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.