Why I Love Bold (And You Should, Too!)

With all the trending pictures of hallway and door presentations out there... I have been thinking of doing the same to our home. Before we even purchased a home, I had begun to pin pictures of warm grey interiors with dark color doors. Upon moving in, I purchased black paint and painted one door. You know to see if we would like it. I painted the laundry door, which isn't in the main hallway and not really noticeable. I didn't love it but I didn't hate. I just felt like you could see every brush stroke and that it didn't give the door a punch of attitude. In all of my inspiration photos, the doors looked stunning without being cold. They seemed to really add something to the interiors of all the other homes. It felt flat in my home. 😡

Well that was a year and half ago. Since I am on a $0 home decor budget right now, I have been thinking what can I do to satisfy my DIY itch, without going over my budget. So, I decided to revisit painting our interior doors again. As I was making my project list for my the Spring/Summer, I stumbled across one of my inspiration photos.

Photo Credit - SoulStyle Blog (click photo to read  post)

Don't you just love how much punch the black interior doors add to her hallway. You should head over to SoulStyle to check out the entire before and after of this area. It will leave you feeling like you want to add a punch to your interior doors. Because I got jazzed up again about painting the doors. I went the basement and gathered up the gallon of black paint and headed to the HD to have the paint shaken again. Upon return, I gathered up my supplies and began the prep work.

What You Need

• 1 Gallon of Interior Paint - I used Ultra Black w/ Deep Base (Behr Premium Ultra) Paint & Primer in One/ Satin Finish
• Paint Brush - I used my handy dandy Wooster Pro 2" paint brush (It's my go to brush)
• Screwdriver - to remove the door hardware
• Painters tape
• Dropcloth
• Paper towels/Wet Rag - To pick up paint drops or when I paint outside the line

I choose to paint the three doors in our main hallway. They are on the other side of the house from my tester door. And you see them when you first come into our home. Plus, most of our guests visit this area at some point to use the Powder Room.

Here's what the doors looked liked when I got started. Yep, pretty boring.

Plus, that gold hardware.... Let's just say I am not a fan.

So I got started on adding a punch to our interior doors. I put down my drop cloth and anchored it to the floor with painters tape. Next, I cleaned the doors with a sponge and spray bottle filled with equal parts of vinegar and water. It's the perfect cleaner. You don't really have to scrub except for those areas where something has been on there for a while. 👀 After I cleaned the doors, I removed the hardware and carefully labeled everything and placed them into separate labeled storage bags for safe keeping.

I didn't remove the doors off the hinges. I really didn't see the need for this. If you never where a person who could color within the lines, then remove the doors. For me, I felt it would be easier to paint while the doors where in place. Plus, I have always been good at coloring within the lines. My FIL thinks it's a knack I have. I began by painting the center door, then I painted the bathroom door on the right and moved to the guest bedroom door on the left. Each door required two coats of paint.

Need a tutorial for painting a door the correct way, I found this diagram to be a useful one when I first started DIHing. And I refer to it from time to time, when I am painting a door and haven't done so in a while. 

As you can see the doors looked good but I knew after one more coat there were going to be just what I hoped. A bold punch of attitude for Creekside. Another step towards adding some soul to our home. So after painting the three doors with two coats of paint, here is what I ended up with. 

I couldn't be more thrilled. They are absolutely stunning. 😃 Next up the hardware. I am in a quandary about spray painting them or using rub n buff. I will update the post to include the hardware as soon as I figure out what I want to do. I know I am not purchasing new, as that would defeat my $0 budget for this project. Oh, and repainting the trim - upon completion of this project I discovered someone did not paint within the lines.

Oh and I discovered why I loved the doors this time around than when I did my tester door a while back. The three doors I did this weekend all have a wood tone to them. And with the black paint, it just makes them look amazing. The tester door is an impostor. Yes, you read that right - impostor. The door is not the same as the rest of the doors in our home. It makes sense why I can see every paint mark in the door, and that I didn't respond well to it. So now, I feel I need to replace this door. Not anytime soon, I am still in my $0 budget phase. Until then, I am sitting back and enjoying this new look and thinking I have 4 more doors to paint.

Update
I finally finished all the doors in the home. Look at this photo of the hall all finished. Finally, a very polished look inside the home. Absolutely glad, I did this.

Getting Re-Aquainted w/ an Old Friend

So it's been a while. I have sooo much to share. Long journey but we are finally home owners. I'd be the first to tell you that was why I "sort of" separated from my blog. I threw the towel in because I was out of projects at the apartment and had already began packing everything. I know - you probably think, "did she just say packing." It was my attempt at being positive. 😉 I figured if I packed up things and started prepping we would find a house. I really didn't want to get caught with my hand in the cookie jar. You know suddenly moving and only a limited time to pack it up. We had lived in the apartment for three years and I had accumulated a bunch of stuff. So I know it was going to take a while to pack everything. And this way, I could organize and pack. You know, not just throw things in boxes and sort it out when we got the new place. I absolutely am not a fan of the mystery box packing. Plus, I sort of new I wanted a new color scheme, so I had started to purchase items and bulk up my decor bins.

So let's fast forward, we have been in the house for a year and half. It was a steal. The owners absolutely just wanted to get rid of the place. It was in a location closer to the city, but still in a development. It's a best of both worlds type of deal. Score for our home shopping list. Crazy though, we ended up with a ranch. Yep, you read it correctly a ranch. Anyone that knows me, knows that I absolutely did not want to live in a ranch. I wouldn't even let the realtor show us any. So how did we end up seeing this one, let along buying it. Talk to my Mom. She was determined to help shop for us a home. She would spend countless hours on her iPad at night looking for homes that met our criteria. She came across our home in one of her searches and showed me. I honestly did not know it was a ranch. I hurried and called our realtor. She arranged for us to see it. We got there and both our mouths dropped. 😳. Is this a ranch??? Since we had went through the trouble, we decided to go in and to our surprise - we loved it. We put the bid in that night and a few weeks later, it was ours.

Funny thing, as with every other house we loved or placed a bid on - I usually spent hours measuring, sitting in the rooms, thinking furniture layouts and decor-dreaming. But with this house, I did none of that. I didn't take one measurement. Didn't take one picture. Refused to even get that personally involved. When we found out the house was ours - I felt like the design book was smacking me in my face. I had no plan!! I didn't recall the windows or the flooring or the kitchen cabinet colors. Nothing. Although, I think about it now - that was probably for the best. It allowed me to keep my mind clear and focus on the home buying process.

I wasted no time after we got the keys. My home decor, DIH-ing, need for a project mind got busy quickly. I started coming up with a plan or maybe a few plans for the new house. Stop over to my pinterest board and check out my inspiration for our new place. The vision for 190 - Modern Vintage with a some rustic turned Chic! So reconnect with me as I begin the journey to revive this builder grade (one style fits all) house into a home with an old soul - just like it's owner.