned to the fall section and picked out a simple leaf garland for $9.99 (original price).

 As you can probably guess, all I did was wrap the garland around the wreath several times, tucking the ends into the branches to secure them. Easy peasy. But the cheap plastic used to string all the leaves together was still showing in places, so some skillful leaf-fluffing ensued. Then I pulled some leaves off the back side and wove them into the front to make it look a little fuller. 
WARNING: The wreath makes a mess because all the little twigs that fall off of it, so I'd recommend doing this outside or on a floor that's easy to sweep up.

Overall, I admit it's not too terribly crafty or creative. But by golly, it’s cheap and it does the trick! I'm kind of fond of the simple, understated look. If I wanted to add some of the bells and whistles like those $50 pre-made wreaths have, all I’d need to do is hot glue some accents (like mini pine cones, berries, or pumpkins) around it to dress it up.

Branch wreath - $2.99 (with 40% off coupon)

Leaf garland - $4.99 (50% off)
Grand total - $7.98

So there you have it – my frugal fall wreath at a price that’s much easier to stomach.

Is fall fever inspiring you to decorate yet?

I'm linking this project up to:

Undecided.

After weeks of agonizing over a new color for the front door, I finally bit the bullet this past weekend and painted it. I had gotten samples of every color from Spring Cactus to Blue Coal to Heirloom Red to Antique Copper. I even considered Deepest Aqua, but couldn't quite commit to it. Plus, that was the one color that Luke seemed truly opposed to. (I know, I shouldn't pay attention to him so much :)

Let's take a look at the Before door. It was actually the same color as the siding and the garage door, and calling it a "color" is pretty generous.

(Now you know we're K-staters! Thanks to my handy hubby for painting the limestone rock. :)

As you can see, it was very beige and boring. So I wanted to give it a bit more personality. I finally settled on Valspar's Chocolate Raspberry. (I must have been hungry at the time...) I guess I'd describe it as kind of a smoky purplish-brownish. I thought it would have a nice contrast against the white trim and pull out some of the colors of the brick.

And the verdict?

Ok, so it's not exactly earth-shattering.

It's definitely richer than the non-color that was there before, but it seems to be a little more on the purple side than what I was going for, at least from certain angles. (Although from the street, it's hard to tell what color it is at all.) The Chocolate Raspberry is growing on me, but I still don't know if I'm totally satisfied. While it does make all the white trim pop nicely, there's a nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I should have done something more adventurous. I mean, it's just paint, right? Then I started thinking that a gloss black would look really sharp, but in that case we'd probably want to switch out the dark doorknob, lock, and hardware. I don't think I want to deal with that just yet.

Can you tell I'm still all over the map? I had no idea this would be such a tough decision! Give me your honest opinions about the new color! Is it an improvement? What would YOU have chosen? Should I have gone with a lighter, brighter color instead?

(And yes, I know I still need to make our vast front porch more homey... adding a couple planters and a chairs would make a big difference!)

Front Door Facelift

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. After my sister painted her front door bright yellow, and after seeing a lot of other colorful front doors out there in blogland, I've got the itch! I hadn't really considered painting our door up until recently; I guess I've been so focused on the inside of the house.

But the more I look at our non-descript door, the more I realize that it needs a makeover! A fresh coat of paint would do wonders to make our big, empty porch look a little more welcoming (well, that and getting some patio furniture or big planters would help too.)

So the question is, of course, what hue to choose?? My first instinct is red, even though some may say that's overdone. It would definitely inject more personality than this yawn-inducing beige does. And even though we have reddish brick, I think red would still be a nice pop against the white trim of the doorway.

My pondering led me to to the all-knowing Google, where I searched "front door colors." I found a lot of articles on front door feng shui. According to this one and this one, our north-facing front door should be either black (no), white (no), or blue (maybe??). And red is apparently recommended for south-facing doors. Ok, so maybe I'll break those feng shui rules...

I also found this article at HouseBeautiful.com, and I think these colors have some potential:

Benjamin Moore Moroccan Red 1309

 

Benjamin Moore Evening Sky 833

Pratt & Lambert Beeswax 11-6

 

The more I think about it, the more I might be digging this deep plum... but would it just look black on our shaded porch?

C2 Paint Wicked 6446

Then I found these inspiration pics on Google images. Don't these doors all look very welcoming?

The meaning of blue doors

We probably won't get around to any painting until the weather warms up (which will hopefully be SOON), but that gives me time to think about it. So here's where you come in... considering the rest of the exterior, what color do you think would look best on our front door? Maybe it's not even one I've mentioned. I know you've all got good taste, so lemme hear it!

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